[Minato Ku]

An other rendering of Hermitage Plaza (2x323m)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4227/hermitagetwintowers.jpg

[Bedhead]

:previous: Those are stunning towers.

[Galik]

please can you erase this post, thank you.

[Minato Ku]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5201708128_2786c559ab_b.jpg

[Minato Ku]

Unibail-Rodamco lauch a new project called Trinity.
Trinity includes:
-41,000 m² high-rises
-8,000 m² building
-3,000 m² socle

No picture yet but we know that it will cover a part of Avenue de la Division Leclerc next to the CNIT.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%203/DiviLeclDefe.jpg

http://www.ladefense-seine-arche.fr/fileadmin/site_intranet/user_upload/7.PRESSE/CP_decision-CA-10-12-2010_2010-12-14.pdf

[mic of orion]

An other rendering of Hermitage Plaza (2x323m)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4227/hermitagetwintowers.jpg

impresve, if this gets built, it'll be the tallest skyscraper in western Europe.

[Entrains]

Good news: The Tour Phare (third picture below) just got signed off for construction.
The one thing I want to mention about Paris buildings is that the ones located in Paris la Defense i.e. Courbevoie, Nanterre and Puteaux are measured from the bottom - including underground/parking floors - to top and not from slab to top. For example, Tour Gan is not 184m tall as mentioned in most brochures and all. It's real height from slab to top is 166m. This confusion hits most of the Paris la Defense (EPAD) buildings which subsequently come out taller than they really are.
I found this out when I got the EPAD site plan. Plus I found confirmation through different comments by designers.
But even so, the Hermitage towers will look fantastic in the landscape.

[Minato Ku]

:previous: Gan is 179m tall from the natural ground. (all the other 187m or 184m are wrong)

Here a view from the natural ground
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%203/TourGan.jpg
I don't why you couldn't include it, especially when it is possible to see the tower from this natural ground.
Note that the undrgound parking are bellow and not included in the 179m.

Gan tower is 179m form the natural ground and 166m from the concrete slab.

[Sinha]

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3699/1007757m.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6016/1007776.jpg

[Minato Ku]

Arena 92

Location: Paris Nanterre/La Défense
Tenant: Racing-Métro 92, Rugby
Capacity: 32,000/35,000 seats
Opening: late 2013
Architects: Atelier Christian de Portzamparc,
Cost: €320M


"In the sweetness of the greatness but also of curves" is how Christian de Portzamparc described his Arena92 at the press conference on Monday, February 14. The challenge he said: "To serve the ambition of the program while leaving the purely quadrangular forms imposed by the place. Very soon, the genius of the place that decides ...".

Portzamparc drew "a concrete shell with a soft beige color, which floats on a necklace made of shiny flakes and pearl, glass and metal, allowing the play of light both day and night." "This is the project that met our best expectations," said Jacky Lorenzetti, Racing-Métro owner and promoter of the Arena. "A consensus choice for a project that respects the environment and a very smooth architecture, perfectly integrated in a very specific environment."
The project is also accompanied by strong social concerns, as it provides a volume of integration corresponding to 100,000 hours, an "exceptional" figure said the mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry. This commitment by the Racing Arena will be placed in one of the agreements being developed between the city of Nanterre and the promoter.

Spectacular view of La Grande Arche from the gastronomic restaurant

On the ground floor, courtyard side: the shops, the clubhouse of Racing Metro 92, a brewery, but also the main entrance to the Arena which will allow access to 15,000 spectators.
Additional entrances are also distributed around the Arena.
North side frontage: 33,000 square meters of office spaces separated from the stadium by a large skylights that allow natural light. Office entrances are located on the RD914.
Finally, the upstairs gastronomic restaurant offers a spectacular view of the Arche of La Defense.

The first row at 4m50 from the touchline

The Arena itself is organized mainly on three sides: for example in stadium configuration, the north stand accommodates only a few rows. The spectators-players proximity is very high: only 4m50 separate the forefront of the touchline. In concert hall configuration, the stage occupies the north side, its location is flexible depending on the desired capacity.
The total cost of this project is 320 million euros according to Jacky Lorenzetti, project to be funded up to a third by the "naming", a third by the rental office, a third by ticket sales. For the "naming", several candidates have already made known said Jacky Lorenzetti, who wants an appointment for a term of 15 years.
Finally, note that the Christian de Portzamparc's project will be built by the GTM, a Nanterrienne subsidiary of the Vinci group.

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/9773/6a0120a865205c970b014e5.jpg

http://www.noelshack.com/uploads/images/14625071746560_6a0120a865205c970b014e8687a4c0970d.jpg

http://www.noelshack.com/uploads/images/15696949698045_6a0120a865205c970b014e8687a475970d.jpg

http://www.noelshack.com/uploads/images/15738237818820_6a0120a865205c970b014e8687a559970d.jpg

http://www.noelshack.com/uploads/images/830606581035_6a0120a865205c970b014e5facdedf970c.jpg

http://www.noelshack.com/uploads/images/17532157418919_6a0120a865205c970b014e86879b29970d.jpg

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/5118/a92persintrugby.jpg

[Fabb]

That's why "la jetée" was built ! Finally an explanation.

[lake of the nations]

Look at this video at 0:35!

zNQZlU0Hbfc#!

[big T]

Look at this video at 0:35!

zNQZlU0Hbfc#!

interesting. apart from that the entire video was filmed in downtown vancouver, stanley park and what looks like the golden ears bridge.
good catch!

[mousquet]

The facade of Eqho (formerly named Descartes, was used to host IBM's french headquarters) is being changed. So I'm relaying some pictures that morgandoug posted on French forum PSS (http://www.pss-archi.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1719&p=5) today, many thanks to him and Jexmen for their frequent updates.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4907/toureqho.jpg

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/535/toureqho8.jpg

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/599/toureqho1.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2359/toureqho2.jpg

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/6369/toureqho3.jpg

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5111/toureqho5.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7039/toureqho7.jpg

It's... yellow I guess. Any comment? Most French ones seem skeptical, some already say they clearly don't like it, it would be tacky or so to them. Bah, we'll see once it's completed. This is how it was before:

http://www.pss-archi.eu/photos/membres/4/l/1177233688d.JPG
(c) MyNight (http://www.pss-archi.eu/photos/photo-62.html)

[Minato Ku]

Some work in Seine Arche, place de la Croisée des Axes.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%204/DSC34903.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%204/DSC34905.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%204/DSC34910.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%204/DSC34912.jpg

[mousquet]

Eqho's renovation on progress.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/6235/eqho1.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2494/eqho2.jpg

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2492/eqho3.jpg

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2182/eqho4.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/807/eqho5.jpg

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/171/eqho6.jpg

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7317/eqho7.jpg

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/9168/eqho8.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2156/eqho13.jpg

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6701/eqho14.jpg

Thanks to morgandoug (http://imageshack.us/homepage/?user=morgandoug).

[Minato Ku]

Tour Carpe Diem, 162m u/c
http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph37688.JPG

http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph37698.JPG

http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph37747.JPG

http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph37791.JPG
Picture by Spoudzzi (http://www.defense-92.fr/carpediemlesphotos.html)

[Minato Ku]

Tour Majunga, 194m u/c
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5258/majunga.jpg
Picture by morgandoug (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/morgandoug)

Tour D2, 171m
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/6913/d21w.jpg
Picture by morgandoug (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/morgandoug)

[Minato Ku]

Work begin for the Radisson hotel (23 fl | 83m)
http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph4035.jpg

http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph4036.jpg
Pictures by Spouzzy.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/3392/h31jan12b.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8330/h31jan12a.jpg
Pictures by milo92 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=88106054&postcount=208)

[AJphx]

Work begin for the Radisson hotel (23 fl | 83m)

finally.... I remember it from La Defense project updates years ago.

-------

I've noticed that La Defense really has had a lot of its skyscrapers renovated. I can't think of any other cities where so many renovations of older towers have been done, especially major exterior renovations like you see in La Defense. What do any of you think the reason for this is?

[mousquet]

:previous: The redefined environmental standards are officially the main reason for the latest renovations. The brand new claddings and interior fittings would be significantly more energy efficient than older ones. So although some older buildings yet insteresting should be preserved, businesses generally don't want to stay in obsolete towers. They want the latest thing to cut their energy bills and say - see how green we are! the building we live in fulfills the commitment to save Earth.

Besides, the district wasn't aging well as too many buildings of the 60s-70s in Paris look bad nowadays. So all operations going on are to bring more modernity and dynamism. It's either being on the move or declining, an easy choice to make.

[mousquet]

Within the neighborhood of Carpe Diem and D2 currently U/C and of Eqho being heavily restructured (above in this thread), the refurbishment of Chartis (http://www.pss-archi.eu/immeubles/FR-92026-57.html) (also called CB15 or AIG), which is to begin in early 2013, will complete the renovation of that part of the district I believe. At least regarding existing highrise structures. There are still some post-war low/mid-rise things around, along the esplanade, that I personally would prefer demolished or seriously restructured.
This is how Chartis would look:

http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/tour-blanche-la-defense.jpg

A bit the same as those white columns of the facade seem to stay, but they would completely change the glass and then call it Tour Blanche, that simply means white tower. Chartis was one of those first, smaller high-rises built in la Défense during the 60s, as well as its close neighbor Europe (http://www.pss-archi.eu/immeubles/FR-92026-58.html) being partly refurbished too, but of which the original facade won't change.

As usual, thanks to defense-92 (http://www.defense-92.fr/) and pss-archi (http://www.pss-archi.eu/) (the French team at work!) for the nice info.

[mousquet]

Eqho's strange triple-glazed new facade.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7205/6841276808_f94ba15514_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7189/6987409491_4e93772250_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7182/6841276794_d0287915c0_b.jpg
All pictures, Javier Urquijo, Icade Officiel (http://www.flickr.com/photos/icade_officiel/)

These pics are under Icade's copyright, but Icade is also the developer so I hope they won't mind if we promote their project on here.
To me, it looks as if some kind of cheap crappy old style you sometimes see in some 60's-70's industrial areas had become shiny good quality.
I actually like their thing, when the sky is blue especially.