Increasing the role of architects
On 20 October, Fleur Pellerin visited the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris Belleville to present her national strategy for architecture. The minister wants to "give architects a greater role".
A more recognized sector. Architecture now accounts for 10% of cultural jobs and 8% of cultural sector turnover. So that the importance of this sector is better recognized, Fleur Pellerin wanted to put in place a national strategy whose initial work has already seen a translation in the recent review of the bill on the freedom of creation, architecture and heritage at the National Assembly. MEPs adopted some 15 provisions on the relationship of architecture to heritage and land use planning, recognition of the role of architectural, town planning and environmental councils (CAUE), experimentation, well-built projects, or teaching.
An indispensable intervention. This national strategy,” said the Minister. “ recognizes that the talent of architects is indispensable, at this crucial time, to meet the challenges that all French people share: housing, energy transition, improvement of the living environment, aging of men and stones ».
With regard to the living environment, Fleur Pellerin believes that the architect’s intervention for the subdivisions is essential to develop a development model that will further distort our country’s landscapes every day Similarly, its intervention for areas greater than 150 m2, instead of 170 today, “ is just as essential if we want everyone to benefit in their private environment from the new opportunities that carry architectural solutions ».
The six main axes from the strategy aimed at changing the relationship of our society to architecture and "achieving ordinary excellence in everyday spaces":
1• Raise awareness and develop knowledge of architecture by the general public and all public and private construction stakeholders
2• Take into account the architectural heritage of the 20th and 21st centuries and develop architectural intervention to enhance and transform the existing built environment
3• Articulate training-research-jobs and bring together the professional worlds of architecture, construction and living environment
4• Identify and mobilize architecture skills
5• Distinguish the economic value of architecture and support professional changes
6• Support the experimental approach and its cultural value
Fleur Pellerin: «Choosing architectural quality»
Launch in the fall of 2016 of a National Architecture Day, production next spring of a booklet for export, holding of the BIM conference, new edition of the national grand prix of architecture in 2016, project of a participatory mapping of architecture on a daily basis… these are some of the initiatives that Fleur Pellerin has detailed for the professional magazine The Monitor of 30 October . Complementing the measures of the bill on creative freedom, architecture and heritage, one of the main proposals of which is the lowering of the threshold beyond which an architect must be called upon, these, which emerged from the national architecture strategy, which closed on 20 October, pursue a single goal: Choosing architectural quality Next to the emblematic achievements that are the MuCEM in Marseille and the Philharmonie in Paris, “ has itrchitecture must be anchored in the daily life of the French, stresses the Minister. Its primary vocation is to restore meaning to the space we inhabit, notably in terms of quality of life and environment In order to amplify this recognition, Fleur Pellerin wishes “ sensitise school children and the general public to this architecture of quotidyn” and will launch a mission on the economic value of architecture to show all the profit Another issue that the minister is particularly sensitive to is export. “ We need to learn how to export our architecture and, in this way, not only rebalance the trade balance of this sector, but also to promote our architecture, especially young talent, whichhave all the skills required to be more successful in international competitions.”
National Architecture Strategy: The Timeline
• October 2014: National Architecture Strategy announced
• February 2015: launch of working groups
• July 2015: submission of working group proposals
• September – October 2015: discussion of the bill on creative freedom, architecture and heritage in the National Assembly (first reading)
• 20 October 2015: presentation of the first measures of the National Strategy
• End of 2015 and 2016: implementation of immediate measures, continuation of medium-term projects
• During 2016: continuation of the discussion and final adoption of the Bill on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage
• Fall 2016: Premiere National Architecture Day National Architecture Strategy Implementation Status Update
