The Debussy Fountain at risk, in Paris

22/4/25 - Heritage - Paris, Debussy Fountain - In our survey of Parisian fountains in 2017, we wrote of the fountain paying tribute to Claude Debussy in the square of the same name in the 16th arrondissement that it was "neither listed nor classified, which is abnormal".
Eight years later, it is still unprotected, it has still not been put under water, and it is deteriorating in a very worrying way. More than a year ago, the Paris Art Deco Society, whose aim is to raise awareness of Parisian Art Deco, promote it and protect it, expressed concern about this state of affairs. Sculpted by the brothers Jan and Joël Martel, with architecture by Jean Bukhalter, this monument is nevertheless a major work of the 1930s, inaugurated in 1932 and one of the masterpieces of these two sculptors.

Although the Regional Department of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) for the Île-de-France region was informed of our article, it did not draw any conclusions from it. In its response to the association, it wrote on 20 February 2024 that it was interested in this work of art and that it was consulting the City of Paris. And what has it done since then? Nothing, of course. What would have happened if she hadn’t shown any interest?
We have already had occasion to appreciate the ineffectiveness of the DRAC Île-de-France in protecting a monument that is well worth protecting, the Art Nouveau decorative features of the Cyrano restaurant, not far from the Place de Clichy (see the article). When we applied to the DRAC three years ago to have it listed by letter with acknowledgement of receipt, the director himself, Laurent Roturier, replied that he was waiting for "[our] letter before examining this application", only to tell us that the DRAC was proceeding by protection "campaigns", and that we ourselves had to make an inventory of the decorations we wanted to see protected. We didn’t have the time to do it. What do you think the DRAC, whose job it is, did? At least protect the Cyrano? Go further and make its own inventory (which is more or less its role) of similar decor to protect in other restaurants (there are plenty of unprotected ones in Paris, as well as shops)? The DRAC has done nothing, as was to be expected.

So why is it surprising that the DRAC has done nothing about this fountain, when the Paris Art Deco Society has put together a dossier to highlight its importance and the damage it has already suffered? The basin is empty (and has been for a long time, as we have seen), even though the monument was designed with the basin and its water as part of the composition. Both the reliefs and the sculptures in the round have been damaged, and the architecture is in disarray. The monument is in danger and needs to be restored as a matter of urgency. And yet, although the Town Hall has promised the association that it will restore the water supply and plant new flowers, which have also long since disappeared, there are no plans to restore it other than to include it in the "participatory budget", as if such an operation were optional. It has already been submitted to the participatory budget twice, to no avail.

Let’s add that between 2005 and 2008 [1], the City of Paris installed particularly massive children’s attractions in the square, ruining the whole perspective towards the fountain. Such an arrangement, which could certainly be installed elsewhere in the district, could never have been authorised if the fountain had been protected as a historic monument.
Its inscription (which does not require the agreement of the owner, the City of Paris) or even its classification, which it obviously deserves (if the City accepts it or automatically because of its state of peril if it does not accept it), would facilitate such a project. But the DRAC would still have to do something. When contacted, the DRAC was, as usual, nowhere to be seen.