A little over two years ago, you will recall, on the occasion of
the inauguration of the City of Architecture and Heritage, the President
of the Republic had wanted to put architecture back at the heart of our
This choice was not left to chance, but it was
was a necessity and a matter of course: it is that the
noble sense, has always had deep affinities with the art of designing
and build the physical space of cities, which draws the contours and
the civic potential of our public space.
The launch of this extraordinary project that is the Grand Paris marks
therefore the reunion of a humanism with an urban face and of thought
architectural, that is, the reunion of politics and
cultivation.
For me, in my capacity as Minister of Culture (and
Communication), but also in a personal capacity, it is clear that the
culture is a “structuring” reality of our living together, that it
is not a mere ornament or a modest supplement of soul.
History shows us that culture is often ahead, in
particular architecture, both the mental organization of
spaces, and its translation into the reality of things, is often a
anticipation of our lifestyles and ways of living in
tomorrow. This is why by putting urban planning and architecture back
the heart of our living-together in the project of Greater Paris, it is
the culture that is placed at the centre of our lives and at the heart
of our cities. The President of the Republic and I will install
at the Palais de Tokyo the ten teams of architects who
selected to constitute the International Workshop of Greater Paris, the
laboratory of this new frontier for the city.
Today everyone knows that the power of attraction of cities is
also develops according to their cultural dynamism. The evidence
has become a factor in the development of the
international reach, attractiveness and development
essential for our cities. That is, land use planning
cultural facilities which are so to speak the lung
and spiritual oxygen, all this makes the distinctive quality of a place where
it is good to live and work. Culture is sometimes the most discreet part,
sometimes the most brilliant of this accomplished form of ecology in the city.

Ecology, economy, but also hospitality: that’s the way it is in us
based on the ethics of culture, which we must think and create
the metropolis of tomorrow, as an open place of what I call the
“culture for everyone”, not “culture for all”, meaning
always for the same, but well for everyone, in his difference and
in its peculiarity. In a sense, seeing great, with the Grand Paris
a historical opportunity is offered to us to overcome the partitions
harmful for all we know since a few
of a city on the scale of the future the crucible of the
social diversity. We have of course anticipated this open-ended reality
of tomorrow, for example by recently installing a
national archives in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (in the 93), or
large heritage research and reserve centre in Cergy-Pontoise
(in the 95).
This great challenge of social diversity, I am convinced that culture, through its
unique ability to connect and bring people together not only through
building a common memory, but also through the invention of
new forms of sharing, is best placed to respond.
Thank you.