[Fabb]

http://ladefense.fr/images/defense2015.jpg

Today, the (serious) French daily Les Echos confirmed the rumor : several very tall skyscrapers will be built in La Défense (two or three). One of them will culminate at 400 m (1300 ft) and become the new symbol of La Défense.

For those who can read French :

Les 500 000 m2 à construire seront répartis sur le site en plusieurs bâtiments, notamment dans deux ou trois tours de très grande hauteur dont une pourrait constituer un signal fort pour le quartier d'affaires en atteignant 400 m de haut, un record en Europe.

This project is currently being examined by the Minister of the Equipment. Construction should begin in 2010.

[Austinlee]

Congratulations Fabb and to Paris!!! That is great news for skyscraper fans who live in one of the worlds richest and most high class countries in the world but have only a very small amount of scrapers compared to other countries of similar wealth. La Defense is truly a lovely and well planned out cluster of buildings.... These new ones will be a great addition. Merci Les Echos!

[VivaLFuego]

Very cool.
It's nice to see cities like London and Paris finally getting into the skyscraper game, and so far most of their more recent entries have been very pleasing.

[Swede]

My French is pretty bad, but are those 500,000m² a total figure for the two/three towers or per tower?
(1m²~10sqft)

[peo]

Paris has without doubt the best skyline in Europe.

[big T]

My French is pretty bad, but are those 500,000m² a total figure for the two/three towers or per tower?
(1m²~10sqft)
It's the grand total for the whole expansion project, of which the projected couple of supertalls are only a part. It looks like it's still in the very early stage though, that figure could change I guess.
Anyway, pretty exciting stuff for LD!

[Nantais]

My French is pretty bad, but are those 500,000m² a total figure for the two/three towers or per tower?
(1m²~10sqft)

500,000 m² is the total figure.

[Grumpy]

this is GREAT news :pepper:

[volguus zildrohar]

Ooh....this will be good...

[Presswood]

Great news for the magnifique city of Paris :) , :banana: .

[Bergenser]

cool... Hope they gonnna build them soon ;)

[spyguy]

This should be quite interesting.

[R@ptor]

Finally! It's about time that Europe gets some supertalls.

First Moscow, then London, now Paris and we have yet to hear more about Madrid's planned 75F towers. :banana:

[Fabb]

It's the grand total for the whole expansion project, of which the projected couple of supertalls are only a part. It looks like it's still in the very early stage though, that figure could change I guess.


That's correct.
500 000 m2 (about 5 million sq ft) is the equivalent of two Coeur Défense, which is not a lot.

There are virtually no empty sites in La Défense, so the construction of the new towers will require a few demolitions (modifications of motorways are planned), and they'll probably be very slender.

[alexjon]

[IMG]Les 500 000 m2 à construire seront répartis sur le site en plusieurs bâtiments, notamment dans deux ou trois tours de très grande hauteur dont une pourrait constituer un signal fort pour le quartier d'affaires en atteignant 400 m de haut, un record en Europe.

Are there really no buildings as tall in europe?

What's the tallest building in europe anyway?

[plinko]

That's correct.
500 000 m2 (about 5 million sq ft) is the equivalent of two Coeur Défense, which is not a lot.

5 Million SF is actually quite alot.

The Sears Tower is about 4 Million SF. Two Coeur Defense is probably in the vicinity of 1.2-1.5 Million SF (I've seen it and while it does have large floor plates, I assure you it is MUCH smaller than the Sears Tower).

For another comparison, the Chase Tower in Houston, Texas which is 75 floors (1000') is about 2 Million SF and the Library Tower in Los Angeles (73 floors) is about 1.5 Million SF.

Good to see Paris going vertical.

[Fabb]

5 Million SF is actually quite alot.

The Sears Tower is about 4 Million SF. Two Coeur Defense is probably in the vicinity of 1.2-1.5 Million SF (I've seen it and while it does have large floor plates, I assure you it is MUCH smaller than the Sears Tower).

It's smaller, of course. But Coeur Défense includes several low rises that complete the towers. I'm pretty sure the floor area is close to 2.5 million sq ft.

For another comparison, the Chase Tower in Houston, Texas which is 75 floors (1000') is about 2 Million SF and the Library Tower in Los Angeles (73 floors) is about 1.5 Million SF.


I guess that the massing of the new towers in La Défense will be similar.
Not the design though. The developers will probably do their best to select innovative designs.

[Phil]

Actually, if I understand the whole thing, 850 000m² will be built, but LD will grow by only 500 000 since 350 000m² will be demolition-construction.

They also already said a few months ago that the 400m tower will be 180 000m², that means it won't be the largest office building of the district, since as Fabb said, Coeur Défense is larger.

[UrbaniDesDev]

I'm curious as to how Les Parisiens a repondu. I lived in Paris in the 80s. I imagine this is a huge controversy there. I think this was inevitable and probably a good thing. Is this the beging of a ring of towers around Paris?

[R@ptor]

Are there really no buildings as tall in europe?

What's the tallest building in europe anyway?

Top10 completed: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?16816060

Top10 curently u/c: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?16816152

[xiahoudun]

Wow, finally some superscrapers build in Europe. Congratulations, Fabb, and if all goes well I'll come over and visit you after construction starts. We will have to supply this site with regular updates :D Anyways, Paris is closer than Shanghai.

[Stu]

I'm curious as to how Les Parisiens a repondu. I lived in Paris in the 80s. I imagine this is a huge controversy there. I think this was inevitable and probably a good thing. Is this the beging of a ring of towers around Paris?


Maybe not so controversial as it's in LD, which was basically designed for office buildings.

It would be great if Jean Nouvel would design one of them. Tour San Fin was amazing back in the day.

[big T]

^^actually you may still have a point here, although LD is not located within the city of Paris proper I'm not sure who exactly will take part in the "public consultation" (or whatever it's called) when the project actually gets defined. Let's hope the Green party doesn't stir too much sh*t then, to name just one of the many opponents such a project is sure to gather.

Those towers will be slender indeed. that's really got some potential, I can't wait to see the designs!

[Fabb]

It would be great if Jean Nouvel would design one of them. Tour San Fin was amazing back in the day.

I was thinking the same.

[MolsonExport]

les bonnes nouvelles!

[canucklehead2]

They better build TOUR SAN FINS. To me thats the best unbuilt skyscraper on the planet!

[Stu]

I just read some of the thread about this on SSC... there are some pretty idiotic comments on it. Props to the Parisian forumers for being level headed though.

apparently there is supposed to be more information released sometime next week regarding these projects?

[John Hinds]

So there are no developers lined up yet?
The government has just said it would like some big highrises on those sites before 2020? If that's the case I find that a bit strange.

What is currently on the sites these buildings would be on?

[Phil]

Don't worry for developpers, it's not like they don't want to build and the government will force them, that's more like the opposite. the EPAD decides how much can be built there, etc. Developpers are willing to build, and new buildings are not empty very long. The vacancy rate in LD is around 7% , that's not a bad figure, and that's mostly older buildings that are unoccupied.

Anyway, they way La Défense's develoment works is just different from what can be seen elsewhere, it's not just that "the government wants big highrise there before 2020"....

[Metropolitan]

Here are some new informations !

Here is a video showing La Défense 2015 project :
http://www.ladefense.fr/goodies.php

And here is the Presse release documentation :
http://www.ladefense.fr/presse_dossier_presse.php

[Grumpy]

http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/LD2015_Est02.jpg

http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/LD2015_Sud02.jpg

http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/LD2015_Ouest02.jpg

http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/LD2015_SudEst02.jpg

http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/LD2015_NordEst01.jpg

[TONIO DEL BARRIO]

I dream :banana: :banana:

oh no it's reality

It is a dreaming project

I'm very happy, may be the most beautiful skyline of Europe in 2015

:cheers:

I'm very surprise but very surprise in the good sense, i wait that since.....long ...long....time

It is official....

[Spooky873]

yeah paris!

[Fabb]

The site of the future 400 m tower :

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/martial.gratte-ciel/h5.jpg

Photo : martial.gratte-ciel

[Bergenser]

Originally Posted by R@ptor Top10 curently u/c: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?16816152

looks like russia and Spain is gonna be the greatest skyscraper nasions in Europe, in the feuture :D

[CHAPINM1]

Paris will get the skyline it should have always had, and definatelly shows that Paris as well as European cities are not afraid to grow like cities in the rest of the world including cities in Asia, North America, and even the Middle East! Paris is a large world class city that has always had the potential to stand out like Chicago, NYC, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Shanghi. I'm exited to see what happens... Way to go Paris! :D

[Pandemonious]

I have seen what one of these buildings will look like. It is pretty awesome, and really tall. Two people that sit near me in the office are working on building the presentation models of it.

[Fabb]

I have seen what one of these buildings will look like. It is pretty awesome, and really tall. Two people that sit near me in the office are working on building the presentation models of it.

Thanks for the info... I can't wait to know more.
The projects were supposed to be released this month.

[LT4f]

I have seen what one of these buildings will look like. It is pretty awesome, and really tall. Two people that sit near me in the office are working on building the presentation models of it.
If you steal a picture of the whole thing before the official presentation, I'll buy you a drink next time you're in New York. :D
Of course it all depends on whether you are willing to sacrifice your professional integrity and carreer for a glass of beer :haha:
Anyway, if you say it's awesome and tall, that's enough for me to feel more confident about this, for a moment I was afraid something would go awfully wrong in the project, but LD2015 seems to be on the right tracks

[Fabb]

In a recent publication by EPAD, the authority in charge of the development of La Défense :

Time to reach for the sky

In order to become once again a window on modernity and a laboratory for architectural innovation, La Défense must claim its "heavens" ! The crest-like skyline of the business quarter in the west of Paris today has in some respects been inherited from the original development - which envisaged a central axis defined by compositional unity and bordered by lateral alignments, following an adaptation logic consistent with the successive urban planning choices of the last five decades as well as in the economic context. The outcome of this patient "alchemy" is a silhouette that is both heterogeneous and compact, and when seen from Meudon or Mont Valérien in the south, or Asnière or Saint-Denis in the north, gives a sense of cohesion and poetry.

However, the relative uniformity of the outline (consisting mostly of parallel piped towers), the irregular appearance of the axial view and the "altitudinal timidity" of these programmes (nothing over 200 metres) still leaves considerable room for manoeuvre in the imagination of the architect. Where projects combining formal innovation, technological performance, environmental virtues and reaching for the sky positively flourish not only in America and Asia, but also in Europe, (this presents as many arguments for the investor as for the user), it is inconceivable that La Défense should remain trapped under its current ceiling.

Suffice it to say that the international competition blueprints for the next towers in La Défense will go beyond the taboo of height and give it its rightful place on the international skyline !

EPAD's ambition will notably take shape in realizing its plans for exceptional office tower blocks, one of which will reach at least 400 metres. This will be exemplary in respecting the requirements for sustainable development, innovatory in aesthetic and performance terms, value-creating for both investor and user, stimulating to the eye and for the spirit alike. Its silhouette will be an exclamation mark to the continuing La Défense story.

[Marco]

:tup: great news!

[Grumpy]

400 metres in La Défense ... :banana:

[FrenchyMiami]

Anyone knows what his going on to the old clinique Medicis Rue Paul Napoleon Roinard it seems like a good spot to develop offices with retail underneath or to develop a residential development...this area is ripe for development next to the main commercial street

what are ur thoughts? any insider info? or do u think we can still bid up the land

[mczamalek]

Please keep us posted, Fabb. Even articles on the activity of this in French only, are appreciated.;)

[Phil]

Latest news :

Destruction of the old building in Levallois is over, the construction of the 2 new skyscrapers planned on the site (2x165m) should start by mid 2007.
Construction of the meridien La défense (87m) should start in mid 2007 too.

Regarding taller things :
AXA will leave their building before the end of this year, the renovation (225m to roof) should start in 2007.

There's a rumor that Generali is planning a building between 240 and 280m / 90 000m², right behind Gan (where the Iris building is). Architects are Valode & Pistre (they already made T1 and Opus12 in La Défense.)

Unibail should reveal the design of a ~300m / ~130 000m² tower next to the CNIT by the end of November.

[Fabb]

http://www.businessimmo.info/_img_upload/wbg_lettre/_users_utilisateur_desktop_une145.jpg

^Tour Generali (*not* the taller tower of the new scheme)

[avcellvs]

Damned a spire ! Revolution in La Défonce ! Strange crown, I don't really know what to think about it yet. Cladding seems sophisticated, we need bigger renderings and other angles.

[ryszard]

Hello

See these photos of La Defense (http://www.world-city-photos.org/Paris/photos/La_Defense/)

[Grumpy]

Is this the beginning of a new era for LD? I certainly hope so altough I must say that I am surprised ! Is this really going to be built ?

:fingerscrossed:

[kenratboy]

Wow, that is awesome. I do like how Paris is keeping thei traditional areas...traditional, but have some areas where they do some crazy stuff - not just have everything mixed in.

[Bergenser]

This project is amazing, but seems a bit unreal for me... :(
if one of those ever get under u/c please post the news.
then I would congratulate Paris. :D
The tallest tower in La Defence is ~180 metres... it's time to change that.

[mczamalek]

http://www.businessimmo.info/_img_upload/wbg_lettre/_users_utilisateur_desktop_une145.jpg

^Tour Generali (*not* the taller tower of the new scheme)

Odd- my initial reaction is inelegant, but difficult to judge from such a small rendering of only one angle.
Thanks for the updates Phil and Fabb.

[avcellvs]

Tour Générali in La Défense skyline viewed from Notre Dame, rendering by Brisavoine. He gave it a 280m height an added the planned 300m high tower "tour signal" whose design should be chosen soon. Only the crown will emerge from the skyline.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/oc/thumb/e/e7/Generali2.jpg/950px-Generali2.jpg

[mczamalek]

^fantastic- Thanks for posting it, avcellvs!

In context it appears quite congruent. I wonder how this will all look from Boulogne-billancourt?:D

[mczamalek]

excuse my ignorance, but 'tour signal' will be on the same site as 'tour sans fin' was proposed?

[Fabb]

excuse my ignorance, but 'tour signal' will be on the same site as 'tour sans fin' was proposed?

No. It's close, but not the exact same location. The site initially planned for the Tour Sans Fins is already constructed (low rises by KPF)
In fact, the site where the Tour Signal should rise is just across a highway, next to the CNIT.

[Fabb]

New renderings (still crappy...)

http://static.flickr.com/102/292119793_9494b017ec_o.jpg

http://pix.nofrag.com/aa/59/3bcece5668e019dfe4238bd9e0eet2.jpg

[R@ptor]

Here's a rendering by SSC forumer 'YKLD'

http://perso.numericable.fr/ydelavau/ykld/signal_jour.jpg

[Metropolitan]

Here is a rendering I've created which pictures the projects for which the design is already public.

This rendering does not show Tour Signal as the winner of the contest will only be known in few weeks. It also doesn't picture the other skyscrapers which are planned in the LD 2013 operation since we don't know them already.

http://grandparis.free.fr/ld2011_annote.jpg

here are the towers appearing: Tour Generali: 308 meters (unofficial height), approved, completion planned for 2011.
renovated tour AXA: 225 meters, approved,renovation due to start in early 2007, completion planned for 2009.
Tour T1: 185 meters, under construction, completion planned for 2008.
Tour Granite: 184 meters, under construction, completion planned for 2008.
Hôtel Méridien La Défense: 83 meters, approved, construction due to start in early 2007, completion planned for 2009.

[Fabb]

You did a very good job !
Although I'm pretty sure that Generali would be slightly taller.

[kenratboy]

Wow, Paris may have a world-class skyline if this all happens!

[Nowhereman1280]

Call me crazy, but I really really like the design of that Tour Generali a lot. I hope the facade ends up like it looks in the rendering, the green with a very nicely textured surface! If it looks anything like that when its built, I have to say I will be severely jealous of this building!

[samoen313]

I've looked at that design a lot since it was released and it has certainly grown on me like a lot of other people. But that cone on top still doesn't look right. It's a great building without the cone and, on paper, its green attributes are impressive. But that cone, gosh, I just don't see how it could be such a winning design. I wish we could see what the other competition entries looked like.

[avcellvs]

First renderings for the "Tour signal". Winning design by Thom Mayne from Morphosis. 300 meters high, completed in 2012.

http://www.20minutes.fr/img/photos/20mn/locales/20061127/vue-opus-vignette.jpg

http://grandparis.free.fr/tour-signal.gif

[Fabb]

Again, I don't know what to think.
It doesn't look tall. I wonder if the height figure includes the transparent wall extensions.

http://static.flickr.com/119/307692048_e40f91d4c0_o.jpg

[avcellvs]

I love it, a radical step away from the bulky, boxy and truncated towers of La Défense. A nice companion to T1. Let's hope it will be the opening of a new era.

Is it really 300 meters high ? It doesn't look that high on one of the renderings.

[EyOne]

New renders:
http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170008_2.jpg
http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170044_4.jpg
http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170114_5.jpg

[avcellvs]

More renderings from http://www.batiactu.com/data/27112006/27112006-165754.html. This is getting really exciting !

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170044_4.jpg http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170114_5.jpg

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20061127_170008_2.jpg

[Minato Ku]

First renderings for the "Tour signal". Winning design by Thom Mayne from Morphosis. 300 meters high, completed in 2012.

http://www.20minutes.fr/img/photos/20mn/locales/20061127/vue-opus-vignette.jpg

It look 300 m in this rendering
Look the Grande Arch 110m

Wow I am very happy. :banana:

[Fabb]

I hope that the "hair" at the top is not 50 meters tall. Otherwise, this tower is a total cheater.

[BXC]

Can't say it's not interesting.

[Wheelingman04]

Great news. I love La Defense!!

[Irwin]

It's different. The frayed top hasn't been done before - it looks like frayed fabric.

It's still a while before it's completed - six years away! I can't wait that long!

[westsider]

Wow, looks like somebody's glass appendage got ripped off.

[Thefigman]

Wow. La Defense wil have a very unique look to it in a few years.

[PuyoPiyo]

Tour Générali in La Défense skyline viewed from Notre Dame, rendering by Brisavoine. He gave it a 280m height an added the planned 300m high tower "tour signal" whose design should be chosen soon. Only the crown will emerge from the skyline.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/oc/thumb/e/e7/Generali2.jpg/950px-Generali2.jpg

What is that very tall black tower in the middle of skyline?

[skylife]

Hmmm, let the Americanization of Paris continue I suppose...

[Basethor]

Unibail just choosed Morphosis after an international competition, for the design and construction of a 300m high tower in La Defense.
Pretty dary...

http://archipictures.free.fr/IMAGES/morphosis.jpg

[avcellvs]

Better renderings ( http://www.ladefense.fr/goodies_images.php ) :

http://www.ladefense.fr/forum/epadago/projetmorphosis.jpg

http://www.ladefense.fr/images/thumbnails/800/vueopus_800x600.jpg

[Fabb]

The rendering is misleading. It can't be that translucent.
Besides, even though it's supposed to be already approved, I bet that the new French president that will be elected next May, will have a say on the project. He could kill it or change it altogether.

[lax723]

Paris has chosen an American architect to build the French capital's tallest new building since the Eiffel Tower in the 19th Century.
The new curving skyscraper will be the centrepiece of a redevelopment project in the north-west of Paris.

Thom Mayne's Los Angeles-based company Morphosis beat off rivals as prestigious as the UK's Norman Foster and France's Jean Nouvel.

Building regulations have kept tall buildings out of Paris for 30 years.

One notable exception is the Tour Montparnasse which rises 180 metres (590 ft) in the south-west of the capital.

An international jury announced the winner, following a contest organised by French property group Unibail as part of a project to revamp La Defense business district.

The Paris city government opposes plans for a new skyscraper in the district, but the project is backed by French public body EPAD, which is in charge of the district's wider renovation, AFP news agency reports.

Ecobuilding

At 300 metres (990 ft), the Lighthouse will come a close second to the Eiffel Tower, which rises to 324 metres.


PARIS TALL STRUCTURES
Eiffel Tower: 324 metres
The Lighthouse: 300 metres
Montparnasse: 180 metres

It is due to be completed in 2012 and will cost an estimated 800m euros ($1.05bn) to build.

Its twin structure will combine a rectangular base with a soaring, organic-shaped tower, capped by a field of wind turbines.

Unibail described the project as an "architectural event... that pays tribute to the major buildings in La Defense - the CNIT and the Great Arch".

Last year, Thom Mayne was awarded the Pritzker prize, the world's top architecture award.

"It's about an icon, and one of the major buildings in Paris," he said of the winning project.

He added the building would be "a prototype for a green building" with a wind farm generating its own heating and a "double skin" of steel and glass to a self-cooling mechanism for the hotter months.

His works include Los Angeles' new mass transit hub, the Taipei Design Centre and Seoul's Sun Tower.

[Metropolitan]

PARIS TALL STRUCTURES
Eiffel Tower: 324 metres
The Lighthouse: 300 metres
Montparnasse: 180 metresWell, the Montparnasse tower is 210 meters, not 180 metres. Here is the full list of Paris Top 10: Eiffel Tower: 324 m, built
Generali Tower: 300 m/310 m, approved
Signal Tower (what you call "lighthouse"): approx. 300 m, approved
AXA Tower: 225 m, heightening due to start by 2007
Montparnasse Tower: 210 meters, built
Total Tower: 187 m, built
T1 Tower: 185 m, under construction
Areva Tower: 184 m, built
Granite Tower: 180 m, under construction
Gan Tower: 179 m, built

Here is the SSP diagram for Paris:
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?23993791

[KevinFromTexas]

I posted this in the city compilation thread also, but here it is again.

From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/11/29/29bizbriefs.html

BUSINESS DIGEST
U.S. architect's design is picked for Paris building.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

PARIS — U.S. architect's design picked for Paris building

Developers selected a design by an award-winning American architect for a bold new building powered partly by the wind.

Dubbed the Lighthouse, the 984-foot-high skyscraper will be designed by Pritzker Prize winner Thom Mayne and erected at La Defense, a complex of office towers in a business district west of Paris where many of France's major corporations are headquartered.

The building is set for completion in 2012.

Rendering:
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/09/69/28/image_4928699.jpg
UNIBAIL-MORPHOSIS
Thom Mayne's design for a 984-foot-high skyscraper will rise over Paris when it is competed in 2012.

[Fabb]

http://static.flickr.com/113/317184796_9938865a2d_o.jpg

The rendering was intentionally blurred by the architect (Viguier), probably because the design is not finalized.

This project is still to be officially announced. The height figure is just a rumour.

[Fabb]

Latest news :

Generali will be 318 m from the ground level to the tip of the cone.
Start of construction : fall 2008

http://irgendwo.free.fr/generali/b.jpg

Info from the skyscraper forum (in French) :paris-skyscrapers (http://www.paris-skyscrapers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=27170&p=29)

[R@ptor]

Latest news :

Generali will be 318 m from the ground level to the tip of the cone.

318??? The blueprint clearly says 300m to the tip of the cone.

[the urban politician]

Hmmm, let the Americanization of Paris continue I suppose...

^ I don't see anything American about it. Those highrises are much more stylish and architecturally interesting than anything going up in the US. In a sense, it's highrise design with a French touch..

[Fabb]

318??? The blueprint clearly says 300m to the tip of the cone.

That's from the artificial soil. The foot of Generali will meet the natural ground on the opposite side :

http://grrroux.free.fr/divers/generali.gif

(Diagram by Krapulax)

[Metropolitan]

Here is a picture of La Défense nowadays:

http://irgendwo.free.fr/uneannee/2/5.jpg



And here are the projects we know of about La Défense by 2012:

http://grandparis.free.fr/upcoming-ladefense.jpg

[Fabb]

Generali and AXA are very promising. But something's missing, like a tall centerpiece...
Obviously, the "Tour Phare" doesn't do the job.
Is there still hope for a substantial increase of height ? a nice redesign ?

[Metropolitan]

Generali and AXA are very promising. But something's missing, like a tall centerpiece...
Obviously, the "Tour Phare" doesn't do the job.
Is there still hope for a substantial increase of height ? a nice redesign ?I wouldn't be surprised if the Morphosis tower turns out to be 320/330 m at the top of the structure. However, I don't believe there's any reason to think it will go beyond.

Apparently, most of the first stage of the expansion plan of La Défense from 2006 to 2013 will be around the Northern circular boulevard, which is currently ending its modification from a motorway to an urban avenue. The Southern circular boulevard will also be modified as such, but this requires a larger investment.

Some gossips assumes that the second stage of the expansion plan, from 2013 to 2020, will see more towers on the southern side, nearby the southern circular boulevard. During that second stage, a 400 meter-tower is not excluded, however, its construction will depend on the evolution of the real estate market in the business district, and the success of the first stage.

[Fabb]

New "official" renderings :

http://grrroux.free.fr/misc/tourm1.JPG

http://grrroux.free.fr/misc/tourm2.JPG

Apparently, the new name of the project is "tour M".

[M II A II R II K]

With those designs I wouldn't say it would look like an American skyline, but a skyline never seen before.

[CoolCzech]

Three Cheers for the American skyline! That rendering just doesn't look very good...

[Grumpy]

I like the Tour M but the middle spire shouldn't better be built, a little to much imo

[M II A II R II K]

It is certainly a very weird unique looking design.

[Fabb]

The entries of the "Tour Phare" competition :

Norman Foster :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175029_3.jpg

Massimiliano Fuksas :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175104_4.jpg

Manuelle Gautrand

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_180606_5.jpg

Rem Koolhaas-OMA :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175224_7.jpg

Nicolas Michelin :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175251_8.jpg

Jean Nouvel :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175316_9.jpg

Dominique Perrault :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_175345_10.jpg

Herzog & De Meuron :

http://dev2.batiactu.com/cap_diapo/images/utils_images/20070116_180749_6.jpg

>>> Jacques Ferrier :

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1563537.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1564051.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1564235.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1564445.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1564550.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1564637.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1565076.jpg

http://m1.freeshare.us/127fs1565246.jpg

[kenratboy]

Wow!

Those range from awesome to retarded.

Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas-OMA seem ULTRA lame, where Herzog & De Meuron and Jacques Ferrier seem to stand out. Obviously, this is MY reaction, not fact, and these are still renderings.

Good stuff to choose from, it will be interesting to see what happens.

[samoen313]

I agree. Both OMA and Jean Nouvel had the least favourite skyscraper entries in the Gazprom competition and it looks like, again, this might be the case. Normally I would say Foster has the best chance at this one, but judging from the last two competition winners, it's anyones guess. Personally, I love the H&dM, Gautrand, and Fuksas entries.

[Fabb]

Normally I would say Foster has the best chance at this one

The winner was selected about three months ago. Thom Mayne, Morphosis :

http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/09/69/28/image_4928699.jpg

The above entries that were rejected, were just released a couple of days ago.