On the proposal of Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, the President of the Republic appointed Hélène Fernandez, Director, Deputy to the Director General of Heritage and Architecture, responsible for architecture.
An architect and general urban planner of the State, Hélène Fernandez graduated from the Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles and holds a doctorate in architecture and urban planning from the University of Paris 8.
After working in several architecture and urban planning agencies, Philippe Panerai agency, She joined the public service holding several positions of responsibility in the regional and interdepartmental management of the equipment and development of Île-de-France where she was director of the departmental unit of Seine-Saint-Denis.
Between 2009 and 2013, Hélène Fernandez was Councillor of the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, in charge of Paris Métropole and territorial cooperation.
Between 2014 and 2018, she served as Deputy Director of Architecture, Construction Quality and Living Environment at the Ministry of Culture.
Since 2018, she has been a senior official in charge of gender equality and the fight against discrimination in the ministries in charge of ecological transition, territorial cohesion, energy transition and the sea.
The first priority of Hélène Fernandez will be dedicated to Higher National Schools of Architecture (ENSA). She will continue the dialogue with schools and will propose measures to the Minister to address the challenges they face. In terms of resources, progress has been made since 2018 in terms of staff, the France Relance plan has made it possible to strengthen real estate investment and the ministry’s 2023 budget devotes a 20% increase in the appropriations allocated to ENSA. This path must be continued as part of a comprehensive roadmap for the future of these schools.
Hélène Fernandez will also update the national strategy for architecture, to better take into account the challenges of the ecological transition, the rehabilitation of existing buildings, the diversification of architectural professions and the place of contemporary creation.
Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, welcomes the action of Aurélie Cousi, appointed Director General of the public Euroméditerranée development facility, which, in the difficult context of the health crisis, has managed to carry out essential projects such as the creation of an observatory of the economy of architecture and the launch of the project «Engaged for the quality of housing of tomorrow» in liaison with the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Before leaving office, she actively contributed to the preparation of Reseda, the first national ranking for sustainable development for ENSA students, announced by the Minister at the end of January.