Didier Rykner is a French journalist and art historian. Committed to the defense of heritage, it regularly publishes its surveys and analyzes on the site La Tribune de l'art.
One of the main missions of the Ministry of Culture is to protect the historical and artistic heritage of our country in order to pass it on to future generations.
To fulfill it, he has very well-made laws and seasoned experts and professionals.
But all this remains useless when those who are in charge of this ministry renounce their duties.
Read also:
Demolition planned for the Saint-Joseph chapel in Lille
The case of the Saint-Joseph chapel in Lille, which is to be destroyed in February, is emblematic in this regard.
The town hall granted the permit to demolish, the architect of the buildings of France, consulted because the building is near a listed monument, authorized it and the Ministry of Culture refused the classification body however insisted on by heritage advocates.
That a town hall destroys a historic monument is unfortunately only in the scheme of things.
That she does it with the blessing of the Ministry of Culture is much less.
Because this chapel has a major importance, from the point of view of aesthetics, architecture and town planning.
Aesthetics is of course a relative notion.
But let us look at this monument for a moment imagining it restored: the subtle play of brick and stone, the beauty of its large bays which give it an allure of Sainte Chapelle, the elegance of the decorative elements and in particular the bell towers which overhang it should be sufficient to justify its conservation.
From an architectural point of view, this is not a typical building as there would be many.
The chief architect of historical monuments Étienne Poncelet studied it and underlined its remarkable characteristics, including its layout entirely built around the number seven: seven bays of the nave, seven bays of the choir of the Fathers, seven apses evoking the pilgrimage to the seven Roman basilicas.
It is part of a very scholarly urban composition of which another element has nevertheless been classified as a historical monument: the Palais Rameau
He also insists on its suspended cloister in the form of a loggia, which can be seen outside, on the side of the garden to the east, overlooking the aisle and allowing the religious, isolated from the students, to go up to at the apse where they can descend by a staircase to the choir.
This structure, composed in an eclectic architectural vocabulary, is nevertheless a
unicum
.
It testifies to the inventiveness of its designer, Auguste Marcou.
He is also the author of an architectural complex, the Saint-Paul college, of which the chapel is part, and which also deserves protection.
It is part of a very scholarly urban composition, another element of which has however been classified as a historical monument: the Palais Rameau, built by the same Auguste Marcou.
It is enough to look at an aerial view of this district to understand that it is all part of the same composition: the chapel has been shifted to the side of the college in order to be in the extension of the main span of the Palais Rameau.
To read also:
Michel De Jaeghere: "Madame Bovary, c'est nous"
The symmetry of the college around its courtyard, of which the chapel replaces a wing, is ensured thanks to the construction of a central theater, which is not yet threatened with destruction, but whose raison d'être will disappear with the chapel.
Only recent constructions on rue de Solférino and boulevard Vauban have crushed it with their mass, constructions that the project plans to demolish but to replace them with an even more massive building which will completely occupy the space, further denaturing more college.
The Ministry of Culture, on this subject, got seriously wrong.
And instead of acknowledging his mistakes, revel in them.
The reasons of the architect of the buildings of France to authorize the destruction, three in number, are astounding.
It pretends "
the disorders observed on the building
", which is false;
it puts forward its “
decommissioning
”, which has never been a reason to authorize the demolition of a church;
and it is based on "
needs related to changing educational needs
", which is a consideration unrelated to heritage.
None of the usual justifications for the destruction of historical monuments can be invoked here.
It should be remembered that the ABFs are directly dependent on the regional directorates for cultural affairs, themselves under the authority of the prefect.
We know that the prefects' first concern is often to avoid angering mayors.
However, the town hall of Lille has discarded the maintenance of the Palais Rameau on the Yncréa, the Catholic university owner of the chapel, via an emphyteutic lease.
The market was simple: the Yncréa restores the Palais Rameau (an obligation for a listed monument) and can in exchange destroy the chapel.
The ABF could not find fault with it.
Neither does the ministry.
The latter, alerted by heritage defenders, refused to intervene.
The chapel is in good condition, the Yncréa is rich.
None of the usual justifications for the destruction of historical monuments can be invoked here.
The only acceptable solution, in reality, would be an instance of classification, which would protect the chapel for a year, the time to reflect, with the owner, on an alternative project that today the latter refuses to consider.
The historic monument classification, decided on its own initiative if necessary, should follow, coupled with at least one registration from the college, which would definitely save this whole.
To read also:
Didier Rykner: "Replacing the stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame by contemporary would be vandalism"
Roselyne Bachelot undoubtedly loves heritage.
But she is poorly advised, her close entourage being made up of officials who have lost sight of their mission, and who are the only ones to accept this vandalism.
We do not count, on the other hand, the employees of the ministry who, in private, are sorry for their powerlessness.
Many voices, including Stéphane Bern and all the major national heritage protection associations, called on the Minister to act, joined by Europa Nostra, the European NGO recognized by Unesco.
It would be to the Minister's honor to save the chapel, which is still in her power but is becoming urgent: the stained glass windows have already been removed, and the preparatory work for the demolition has begun.
If it were to be destroyed, Roselyne Bachelot would forever be the minister who would bear the responsibility.
