An astronomical bill and a judicial conflict that hardens: summoned to pay 170 million euros for the additional costs incurred during the construction, the architect Jean Nouvel files a complaint against the Philharmonie de Paris, accusing him of claiming sums "undue ".
Nearly five years after the inauguration of the prestigious Parisian concert hall, nothing is better between the star architect, father of Quai Branly and Louvre Abu Dhabi, and the public institution Philharmonie de Paris. At the heart of the standoff: the financial slippage that occurred during the construction of the building, the cost of which went from 173 million euros to the launch of the project in 2006 to 386 million euros at its inauguration in 2015.
Who is responsible for the additional costs of the site?
For the Jean Nouvel Workshops, this overtaking is explained by the faulty management of the Philharmonie itself. For the latter, it is attributable to the architect, accused of having greatly undervalued the costs and having made "permanent changes". In April 2017, the public institution responsible for managing the hall sent a € 170.6 million invoice to the architect. This request, confirmed by "enforceable title" in September 2017, includes 110 million euros in late penalties.
"The sum requested (...) is nearly ten times higher than the fees of Ateliers Jean Nouvel, it is equivalent to a death sentence" of the cabinet of the architect, indignant his lawyers, Mr. William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth. "Such a request, perfectly iniquitous, is unprecedented in the world of architecture," they say. In parallel with the battle that has been going on for two years before the administrative courts, the lawyers have decided to counter-attack the criminal, filing a complaint on October 14 with the National Public Prosecutor's Office (PNF).
A "sabotage" according to Jean Nouvel
"The facts are all the more unusual as" the Philharmonie "has chosen to pursue only the main contractor, excluding companies.This differentiated treatment finds no legitimate explanation," denounces the complaint. lawyers, the request of the Philharmonie falls under the "concussion" - namely the perception by an agent or a public institution sums they know undue. The lawyers also denounce facts of "favoritism" for service orders with Bouygues, selected without effective competition, without the agreement of the architect.
Jean Nouvel and the Philharmonie are engaged in a mediatic and judicial struggle since the inauguration of the concert hall on January 14, 2015, to which the architect had refused to participate.
Believing his "denatured" project, Jean Nouvel assigned the Philharmonie at the beginning of 2015 to oblige him to "modifying work". However, the court dismissed it, failing to provide enough information on the lack of conformity with the original project.
The Pritzker Prize 2008, which considers itself evicted from the project and therefore free to express itself, has even spoken of "sabotage", accusing the director of the Philharmonie of making "disastrous" decisions during the work.