Grands Projets of François Mitterrand

The Grands Projets of François Mitterrand (variants: Grands Travaux or Grands Projets Culturels; officially: Grandes Operations d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme) was an architectural program to provide modern monuments in Paris, the city of monuments, symbolizing France’s role in art, politics, and economy at the end of the 20th century. The program was initiated by the 21st President of France while he was in office. Mitterrand viewed the civic building projects, estimated at the time to cost the Government of France 15.7 billion francs, both as a revitalisation of the city, as well as contemporary architecture compatible with Socialist Party politics. The scale of the project and its ambitious nature was compared to the major building schemes of Louis XIV.

This grandiose plan, commencing in 1982, was termed as a “testament to political symbolism and process” launched in the post-World War II France, as an exercise in urban planning. The Grands Projets, described as "eight monumental building projects that in two decades transformed the city skyline", included Louvre Pyramid, Musee d'Orsay, Parc de la Villette, Arab World Institute, Opéra Bastille, Grande Arche de La Défense, Ministry of Finance and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the last and most expensive of the lot. The projects did not all begin under Mitterrand—the Musee d'Orsay, the La Defense Arch, Arab World Institute, and La Villette commenced under his predecessor, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing – but they are attributed to Mitterrand as they radically changed form under him.

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