On Wednesday, May 2, the Wall Street Journal posted an article about the business center of
Paris, yes there is one for those visitors who have not gone over the hill and down from
the Arc de Triomphe (GO HERE). This business complex called La Defense, sits
on the city’s western edge and includes a collection of glass enclosed uber-buildings
that flank its grand plaza. As stated in Wikipedia, it is where “statements
of corporate ambition can be made,” hyperbole intended. It might sound better
in French.
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| Central Plaza |
This complex is now faced with three new towers that will
dramatically affect the view, as well as the perception, of Paris; even the
proposers are worried about how their clients and customers will see their
attempts at make a signature statement about who they are in this historic city.
And the residents of Paris are taking to the battlements to ensure that they
will be heard. It’s all so Parisian.
I was never a fan of this urban complex. It is over blown
and has none of the charm of the rest of the city just over the hill. It is
about 400 acres with 3.5 million SF of office space, more than 150,000
employees and 20,000 permanent residents. There is retail (of some kind),
hotels, and smatterings of monuments and sculpture. What really takes the
visitor’s breath away is the central plaza, all 3.3 million square feet of flagstone
and sidewalks. These huge plates of stone laid in an undulating grid pattern,
when I was there, rocked and tilted as you walked the plaza, quite unsettling I
assure you.
La Grande Arche (finished in 1989 and a homage to the
original Arc de Triomphe), is the central structure and in line with the Champs-Elysees.
The arch has a grand stair under its arch that at most times, has hundreds of
people sitting about, many, I’m sure, trying to understand the space. Under
this massive structure are rail links and metro stations; just remember that
the Louvre is just a few Metro stops away. It contains government offices.
I’ve used some images from Wikipedia and other sources,
my photos are slides (shows you my tech at the time I was there, lost the
images from the second visit – apologies). The contrasts are spectacularly
unreal, walk through Tuileries, grab a seat on the Metro, and then rise into La
Defense, you would think you not only changed centuries but planets as well.
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| The New Towers are on the 'Photoshopped' Right |
Successful urban plazas are difficult at best, time may
heal them or perspectives and scales change as buildings grow and tastes alter.
The biggest challenge is economics and approvals. Either can kill the effort.
These new buildings, the Phare Tower with 70 floors and the Hermitage Plaza
Towers (2 and Russian backed) at 86 floors (and a tad shorter than the Eiffel Tower), will be some
of the tallest buildings in Europe. The need to build taller is worldwide, so
just get on the band wagon and go for it.
Stay Tuned . . . .
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