Imagine...

Imagine that the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale were located within a remarkable heritage site [1] governed by a conservation and enhancement plan [2].
Imagine that the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale were located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Imagine that the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale were located within a inscribed site.
Imagine that the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale were visible from protected historic monuments.

You would wonder why the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale is not listed as a historic monument. And you would be right, because this structure, built in 1800 by the architect Bernard Poyet to mirror the façade of the Madeleine, is obviously a historic monument of the utmost importance. But this does not change much in terms of its protection or that of its surroundings, since the regulations of the PSMV fully apply to it and its environment.

Now imagine that the Assemblée nationale, presided over by Yaël Braun-Pivet, wishes to replace the reception building on its right - a structure with little architectural interest but which wisely knows how to disappear into the landscape.
Imagine that it launched an architectural competition in July 2023 and that the winner (the firm Moatti & Rivière) was selected by the Questeurs on 25 June 2024, without any of this ever being published on its website.
Imagine that the only mention of this project by the Assemblée nationale was posted on the website of its presidency just five days ago.
Imagine that the new construction is to be one storey higher, with a panoramic restaurant behind a glass and steel façade whose design, as rightly noted by Xavier de Jarcy in Télérama, is not so different from the façade of the new Samaritaine.

You would think it’s fake news—that Members of Parliament (you know, those who vote on laws, including the Heritage Law that is supposed to protect historic monuments, conservation areas, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and therefore the colonnade of the Assemblée nationale) could never conceive such a mad and outrageous idea.
And indeed, when seeing the visual they released, you would think it’s an image generated by artificial intelligence, a “deep fake” as we say today. That’s exactly what some thought on social media when the image began circulating.

Now imagine that the Assemblée nationale never officially submitted its project to the Ministry of Culture, nor the plans and visuals, as the ministry has confirmed to us.
Imagine that the Assemblée nationale states that “the Architect of the Buildings of France (ABF) responsible […] was consulted at every stage of the project.”
Imagine that the decision was never communicated to the press [3].
Imagine that heritage protection associations are only discovering this project today.

You’d be called crazy, a fantasist.

And yet, all of this is true - even though one point remains uncertain at this stage: who is lying to us? The Assemblée nationale, which claims that the ABF ("Architecte des bâtiments de France") was consulted at every stage of the project, or the DRAC Île-de-France, which says it only discovered it yesterday?
If the ABF was indeed informed and thus gave advance approval, we might add: imagine an ABF giving approval to such a project in a conservation area and World Heritage site, and perhaps without informing their superiors?

Everything is true, then, in this new affair.

Imagine also, finally, that the Assemblée nationale, its president and its Questeurs have neither taste nor respect for the historic monument they occupy. That too is true, as evidenced by the way this colonnade—though recently restored—was treated in 2024 (ill. 3) and in 2025 (ill. 4).

At what point will those who govern us - the legislative as well as the executive power, entrusted with enforcing the law - actually start applying it?