Plans for a reception pavilion at the National Assembly face backlash, with a petition nearing 100,000 signatures after Paris Council backed changes to planning rules near the Palais-Bourbon.
For nearly two years, this case with its many twists and turns has set several players against each other and drawn them in: the National Assembly and its president Yaël Braun-Pivet, Paris city hall and the association Sites & Monuments.
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The plan for the new reception pavilion of the National Assembly is far from unanimous. Championed by the president of the institution, Yaël Braun-Pivet, it involves replacing the historic stone pavilion dating from 1888 with a contemporary glass structure. The future building is to house a shop, a cafeteria and educational spaces, functions which the association Sites & Monuments considers secondary for a parliament.
"The problem is that this building would break that symmetry and introduce large quantities of a new material, namely glass", Julien Lacaze, president of Sites & Monuments, told Euronews. He recalls that the project is to be carried out within a Remarkable Heritage Site (SPR) in the 7th arrondissement, inside the perimeter listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In his view, the architectural project disrupts the historical harmony of the Seine quays on several levels: it breaks the symmetry between La Madeleine and the colonnade of the Palais-Bourbon, introduces glass on a massive scale into an ensemble dominated by stone, and undermines the horizontality and architectural unity of the site.
"Most serious of all is demolishing a historic building. Once something has been demolished and something that is out of keeping with a site has been built in its place, that is permanent. It cannot be reversed", laments the president of this association, founded in 1901, recognised as being of public benefit since 1936 and approved for environmental protection. Sites & Monuments specialises in defending heritage.
For the association's president, other solutions that are more respectful of the building's original architecture do exist and deserve to be examined.
He cites in particular the proposal put forward by the Japanese practice SANAA, winner of the Pritzker Prize, which suggested keeping the existing 1888 pavilion while adding a contemporary stone extension, rather than glass as in the selected project. In his view, this proposal would have met the National Assembly's functional needs without fundamentally transforming the architectural landscape.
A construction cost seen as excessive
Beyond the aesthetic and historical issues that Julien Lacaze believes are under threat, the project is also drawing criticism over its cost. The stated budget of 52.8 million euros seems too high to him in a context of budgetary constraints, all the more so as the bill could still rise as the work progresses. Although the project will be self-financed by the National Assembly, he believes that :"It is the French people's money. At a time when people are being told to tighten their belts, spending 53 million euros on a building with a shop and a cafeteria raises questions."
Since the project was announced, the association's president says he has identified several aspects in the way the case has been handled that he considers problematic. According to him, no information on the progress of the project was made public for almost a year after the competition. An initial planning application is said to have been submitted in contradiction with the 7th arrondissement's Safeguarding and Enhancement Plan (PSMV), notably because of the building's excessive height, encroachment on protected areas and damage to heritage gardens and courtyards.
Faced with the risk of legal action, the permit is said to have been withdrawn. He says the authorities then initiated a targeted amendment to the PSMV in order to make the project compatible with planning rules.
"It's a question of ego"
This architectural project has been driven by the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, since 2025.
Julien Lacaze accuses her of wanting to leave her mark on her term of office through architecture intended to symbolise the institution's transparency.
"What you can criticise [Yaël Braun-Pivet] for is not a lack of architectural culture. It is for not listening."
Speaking to Franceinfo, the president of the National Assembly said she was "overwhelmed by the criticism of a project that people do not know".
In its campaign, the Sites & Monuments association has the backing of several political figures, notably from Les Républicains (LR) and La France insoumise (LFI), as well as former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal.
The petition launched just over a year ago has seen renewed interest in recent weeks. It is approaching 100,000 signatures at the time this article is published.
Contacted by Euronews, the National Assembly did not respond to our requests.
For its part, Paris city hall told us by email that "this project, which aims to modernise and improve conditions for receiving the public within the Palais-Bourbon by increasing the space dedicated to them" must now "be the subject of a planning application, which will be processed by the state and during which the City will be consulted in an advisory capacity".
"False", retorts the association's president, who says, evidence in hand, that the City has already taken a position in favour of this project, since the Paris Council approved the amendment to the Safeguarding and Enhancement Plan (PSMV), required to make the project comply with planning rules.
"There was a resolution by the City of Paris that approved the draft amendment (...) on 16 July", he says. According to him, the municipal majority has therefore clearly given its backing to the project.
"Emmanuel Grégoire has thrown his weight behind the project. Despite strong opposition, the City of Paris's approval has been given."
According to Julien Lacaze, the project is also backed by part of the government, as he says the request to amend the PSMV came from the regional prefect and the Paris police prefect, which in his view means the Ministry of Culture also supports the project.
"We will do everything that is legal. We are entitled to launch petitions and we will challenge the permit in court", he says.
"If this building is constructed, it will be evidence of the lack of sensitivity, the stubbornness and the outsized egos of some of our leaders in Paris."
The association plans to continue collecting signatures for the petition, to take part in the public inquiry into the PSMV amendment and, finally, to lodge a legal appeal against the future planning permission.
