At Drouot, on May 18, he was enthroned on a pedestal.
Bought by a group of lovers of Parisian heritage, it is now elevated to the rank of symbol of
"beautiful Paris"
.
This Tuesday at 6 p.m., the famous public bench in cast iron with the arms of the capital, designed by the architect Gabriel Davioud in the 19th century, will be carried, as a delegation, to the town hall.
A snub after the #saccageparis movement heavily criticized the management of the town hall.
The municipality, which
"obviously accepts this beautiful bench with pleasure"
, has undertaken to
"reinstall it in an appropriate place"
.
Read also:
#SaccageParis confronts Anne Hidalgo with the reality of cleanliness
The “Operation Davioud bench” and its online jackpot have brought together more than 250 people around this
“slightly crazy project”
- a little mischievous, too - launched by Parisians exasperated to see
“ransack”
historic
street
furniture. Enthusiastic by the popular mobilization, Me Christophe Lucien, auctioneer of the Paris mon amour auction, waived his fees, while the seller made
"a friendly price"
: 1200 euros.
“This purchase, then the handing over of the bench to Ms. Hidalgo, maybe it will create an electric shock, when the town hall is preparing its manifesto for the new Parisian aesthetic
, hopes Me Lucien.
She must understand that it is bad for people to live in ugly places! ”
Far from being opposed
to "modernization"
, the collective believes that it can only be done
"by respecting the history and heritage of the capital"
.
"Our elected officials should be the guarantors,"
recalls Quentin, at the initiative of the pot.
We are simply asking that the beauty of Paris be preserved. Its period street furniture in particular, which many envy us. The new furniture, disparate, unsightly and unsustainable, erases part of the soul of Paris and goes against the objectives of the bioclimatic PLU. Our city was beautiful, it is less so today. This is one of the strong messages from participants in the #saccageparis movement: it is high time to repair Paris. ”
We are preserving the historical heritage, but this is not incompatible with developing more modern furniture.
The city is about new uses and new needs
Emmanuel Grégoire, deputy in charge of town planning
Will Anne Hidalgo lend herself to this little
"restitution ceremony"
on Tuesday
?
“No, she has a lot of things to do
, sweeps her first deputy in charge of town planning, Emmanuel Grégoire, who will be there.
"I do not understand why they suspect us of not maintaining, or even removing, these benches
," he says.
We are preserving the historical heritage, but this is not incompatible with developing more modern furniture. The city is about new uses and new needs: we assume to try new things. ”
Where will the bench be installed?
"We think about it"
, answers the first deputy. In any case, several district town halls have already applied.
“During the time that will allow the bench to be restored and its place of installation validated, the town hall told us that it would exhibit it at the Arsenal pavilion
,” indicates Jacques, another member of the collective.
But it should not be presented as a vestige of the Paris of yesteryear: this timeless bench is at the same time our past, our present and our future: we want it to quickly find its use ”
.
The balance of the pot - nearly 4,000 euros - will be donated to three heritage defense associations: SOS Paris, Sites & Monuments and France Nature Environnement. As for the collective, it still has
"a lot of other ideas to push the town hall to repair Paris"
.