Mr. Olivier Herbemont, President of the AMO association,

Mr. Marc-Antoine Jamet, Secretary General of LVMH and President of the AMO Prize Jury,

Dear friends artists, architects and builders,

Dear friends of architecture,

 

I am happy to be with you for this 18e edition of the AMO Architecture Award, which advocates for an authentic and respectful dialogue between architects and builders. The Vuitton Foundation, which welcomes us only two years ago, is already a major meeting place between contemporary art and architecture.

Yesterday, the Foundation inaugurated a «Frank Gehry architectural route».

And soon we will be able to admire the exceptional exhibition Shchukin.

Tonight we find ourselves under the canopy of The Observatory of Light, work in situ signed by Daniel Buren who echoes the work of Frank Gehry.

This work is the result of a dialogue, a common thread in our discussion tonight.

This installation, this dialogue, as Daniel Buren himself remarked, highlights the architecture 'What surprised me,' said Buren, 'is the way these colours underline architecture, its convex or concave forms, and disrupt its vision. Sometimes there’s no difference between glass sails and concrete architecture. You end up walking on the canopy!” 

“Highlighting architecture” means continuing to look at it, recognizing the value of these buildings, which are still young but are already part of our heritage, such as the Grande Arche de la Défense, which we must collectively preserve.

“Highlighting architecture” is therefore the ambition I have, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, the architecture of the extraordinary as here, but also of everyday life, covering the whole spectrum.

As the curators of the French pavilion of the Venice Biennale have brilliantly illustrated, it is:

- rethinking the architecture of everyday life;

- to develop and strengthen the interest of each of us for a local architecture;

- to promote the conditions for a quality of life;

- and finally to facilitate the practice of the profession of architect (to envisage perspectives for the profession of architect) while supporting innovation and experimentation.

These are the stakes of a dynamic policy in favor of the architecture that I carry on behalf of the Government and that testify three highlights.

First, the development of the National Architecture Strategy, launched in 2015, to renew our perspective on architecture and give us the means to promote it.

Secondly, the French pavilion of the Biennale internationale d'architecture de Venise, curated this year by Frédéric Bonnet, Grand prix national de l'urbanisme, and the collective AJAP 14. These are “ordinary” places, as the commissioners have appointed them, that are highlighted, places that make up the national territory, that make up our daily environment, and where architecture has its place, to bring a requirement and propose solutions.

Third, the law of 7 July 2016 on the freedom of creation, architecture and heritage, which defends quality architecture throughout France, in both rural and urban areas, and puts the architect at the heart of the devices of creation of our daily environment. 

 

This law for architecture marks a major step through several provisions:

- the reduction to 150 m² of the threshold above which the intervention of the architect is mandatory to file a building permit;

- the introduction of compulsory recourse to the architect, among other professionals, for the filing of a permit to develop a subdivision;

- the "licence to make", that is, the possibility of carrying out experiments and of derogating from certain rules of construction while respecting the spirit and the objective of the norms, in order to construct differently, to liberate imaginations.

To take a telling example: what counts is fighting fire; the means to do so can vary.

This measure will be implemented in a prudent and controlled manner, of course, but it was highly anticipated. I proposed to my colleagues in Housing, Planning and the Environment, as well as to several professionals, to jointly develop the decree implementing this measure.

- finally, support for the architectural competition, a procedure which allows for emulation and debate, with the encouragement of the organization of a phase of dialogue between the jury and the candidates, which makes it possible to enlighten their proposals.

 

Dear friends,

The competence of French architects, practitioners and researchers, and the teams they lead, that of our schools, is recognized worldwide.

In this context, as you recalled, dear Olivier Herbemont, the AMO association aims to promote architectural quality by highlighting the importance of dialogue. Not only between architect and artist, like the one so fruitful between Frank Gehry and Daniel Buren, but between the builders and architects, in the process of making architecture and its urban insertion.

 

The Ministry of Culture and Communication is a faithful ally of the AMO Prize, which it has supported since its creation in 1984, and which it appreciates.

This evening, I salute the work of this association, which enables project managers and designers to train together, to debate and build a shared culture.

I particularly want to thank you for your work on behalf of young architects. You encourage them to become members of your association and thus benefit from exchanges with already experienced members, which promotes intergenerational transmission.

I would like to pay tribute here to the talent of the award-winning teams, who were able to innovate on several fronts, to use the keyword of the Venice Architecture Biennale this year:

- Setting up operations allowing coexistence in a dense urban space, offices, maintenance workshops and a crèche;

- the bold rapprochement of historical heritage and contemporary architectural creation [Habitat Award];

- the renovation of an old residence in connection with its inhabitants, in a participative logic [special prize GRDF/Emmaus];

- the innovative construction of a building that is part of both collective and individual housing [SMA / Saint-Malo award];

- or, a subject that is close to my heart, the ability to evolve and transform an old building: I am thinking here of the Lagny bus centre of the RATP, enlarged and crowned with new floors of offices and public facilities by Brigitte Métra, I take this opportunity to say that the work on the room and acoustics of the Philharmonie de Paris, alongside Jean Nouvel, is recognized by all, musicians and music lovers.

 I extend my warmest congratulations to all the recipients.

 

Dear friends,

After the 33e European Heritage Days will take place this weekend, under the theme «Heritage and citizenship», the first National Days of Architecture will be held on 14, 15 and 16 October.

I invite you there to make architecture even more visible and accessible to all, to make architecture live.

Thank you.