architecture - Paris

Pyramid to be Paris's first high-rise in 30 years

Friday 26 September 2008

Paris unveiled plans for a pyramid-shaped tower in the south-west of the capital, the first new high-rise building to be built in the French capital for 30 years. The construction of the pyramid - up to 200 metres tall - is due to begin in 18 months.

Designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the tower will stand near the Porte de Versailles congress centre south of the Eiffel and Montparnasse towers -- the two giants of today's Paris skyline.

While a major high-rise complex has sprung up in La Defense business park west of the capital, tower blocks were banned inside Paris proper under a 1977 rule - scrapped by the city authorities in July.

The Socialist mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe said the project, financed by property developer Unibail with completion set for 2012, combined high-quality environmental performance with a design of "astonishing beauty".

Construction was due to begin in 18 months on the tower, a sharp pyramid measuring up to 200 metres (660 feet) that will host offices, a conference centre and possibly a hotel, following a public consultation.

Paris city council in July overturned a three-decade ban that limited the height of inner-city buildings to 37 metres (122 feet), launching plans for new towers of up to 200 metres at six emblematic sites just inside the city walls.

Part of wide-ranging regeneration plans, the towers are to mix shops, offices and childcare centres under plans championed by Delanoe despite hostility from green politicians and many Paris residents.

The 37-metre ceiling was brought in in 1977 to call a halt to a string of high-rise projects -- including the Montparnasse tower -- that were quickly seen as failed urbanism experiments.

Delanoe has promised city officials would "not repeat the mistakes of the past".