The architecture of power

François Mitterrand’sGrands Travauxrevisited1

Bibliographic Data

ID7094871
AuthorsSusan P Collard (0000-0003-1890-430X, University of Sussex, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume14
Issue2
Pages195-208
Publication date2008-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cultural Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1028-6632 • E-ISSN: 1477-2833
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10286630802106375
OpenAlexW1971665121
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

Building on earlier research, this paper proposes a more refined analysis of how the main decision‐making processes pertaining to the grands travaux were established in the very early stages. Informed by consultation of official archival sources to which access was obtained by special permission (dérogation), it shows the manner and extent of the personal intervention by François Mitterrand, and offers new insights into his attachment to the Grand Louvre project, which drove the wider programme of architectural and cultural projects. It shows how and why a set of disparate projects were packaged into a flagship policy, and sheds light on the conflicts of power within the machinery of government under the Fifth Republic, especially relating to cultural policy during the Lang years. It shows how the highly politicised context motivated Mitterrand’s drive to circumvent normal administrative processes in order to mark his presidency with a cultural stamp. Keywords: architecturecultural policyFrançois Mitterrand Notes 1. The author gratefully acknowledges the funding of the research for this article partly by a British Academy Small Grant, and partly by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. 2. ‘The Musée du Quai Branly’, Editions Scala, 2006. 3. An Etablissement Public is a semi‐autonomous state‐run corporation. 4. Introduction to the Museum Guide Book, Musée du Quai Branly, 2006, p. 6. 5. This was marked out by Perronet in 1768 at the request of Louis XIV who wanted to link the château of St Germain to the Tuileries. 6. The archives so far consulted, on which this paper is based, are those of the Mission de Coordination presided by Yves Dauge, those of Jack Lang and his cabinet, and those of the cultural advisers to the President. These archives are normally subject to the 30 year rule (60 for presidential archives), but dérogations are granted for research projects considered to be of sufficient merit and significance. 7. This is often said to be the most powerful position in the French administration. 8. Lang’s note is referred to (using the wrong date) by Jean Lacouture (Citation1998, p. 49) in the second volume of his biography of Mitterrand. However, Lang’s memory of the annotation, apparently unverified by Lacouture, has produced a slightly different version of the president’s response: ‘Lovely idea. But very difficult to carry out, like all lovely ideas. Talk to me again about this’. The addition of these last few words, which the President used with parsimony, is not without significance. 9. Interview with Jack Lang by the author, December 1995. 10. Mollard’s version is however very deferential to Lang and lacks proper analysis: ‘A note from Jack Lang to François Mitterrand signals the launch of the project’, does not take account of the other factors that I bring to bear on this question, though the annotation is in this case correctly reported. His claim that the President’s annotation ‘signifies that the ball is henceforth in the hands of the Minister of Culture’ is clearly contradicted by subsequent events and decisions. 11. ‘Bouillon de Culture’, F2, 14 April 1995. 12. During a round table session of the Ministry of Culture’s Comité d’histoire on 14 November 2001, Guy Vidal, who was responsible for the transfer of the Ministry of Finance to the new building, recounted how Mitterrand told a fellow deputy, Jean‐Pierre Fourcade, that he intended to transform the whole Louvre into one big museum if he was elected. 13. Laclotte wrote: ‘I was closely associated to the Grand Louvre project, in which I played a secret role, or at least a discreet one’. The secret role was the fact that he was the administrator hierarchically superior to Anne Pingeot, and he was required to ‘manage’ this delicate situation. 14. A note from Quilliot to the President says: ‘If this announcement is made under the heading of ‘public works’, it will give a positive signal to the construction industry’ (5AG4 / 2516). 15. Interview with Jacques Sallois by the author, November 2006. 16. Quotation attributed to Mitterrand by Bernard Latarjet in Andrieux and Seitz, Citation1998, p. 131. 17. Due to constraints of space, it has not been possible here to give details of the appointments of the individual project managers and their teams in the Etablissements Publics. 18. Interviews with Jack Lang & Robert Lion by the author, November and December 1995. All the comments attributed to Lang in this paragraph are taken from this interview. Given the difficult relationship that very soon developed between Biasini and Lang, the existence of this note, which confirms Lang’s initial recommendation of Biasini, constituted a significant and surprising revelation for all those interviewed in my more recent research. 19. His note to the President of 27 July 1981, concluded with the sentence: ‘Only an act of sovereignty can give substance to the ambitious project of the Grand Louvre

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