Paris: Francois Mitterrand library

France's Presidents and their building projects

It is only since the creation of the 5th Republic (in 1958) that France has had influential, powerful presidents. A tradition has arisen that a president can select his own pet building project(s); hence for instance the Pompidou Centre, the Institute of the Arab World. These buildings are almost invariably of a cultural nature, whilst at the same time enabling a president to make a significant mark on the landscape.


Francois Mitterrand (president from 1981-1995) was an intellectual and bibliophile. One of his preoccupations was to reorganise the French National Library, the facilities of which had reached saturation point. This new library was the consequence.

At the four corners of the site are L-shaped towers, symbolic of open books; Mitterrand would often read several books at a time. To me the site is impressive (mainly virtue of its sheer size) but singularly lacking in soul.

The one redemptive feature however is the undulating Simone de Beauvoir footbridge which can just be seen to the right of the photo; this bridge leads across the Seine and straight into the delightful Parc de Bercy.