Oct 15, 2008

First Skyscraper after Thirty Years in Paris

Paris council has unveiled plans for a 50-story glass pyramid after voting to drop a ban on high-rise buildings. Proposals for the Project Triangle, designed by Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron who designed the Olympic stadium in Beijing. The tower will have offices, a conference center, 400-bedroom hotel and restaurants and cafes. It will be surrounded by parks, gardens and shops. The building is planned to be around 590 feet high which will make the third highest building in Paris. The tower will run on solar and wind power and is set for completion in 2012.
Image:Copyright Herzog & de Meuron- click 2 large
The pyramid’s construction may be a point of contention for many Parisians, as polls have found that 62% do not favor high rises within the city, however Herzon & de Meuron are confident that their new project will integrate into the Parisian landscape perfectly:
"The Triangle is conceived as a piece of the city that could be pivoted and positioned vertically. It is carved by a network of vertical and horizontal traffic flows of variable capacities and speeds. Like the boulevards, streets and more intimate passages of a city, these traffic flows carve the construction into islets of varying shapes and sizes.''
Image:Copyright Herzog & de Meuron- click 2 large
"This evocation of the urban fabric of Paris, at once classic and coherent in its entirety and varied and intriguing in its details, is encountered in the facade of the Triangle. Like that of a classical building, this one features two levels of interpretation: an easily recognizable overall form and a fine, crystalline silhouette of its facade which allows it to be perceived variously."
Image:Copyright Herzog & de Meuron- click 2 large
''The base of the project is open to all, from the square of the Porte de Versailles and along the avenue Ernest Renan which regains the appearance of a Parisian street, with its shops and restaurants. An elevated square, on level with the roofs of Paris, will offer everyone a unique view of the district and the whole city. This visit might then be extended in the higher reaches of the Triangle, from where the entire metropolis can be discovered.''
Image:Copyright Herzog & de Meuron- click 2 large
''The Triangle will thus become one of the scenes of metropolitan Paris. It will not only be a landmark from which the urban panorama can be viewed, but also an outstanding silhouette in the system of axes and monuments of the city.''
Image:Copyright Herzog & de Meuron- click 2 large

Source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com

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