Paris-La Defence

Paris- Tarihi Aks

Paris-La Defence: Urban Development

Paris-La Defence

• La Défense is a major business district for the city of Paris (French:"Ville de Paris") and the first major business district in Europe, bordering Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of the city itself. It is centered in an ovular freeway loop straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux. The district is at the westernmost extremity of Paris' 10-km long Historical Axis, which starts at the Louvre in Downtown Paris and crosses the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe.

• Around its 100 m-high Grande Arche and esplanade ("le Parvis"), this district holds many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises: with its 77.5 acres, its 72 glass-and-steel slick buildings including 14 high-rises above 150 m, its 150 000 daily workers and 3.5 million square meters of office space. La Défense is Europe's largest district specifically built for business.

• La Défense on the Northern circular boulevard.• • Esplanade• La Défense is named for the statue, La Défense de Paris, which was built in 1883 to

commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The name of the area sometimes causes confusion with visitors, who occasionally assume it is some kind of military zone or establishment.

• In September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense (EPAD) was created by the state to manage and bring life to the quarter. La Défense began designing itself: the first buildings (of which the Esso Tower was the very first) were built and began to slowly replace the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Center of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was built and first used in 1958. These "first generation" skyscrapers were all very similar in appearance, limited to a height of 100 meters. In 1966, the [Nobel Tower] was the first office building built in the area.

• In the early 1970s, in response to great demand, a second generation of buildings began to appear. Unfortunately, the economic crisis in 1973 nearly halted all progress in the area. A third generation of towers began to appear in the early 1980s. The biggest commercial center in Europe (at the time), the Quatre Temps, was created in 1981. In 1982, the EPAD launched the Tête Défense competition to find a monument to complete the Axe historique, which eventually led to the construction of Grande Arche at the west end of the quarter. During the same period, hotels were constructed, the CNIT was restructured, and in 1992 Line 1 of the Paris Métro was extended to La Défense, which made the area readily accessible to even more of the city.

• After a stagnation in new development in the mid-1990s La Défense is once again expanding and is now the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.

• Important corporations headquartered at La Défense include Cegetel, Société Générale, Total, Aventis, and Arcelor. The tallest skyscraper belongs to Total, constructed in 1985. It is 187 metres high, has 48 floors, and is the second highest inhabited building in the Paris area (the first being the Tour Montparnasse; the tallest building in Paris is of course the Eiffel Tower).

• New high-rises of 185m are currently under construction and planned for a 2007 opening : Tour Granite and Tour T1. In December 2005, Bernard Bled, CEO & Chairman of EPAD (La Defense Management & Development Office) announced an ambitious 9-year development plan called "La Defense 2006-2015", in which he launched high profile international competitions and/or construction greenlight of several key 300- to 320-m tall sustainable development-style skyscrapers such as Tour Signal, Tour Phare and Tour Generali. During said December 2005 Press Conference, EPAD released to the public an elaborate 3D animation film titled "La Défense 2015".

Area specifications• Divided into 12 sectors • 3,500,000 square meters of offices. • 1,500 businesses (of which are 14 of the 20 top national and 15 of the 50

worldwide) • 150,000 employees • 20,000 residents • 210,000 square meters of shops (including the 120,000 square meters Quatre

Temps Shopping Mall, the largest in Continental Europe) • 2,600 hotel rooms • 310,000 square meters of flagstone and sidewalk • 110,000 square meters of greenery • 60 modern art sculptures and monuments

La Défense aligned with the Palais de Chaillot. Yaacov Agam's fountain.• completed highrise buildings above 90m (300ft)• Rank Name Built Use Height Levels Commune• (municipality) • metres feet • 1 Tour Total 1985 office 187 614 48 Courbevoie • 2 Tour Areva 1974 office 184 604 44 Courbevoie • 3 Tour Gan 1974 office 179 587 44 Courbevoie • 4 Tour Alicante (Société Générale) 1995 office 167

548 37 Nanterre • Tour Chassagne (Société Générale) 1995 office 167

548 37 Nanterre • 6 Tour EDF 2001 office 165 541 41 Puteaux • 7 Cœur Défense 2001 office 161 528 40 Courbevoie • 8 Tour Assur (AXA) 1974 office 159 522 39

Courbevoie • 9 Tour Adria (Technip) 2002 office 155 509 40

Courbevoie • Tour Égée (Ernst&Young) 1999 office 155 509 40

Courbevoie • 11 Tour Ariane 1975 office 152 499 36 Puteaux • 12 Tour CBX 2005 office 142 466 36 Courbevoie • 13 Tour Défense 2000 1974 residential 136 446 46

Puteaux • 14 Tour Europlaza 1995 office 135 443 31

Courbevoie • 15 Tour Descartes (IBM) 1988 office 130 427 40

Courbevoie • 16 Tour Les Poissons 1970 mixed 128 420 42

Courbevoie • 17 Tour France 1973 residential 126 413 40

Puteaux • 18 Tour Franklin 1972 office 120 394 33 Puteaux • 19 Tour Sequoia (Bull, Cegetel, SFR) 1990 office

119 390 33 Puteaux

• Tour Winterthur 1973 office 119 390 33 Puteaux • 21 Tour Michelet (Total) 1985 office 117 384 34

Puteaux • Tour CB16 2003 office 117 384 32 Courbevoie • 23 Tour Neptune 1972 office 113 371 28

Courbevoie • Préfecture des Hauts-de-Seine 1974 office 113

371 25 Nanterre • 25 Grande Arche 1989 monument, office 110 361

37 Puteaux • Tour Manhattan 1975 office 110 361 32

Courbevoie • Tour Aurore 1970 office 110 361 29 Courbevoie • 28 Tour Eve 1975 mixed 109 358 30 Puteaux • Tour Initiale 1967 office 109 358 30 Puteaux • 30 Tour Nuage 1, Tours Aillaud 1976 residential

105 344 39 Nanterre • Tour Nuage 2, Tours Aillaud 1976 residential 105

344 39 Nanterre • 32 Tour Gambetta 1975 residential 104 341 37

Courbevoie • 33 Tour Cèdre 1998 office 103 338 26

Courbevoie • 34 Tour Opus12 1973 office 100 328 27 Puteaux • Tour Athéna 1984 office 100 328 25 Puteaux • 36 Tour Europe 1969 office 99 325 28 Courbevoie • Tour AIG 1967 office 99 325 27 Courbevoie • 38 Tour Prisma (Tour Kvaerner) 1998 office 97

318 25 Courbevoie • 39 Tour Atlantique 1970 office 95 312 27 Puteaux • Tour Pascal 1983 office 95 312 27 Puteaux • 41 Tour Pacific 1992 office 90 295 25 Puteaux

upcoming buildings• Name Use Height Levels Commune• (municipality) Notes • meters feet • Tour Generali office 318 1,043 56 Courbevoie approved • Tour Phare office app. 300 app. 1,000 - Puteaux approved • Tour Assur (AXA) office 225 728 61 Courbevoie under reconstruction • Tour Air² office 200/220 650/720 43 Courbevoie proposed • Tour Majunga office 195 640 - Puteaux proposed • Tour T1 office 185 607 37 Courbevoie under construction • Tour Granite (Société Générale) office 183 600 37 Nanterre under construction • Tour D2 office app. 170 app. 560 - Courbevoie proposed • Hôtel Méridien La Défense office 87 285 - Courbevoie approved

Canceled projects• Tour Sans Fins (1989): 425 m