Campaigners battling to save part of Marie Curie’s Paris laboratory have said the decision to take it apart brick by brick and rebuild it is “totally absurd”.
They warned that once the Pavillon des Sources is dismantled under the “compromise” plan announced by the new culture minister last week, it is unlikely to be restored.
They will make a last-ditch appeal on Monday to the French government and the president, Emmanuel Macron, to preserve the pavilion, one of the few remaining buildings that was used by the Nobel prize-winning scientist.
Stéphane Bern, appointed by Macron as France’s heritage tsar, said the decision made a “complete mockery” of Curie’s work and memory. “We say we want to defend the legacy of women and women in science and it’s just a lot of words. Here we have a chance to act to defend Marie Curie’s legacy,” he said.
“I have not stopped alerting the president to this. He said he would look at the file and all he’s done is ask the minister to convince me that this plan is a good one. Well, I am not convinced.”
The previous culture minister, Rima Abdul Malak, intervened a month ago to stop the destruction of the pavilion at 26 Rue d’Ulm in the city’s Latin Quarter, one of three buildings that made up Curie’s laboratory.
At the time, the conservative politician Rachida Dati vehemently opposed the demolition. Dati, who aims to become Paris mayor in 2026, had positioned herself against city hall – run by her bitter rival, Anne Hidalgo – which approved the plan last year. However, after her surprise appointment to replace Abdul Malak, Dati announced that the building would be torn down and rebuilt 20 metres from its original position.
“Everyone’s a winner in this story,” Dati said.
Baptiste Gianeselli, who has led the campaign to save the pavilion, accused Dati of playing politics. “Before Rachida Dati was minister, she was completely against the demolition of the pavilion and used this to hit at Anne Hidalgo. I thought we could count on her to save it,” Gianeselli said.
“She’s two minutes at the culture ministry and announces this. It is the worst of decisions. In the last 30 years, there is not one example of a [historic] building being taken apart and rebuilt. Even if it’s possible, it makes no sense.
“The building’s value is not the bricks, but its history and memory. It’s not a Lego construction you can take apart and put back together again.”
Didier Rykner, the founder and editor of the online magazine La Tribune de l’Art, who campaigns for the preservation of France’s historic buildings and monuments, said Dati’s idea was “totally absurd”.
“When this first came up, Rachida Dati told me that if she had the power, she would save the Pavillon des Sources. Well, now she has the power, but this makes no sense. It is ridiculous. For 30 years we have been told [historic] buildings will be taken down and rebuilt and it’s never happened.”
He cited the Lustucru factory in the southern city of Arles, designed and built by the Eiffel company, as an example of many broken rebuilding promises. The unique 20-metre-high metal structure, constructed in 1906, was taken apart in 2018 to make way for a shopping centre. Six years on, it remains in pieces.
The Curie Institute said the pavilion was used to store rubbish and was “polluted and unusable”. It wants to construct a five-storey research centre on the site. An art deco building from the 1930s is also to be destroyed. The institute has welcomed Dati’s decision, which will add millions to the cost of the project and cause delays.
Bern and Gianeselli are due to meet government representatives on Monday to urge a rethink of the laboratory plan.
“We all know it’s just an excuse to demolish it. It will never be rebuilt,” Gianeselli said. “Marie Curie is a world icon. She deserves better than this.”
