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ces deux pôles touristiques : la tour de Londres et la statue de la Liberté ont été classées dans leur pays respectif et au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco, qui recense les biens culturels et naturels re- présentant un intérêt exception- nel pour l’humanité. Cette notion de « patrimoine » est devenue internationale. À Pékin, l’inscription au patrimoine mon- dial de l’Unesco en 1987 de la Cité interdite, symbole du pouvoir des dynasties impériales, a sonné en LE PATRIMOINE, UNE NOTION FLOUE

Chine le début d’une prise de conscience de la nécessité de sau- vegarder de prestigieux lieux de mémoire. « Parallèlement, au xx e  siècle, les historiens ont élargi leur champ de vision en prenant en considération les bâtiments dans leur environnement et non plus de manière isolée , avance Isabelle Backouche, spécialiste de l’histoire urbaine. C’est ainsi que le Marais, promis à la des- truction, a été en grande partie sauvé. » Le quartier, témoin des xvii e et xviii e  siècles avec ses hô- tels particuliers et ses jardins, a été entièrement classé en

nounced after its construction for the 1889 World Fair, it is now the very symbol of Paris. The land it was built on was leased to Gustave Eiffel for 20 years so he could re- coup his investment, since he per- sonally financed a quarter of the construction costs,” explains ar- chitect and historian Bertrand Lemoine. After its great success, Eiffel asked for a larger percen- tage of the financial windfall from the huge popularity of his tower and the concession was extended until 1989. “When the city re- gained ownership of the land, gi- ven the monument’s fame no one dared touch it,” laughs Lemoine. “In the 1950s, certain senior of- ficials at the French Department of Architecture campaigned for heritage sites to incorporate contemporary elements to de- monstrate more strongly our he- ritage’s living character,” says Isabelle Backouche. Barcelona was a forerunner in this regard with the Sagrada Família Basilica, designed by Antoni Gaudí in 1882, unfinished at the time of his death and now scheduled for completion by 2026. But the ad- dition of contemporary elements has often stirred controversy. In Paris, the construction of I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid in the Louvre’s main courtyard was harshly criticized when the pro- ject was first unveiled in 1984. Some mocked this reference to Egyptian pyramids by drawing a parallel between the tombs of the kings resting inside and one of the greatest museums in the wor- ld being moribund. Thirty years later, Pei’s pyramid is one of the Louvre’s great icons. The same holds true for the glass dome built over the ruins of Berlin’s Reichstag, which became home to the German Parliament fol- lowing the city’s reunification. In 1971, Renzo Piano’s Centre Georges Pompidou, in stark contrast with its immediate envi- ronment, was met with the same disdain but was ultimately adop- ted and beloved by Parisians.

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La Cité interdite, à Pékin, a été inscrite au patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco en 1987. Beijing’s Forbidden City was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

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104 - PARIS WORLDWIDE JUILLET  / AOÛT JULY  / AUGUST

2019