01 / Major location
Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand
In Les Tours, an institution of preservation sets documentary continuity against the territory's transformations.
02 / Identity
A stable landmark devoted to preservation within the Bourg where Paris changes most visibly.
03 / Nocturnal reading
In Les Tours, the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand sets its stability against the construction around it. The institution preserves, classifies and makes available records intended to endure while the uses and routes of the neighbourhood continue to change.
For the Kindred, preservation is not ownership. A collection, a reference or a right of access can preserve the memory of an event long after its actors have disappeared. The library remains a human institution with its own methods and responsibilities. The scale of the building does not make its archives more available or compliant.
No supernatural presence specific to the place is known. The Bibliothèque matters through its social, cultural and geographic role. It fixes a point of memory in a sector of shifting routes and preserves the earlier versions that every transformation leaves behind.