La Défense
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La Défense | |
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Skyscrapers of La Défense seen from the Saint-Jacques Tower in central Paris | |
Sovereign state | Frankreich |
Région | Île-de-France |
Département | Hauts-de-Seine |
Boroughs | |
Area | |
• Total | 14 km2 (5 sq mi) |
Population (2006) | |
• Total | 25.000 |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 |
Website | www |
La Défense (pronounced [la de.fɑ̃s]) is a major business district of the Paris Metropolitan Area and of the Île-de-France region, located in the commune of Courbevoie, and parts of Puteaux and Nanterre, just west of the city of Paris.
La Défense is Europe's largest purpose-built business district[1] with 560 hectares (5.6 million square metres) area, 72 glass and steel buildings and skyscrapers, 180,000 daily workers, and 3.5 million square metres (37.7 million sq ft) of office space.[2] Around its Grande Arche and esplanade ("le Parvis"), La Défense contains many of the Paris urban area's tallest high-rises.
The district is located at the westernmost extremity of the ten-kilometre-long Historical Axis of Paris, which starts at the Louvre in Central Paris, and continues along the Champs-Élysées, well beyond the Arc de Triomphe along the Avenue de la Grande Armée before culminating at La Défense. The district is centred in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Courbevoie, Nanterre and Puteaux. La Défense is primarily a business district, and hosts only a population of 25,000 permanent residents and 45,000 students.[2][3] La Défense is also visited by 8,000,000 tourists each year,[2] and houses an open-air museum.[4]
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f4/La_Grande_Arche_de_la_D%C3%A9fense_and_the_Yaacov_Agam_Fountain_%281977%29.jpg/290px-La_Grande_Arche_de_la_D%C3%A9fense_and_the_Yaacov_Agam_Fountain_%281977%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Paris_-_Eiffelturm_und_Marsfeld2.jpg/290px-Paris_-_Eiffelturm_und_Marsfeld2.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Grande_Arche_de_La_D%C3%A9fense_et_fontaine.jpg/290px-Grande_Arche_de_La_D%C3%A9fense_et_fontaine.jpg)
La Défense is named after the iconic statue La Défense de Paris, which was erected in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
In September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense (EPAD) 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 metres (330 ft). In 1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office skyscraper built in the area. In 1970, the RER line A railway was opened from La Défense to Étoile.[citation needed] In 1974, a contract for a Défense-Cergy high-speed hovercraft train was signed and soon abandoned.
In the early 1970s, in response to great demand, a second generation of buildings began to appear, but the economic crisis in 1973 nearly halted all construction in the area. A third generation of towers began to appear in the early 1980s. The biggest commercial centre 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.[citation needed]
On Bastille Day 1990, French electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre staged an ambitious concert at the site, using the Grande Arche and three of the area's towers as projection screens, and building a pyramidal stage above the road. The free concert, titled simply Paris la Defense, attracted two million spectators, stretching all the way back to the Arc de Triomphe. This beat Jarre's own previous world record for the largest attendance for a musical concert.
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 Neuf Cegetel, Société Générale, Total, Aventis, Areva, and Arcelor. The tallest skyscraper, the Tour First belongs to AXA, constructed in 1974. It is 231 metres (758 ft) high, has 50 floors, and is the highest inhabited building in the Paris area (a title previously held by the Tour Montparnasse, which was the tallest inhabited building until the Tour First was renovated between 2007 and 2011, bringing it to its current height from a previous 159 metres (522 ft); the tallest structure in Paris is the Eiffel Tower).
On 9 September 2008, La Défense celebrated its 50th anniversary with a huge fireworks display.[5]
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".This important modernisation plan has to give a new dimension to the district and focuses on four main axes: regenerate outdated skyscrapers, allow new buildings, improve the balance between offices and residential housing and make the transport of local employees from their homes to La Défense easier. There are 3 aims: building 150,000 square metres (1,600,000 sq ft) of offices within demolition/rebuilding projects, building 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) of offices within new projects, and building 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft) of housing.
The government confirmed in July 2006 this plan which has to be carried out around 2015. It is justified by the strong estate pressure, which plays in favour of building new skyscrapers near Paris. Those constructions have also the advantage to be more economical than little buildings. But it will have to overcome some difficulties: French economy faces a short-term slowdown; the government tries to balance tertiary sector employment in the whole region again, because La Défense today concentrates a major part of those jobs; and traffic is already saturated in the district, while it would need huge investments to extend transport infrastructures.
It launched high profile international competitions and/or construction greenlight of several key 300-to-320-metre (980 to 1,050 ft) tall sustainable development-style skyscrapers such as Tour Signal, Tour Phare, Hermitage Plaza, and Tour Generali. During said December 2005 Press Conference, EPAD released to the public an elaborate 3D animation film titled "La Défense 2015".
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Panorama_La_D%C3%A9fense.jpg/1000px-Panorama_La_D%C3%A9fense.jpg)
Area specifications
- Divided into 12 sectors
- 400 acres (1.6 km2)
- 3,500,000 square metres (38,000,000 sq ft) of offices
- 1,500 businesses (of which 14 from the national top 20 and 15 from the global top 50)
- 150,000 employees
- 20,000 residents
- 210,000 square metres (2,300,000 sq ft) of shops (including the 140,000 square metres (1,500,000 sq ft) Quatre Temps Shopping Mall)
- 2,600 hotel rooms
- 310,000 square metres (3,300,000 sq ft) of flagstone and sidewalk
- 110,000 square metres (1,200,000 sq ft) of greenery
- 60 modern art sculptures and monuments
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Central esplanade, view from Grande Arche.
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View from Neuilly-sur-Seine.
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The stairs of the Grande Arche.
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View from Arc de Triomphe.
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View from Eiffel Tower.
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East view of La Défense.
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Night view at La Défense.
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Commercial center "Les Quatre Temps"
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The name of the district comes from the statue of La Défense de Paris which commemorates the Parisian resistance during the Franco-Prussian War.
Open-air museum
Besides the representative architecture, the area also houses an open-air museum with 60 statues and pieces of modern art,[4] including the following most remarkable works :
- César, Thumb (1965)
- Joan Miró, Two fantastic characters (1976)
- Alexander Calder, Red Spider (1976)
- Yaacov Agam, Fountain (1977)
- Richard Serra, Slat (1982)
- Shelomo Selinger, The Dance (1983)
- Bernar Venet, Two Indeterminate Lines (1988)
- Takis, Bright Trees (1990)
- Igor Mitoraj, Tindaro (1997)
- Emily Young, Four Heads (2002)
- Patrick Blanc, Green wall (2006)
- Louis-Ernest Barrias, La Défense de Paris (1883)
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Takis, Bright Trees, c. 1990
Tallest buildings
Completed highrise buildings above 90 m (300 ft) (1967–2008)
Name | Built | Use | Height | Levels | Municipality | |
metres | feet | |||||
Tour First (formerly tour AXA) | 1974/2010 | office | 231 | 787 | 55 | Courbevoie |
Tour Majunga | 2014 | office | 195 | 640 | 47 | Puteaux |
Tour Total (Coupole) | 1985 | office | 187 | 614 | 48 | Courbevoie |
Tour GDF Suez (T1) | 2008 | office | 185 | 610 | 37 | Courbevoie |
Tour Areva | 1974 | office | 184 | 607 | 44 | Courbevoie |
Tour Granite (Société Générale) | 2008 | office | 183 | 603 | 37 | Nanterre |
Tour CB21 (formerly tour Gan) | 1974 | office | 179 | 587 | 42 | Courbevoie |
Tour D2 | 2014 | office | 175 | 574 | 37 | Courbevoie |
Tour Alicante (Société Générale) | 1995 | office | 167 | 548 | 37 | Nanterre |
Tour Chassagne (Société Générale) | 1995 | office | 167 | 548 | 37 | Nanterre |
Tour Carpe Diem | 2013 | office | 166 | 545 | 34 | Courbevoie |
Tour EDF | 2001 | office | 165 | 541 | 41 | Puteaux |
Cœur Défense | 2001 | office | 161 | 528 | 40 | Courbevoie |
Tour Adria (Technip) | 2002 | office | 155 | 509 | 40 | Courbevoie |
Tour Égée (Ernst&Young) | 1999 | office | 155 | 509 | 40 | Courbevoie |
Tour Ariane | 1975 | office | 152 | 499 | 36 | Puteaux |
Tour Dexia (CBX) | 2005 | office | 142 | 466 | 36 | Courbevoie |
Tour Défense 2000 | 1974 | residential | 136 | 446 | 46 | Puteaux |
Tour Europlaza | 1995 | office | 135 | 443 | 31 | Courbevoie |
Tour Eqho (formerly tour Descartes) | 1988 | office | 130 | 427 | 40 | Courbevoie |
Tour Les Poissons | 1970 | mixed | 128 | 420 | 42 | Courbevoie |
Tour France | 1973 | residential | 126 | 413 | 40 | Puteaux |
Tour Franklin | 1972 | office | 120 | 394 | 33 | Puteaux |
Tour Sequoia (Bull, Cegetel, SFR) | 1990 | office | 119 | 390 | 33 | Puteaux |
Tour Winterthur | 1973 | office | 119 | 390 | 33 | Puteaux |
Tour CGI (CB16) | 2003 | office | 117 | 295 | 32 | Courbevoie |
Tour Neptune | 1972 | office | 113 | 371 | 28 | Courbevoie |
Préfecture des Hauts-de-Seine | 1974 | office | 113 | 371 | 25 | Nanterre |
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 |
Tour Eve | 1975 | mixed | 109 | 358 | 30 | Puteaux |
Tour Initiale | 1967 | office | 109 | 358 | 30 | Puteaux |
Tour Nuage 1, Tours Aillaud | 1976 | residential | 105 | 344 | 39 | Nanterre |
Tour Nuage 2, Tours Aillaud | 1976 | residential | 105 | 344 | 39 | Nanterre |
Tour Gambetta | 1975 | residential | 104 | 341 | 37 | Courbevoie |
Tour Cèdre | 1998 | office | 103 | 338 | 26 | Courbevoie |
Tour Opus 12 | 1973 | office | 100 | 328 | 27 | Puteaux |
Tour Athéna | 1984 | office | 100 | 328 | 25 | Puteaux |
Tour Europe | 1969 | office | 99 | 325 | 28 | Courbevoie |
Tour AIG | 1967 | office | 99 | 325 | 27 | Courbevoie |
Tour Prisma (Tour Kvaerner) | 1998 | office | 97 | 318 | 25 | Courbevoie |
Tour Atlantique | 1970 | office | 95 | 312 | 27 | Puteaux |
Tour Pascal | 1983 | office | 95 | 312 | 27 | Puteaux |
Tour Pacific | 1992 | office | 90 | 295 | 25 | Puteaux |
Upcoming highrise buildings (2010–2020)
Name | Use | Height | Levels | Municipality | Status (2015) | Estimated Year of Completion | |
metres | feet | ||||||
Hermitage Plaza II | mix | 323 | 1,060 | 93 | Courbevoie | Construction will start in September or October 2015 | 2019/2020 |
Hermitage Plaza I | mix | 323 | 1,060 | 91 | Courbevoie | Construction will start in September or October 2015 | 2019/2020 |
Tour Phare | office | 297 | 974 | 68 | Courbevoie | approved | 2017 |
Tour Hekla | office | 220 | 722 | 41 | Courbevoie | proposed | 2018 |
Tour Air² | office | 202 | 662 | 43 | Courbevoie | approved[6] | 2014 |
Tour Trinity | office | 151 | 495 | 31 | Courbevoie | approved[6] | 2017 |
Tour Alto | office | 150 | 492 | 38 | Courbevoie | approved[6] | 2016 |
Tour AVA | office | 143 | 459 | 34 | Courbevoie | approved | 2014 |
Hôtel Melia | hotel | 87 | 285 | 23 | Courbevoie | topped out | 2014 |
Tour Saint Gobain | office | 150-200 | 460-600 | ? | Courbevoie | Proposed | 2017 |
Canceled projects
- Tour Sans Fins (1989): 425 m (1,394 ft)
See also
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
France.fr
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c "La Défense, Tout sur ce quartier d'exception". Ville de Courbevoie.
Ce territoire stratégique pour l'économie nationale s'étend sur plus de 560 hectares. Chiffres clés: 180 0000 emplois, 25 000 habitants, 45 000 étudiants, Plus de 8 millions de touristes
- ^ Fallon, Steve; Annabel Hart (2006). Paris. Footscray, Victoria: Lonely Planet. p. 155. ISBN 1-74059-849-0.
- ^ a b La Défense > Artworks: Guide 2013. Leaflet published by Defacto, Établissement public de gestion du quartier d'affaires de la Défense.
- ^ La Défense : 50 ans d’histoire 9 November 2008, Danielle Birck Template:Fr icon
- ^ a b c L’Epad signe cinq nouvelles tours à la Défense 27 January 2010 Template:Fr icon
Further reading
- Schaugg, Johannes: High-Rise Buildings – La Défense, Books on Demand 2009, ISBN 978-3-8391-4523-4
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png)
- Satellite image from Google Maps
- la Défense de Paris
- Site officiel de l'EPAD (Établissement Public pour l'Aménagement de la Défense) Template:Fr icon
- Connecting-Paris, web site created by the Chamber of commerce and industry of Paris to help companies setting up in La Defense Template:En icon
- Expatriates Magazine, A printed publication distributed within various corporations situated in La Defense helping international employees integrate within the workplace and city Template:En icon
- Les bâtiments de la Défense Template:Fr icon
- Structurae: Structural engineering and architecture guide to Paris-La Défense Template:En icon
- Défense Network