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La Défense business district will get a second supertall skyscraper by 2012. The winner of the contest is the American architect Thom Mayne (Morphosis).


Updated model (December 13th, 2010)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/...86c559ab_b.jpg



Updated images (August 23rd, 2010)

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.11-...isuel_09-l.jpg

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.5b-Vue_17_Nuit-l.jpg

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.14-00_Vue_03_V04-l.jpg

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.12-00_Vue_04_V02-l.jpg

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.7-V...Berkeley-l.jpg

http://morphopedia.com/uploads/6.9-V...visuel11-l.jpg

Cladding Test :
http://morphopedia.com/uploads/IMG_2_0500web-512.jpg

I think it only looks good from a few angles and I'm not quite sure about the mess on top.

I have got to say that i'm not the biggest fan of this new organic looking design trend happening right now. I don't mind it so much for lower wider buildings but for skyscrapers it kind of bugs me. I am tired of twisting towers too. Sorry to damper the mood of another 1,000 ft building but...blaaah

Do they use Dippity-Do to keep the crown stiff in the wind?

does that escalator sticking out of the bottom remind anyone else of that klingon-looking tower destined for kentucky? color me unimpressed.

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.

Thanks for the press release. I'm familiar with Mayne and his other work.

I still say this tower looks like the Shmoo.

Well, sorry to correct the news also here, but the Montparnasse tower is 210 meter-tall, not 180. 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

On second thought, I realized that perhaps my Shmoo comparison was a bit harsh. Having reconsidered my initial thoughts, it occured to me that I was in error - it's not a Shmoo, it's a Sea Cucumber. :D

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/tourseacucumber.jpg

^Sadly, that is totally correct.
Some people have mentioned the belly of a pregnant woman.

I've found the Schmoo comparison funnier. ;)

:jester:

I fail to see the pregnant woman. I can understand Schmoo because of the curbs, but the pregant woman, I hardly see it. :koko:

The tower is in curb, there's no bump on it.

I think its hideous. Its unfortunate that engineering advances allow architects to run this wild.....

After being the worst collection of bland, mediocre architecture, La Défense is turning itself into a freak show.

Why not a simple and elegant 90 story-tower ?

I am one of Thom Mayne's biggest fans, and have been following his work for years now. Diamond Ranch High is simply one of the best projects of the entire last decade. But, IMO, his work doesn't scale up well. The 13 story Caltrans building is about as big as his work looks decent in, after visiting the new 20+ story SF Federal building, I was dissapointed, it has all the charm of a Borg Cube. I can't say I am a fan of this tower, either.

It would look a lot better if they simply forgot about that bunch of spikey metal at the top...

When I saw it first, it kinda reminded me of "Beaker" from the muppets...?

I do like the top , the street level looks like an unfinished tube system => very ugly

"When I saw it first, it kinda reminded me of "Beaker" from the muppets...?"

I suppose I can see that:
http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/tourbeaker.jpg