Didier Repellin
Didier Repellin is a Chief Architect for Historic Monuments and since 1996 an Inspector General for Historic Monuments with responsibilities on a national level. As an inspector general he is one of seven consultants to the French Minister of Culture for major and difficult projects. Didier gives many conferences and lectures all over the world. A long-time collaborator with French Heritage Society, he hosts the American Richard Morris Hunt Fellows who visit restoration projects under his supervision throughout France and in Rome. He always works with local contemporary architects, engineers, landscapers as sees heritage as a link between cultures and generations, past and future.
He has been in charge of historic districts and projects such as The old Lyon and the dossier for its designation as a UNESCO's World Heritage Site. He has also been assigned to the Loire and Haute Loire départements. Since 1991 he is in charge of two other districts in the Provence region, which include the towns of Avignon with the Popes' Palace, Orange with the Antique Theater, both are World Heritage Sites, Aix-en-Provence with numerous churches and private mansions, and since 1994 he has been in charge of the French monuments in Rome: Villa Medici, Trinità dei Monti and five other churches. Since 1996, he is Inspector General for three French provinces: Alsace (Strasbourg Cathedral, Haut-Kœnigsbourg Castle...etc), Auvergne (Clermont-Ferrand, Le Puy-en-Velay, a XIIth century pilgrimage site) and Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
His work includes the restoration worksite and the development and readaptive use of numerous and famous buildings from Roman theaters from the 2nd century to Le Corbusier's convent of La Tourette built in 1968.
Didier spent two years in the United States, attending courses at Columbia University, training at Lyndhurst Castle, and working on several rehabilitation projects in San Francisco. In 1989-90, thanks to his contacts in the US, he set up the twinning of Primatiale St Jean Gothic church in Lyon, then being restored, with St John the Divine Cathedral in New York, a Gothic construction being built today and also set up the exchange of French and American stone cutters from the two sites.
As a preservation international consultant for heritage, he has led many missions of experts: in Yemen, Syria, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and China. In Cambodia (1991), before the return of the King Sihanouk, he managed the restoration of the Napoleon III Pavilion, inside the Royal Palace in Phnom-Penh, with 50 volunteers and 300 local workers. In Singapore, since 1986, he has been a consultant for URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) and STPB (Singapore Tourist Promotion Board) several times has managed the restoration and reuse of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus.In Malaysia (Penang), he led the restoration of the Syed Alatas Mansion, a training worksite for craftsmen and the house, once restored, became a training center on restoration techniques. Under the patronage of the Prime Minister, he managed the restoration of the Lebuh Acheh Mosque, and in 2001 he helped the States of Penang and Melaka to prepare a dossier for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.