THE FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY

THE FRENCH
NATIONAL LIBRARY

PARIS
FRANCE, 1989-1995

CULTURE

PR–083

At the end of the 1980s, the French National Library project was the cornerstone of the restructuring of Paris’s eastern districts. This urban policy found architectural expression here, which can be summed up as follows: “A library for France, a square for Paris.”

DETAIL

Situation

Quai François Mauriac, Paris, France

Year

1989–1995

Status

International competition, winning project

Site area

65 300 m²

Built-up area

365 000 m²

Project management

Ministry of Culture, Secretariat of State for Major Projects, Public Institution of the National Library of France, Paris

Project implementation

Dominique Perrault, architect, urbanist

Design offices

Séchaud & Bossuyt, HGM Guy Huguet SA, Syseca, Technip Seri Construction, Pieffet, Corbin et Tomasina, ACV, Éric Jacobsen

DESCRIPTION

The project is based primarily on the creation of a foundational void on the banks of the Seine, modeled on those of the Place de la Concorde, the Champ-de-Mars, and the Invalides. The greatest gift that can be given to Paris today is to offer it space. This radical and symbolic desire has led to a strategy of burying three-quarters of the building underground.

Dedicated to the conservation of books, the four corner towers facing each other delimit the institution’s space and define this hollowed-out area. The creation of the central garden, capturing nature within the artificial, has a strong metaphorical dimension and organizes the layout in the manner of a cloister dedicated to study. Five years of work to build more than 360,000 m², 2,000 workers assigned to the site for three years, a capacity of around 3,500 readers, 20 million books available: the figures give an idea of the scale of the program. Nevertheless, the project steers clear of ostentatious monumentality and architecture instrumentalized by power, focusing instead on the interiority of the building: reading rooms isolated from outside noise, and an interior garden that can only be discovered once inside the building. A minimalist repository of knowledge accumulated over the ages, the BNF skillfully plays with scale to lead visitors from the city to the heart of the book.

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF FRANCE, AN OPEN BOOK

Produced by InJam Production/France 3 Paris Île-de-France, directed by Lionel Boisseau.
Preview screening on March 28 at the BnF, broadcast on April 10, 2025 on France 3 and france.tv.

30 YEARS OF THE BNF-FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND

Ceremony attended by Dominique Perrault and Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost, architects, Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, Gilles Pécout, President of the BnF, former presidents of the BnF, members of the honorary committee, and the director of collections. Discussion moderated by Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, journalist and writer, deputy editor-in-chief of Le Point, with Barbara Cassin, author and academician, Costa Gavras, filmmaker, Pascal Ory, historian, academician, president of the scientific council, and Dominique Perrault.

Unveiling of the “Remarkable Contemporary Architecture” plaque awarded to the BnF, which marked the very beginning of the development of one of the largest urban planning projects in Paris, the Seine Left Bank district. “The commemoration of the inauguration of the BnF site tells us a lot about our present and our future, as François Mitterrand already stated 30 years ago: ‘It was fitting that France should mark the value it attaches to its intellectual heritage with an exemplary monument’” – Gilles Pécout, President of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

GALLERY

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“THE FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY: FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND’S SUCCESSFUL CHALLENGE”

“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of the building designed by Dominique Perrault in Paris, we delve into the underground passages and chaotic history of this city of knowledge, the last and final project of the socialist president.”

Read the article in Le Monde.

BNF : LA BIBLIOTHEQUE FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND FÊTE SES 30 ANS

Trente ans après sa création, la bibliothèque François Mitterrand est un symbole de modernité dans le monde. Elle renferme, entre autres, la réserve des livres rares.

Reportage M. Berrurier, J. Weyl, T. Le Hec, INA, J. Lavina
Diffusion sur France 2