La Défense, the neighborhood that reinvents itself

The District of La Défense is located west of Paris and belongs to the communes of Courbevoie, Puteaux, and Nanterre (all in the département of Hauts-de-Seine). It is one of the districts of most important business in Europe, comparable to the City of London, and is comprised of a set of towers and skyscrapers, some of which belong to the most important companies of France and the world and others are used as a residence. Around 150 thousand people work in La Défense, of which only 20 thousand living there. If we talk about figures, to get an idea of the size of the set, in La Défense are located 1,500 companies, with 3 million square meters of offices, 230,000 square meters of shops, 50 bars and restaurants, 31 hectares of pedestrian space and 11 hectares of green spaces.

The set of La Défense is not only towers and cement; It is intended to be also a kind of open-air museum. A collection of around sixty works of contemporary art, some of considerable size, are dispersed in their corridors and squares. Twenty sources that adorn the space, two stand out especially: the source of Agam and the pond of Takis. The hanging gardens and works of art make him a walk very appreciated by the people who live or work there, called 'défensois'.

The name of the Parisian business district comes from the La Défense de Paris monument created as a tribute to the soldiers who defended the city during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

In the middle of the 20th century the area of La Défense was occupied by factories, especially of automobiles and heavy industry, farms and humble neighborhoods. In September 1958, the State creates the public establishment for the planning of La Défense (' Établissement public pour l 'aménagement of La Défense', Epad) to build, manage and encourage the district.

The CNIT, the center of new industries and technologies, a huge room provided in principle for industrial exhibition was opened in 1958. Since then other buildings appeared gradually replacing the old manufacturing district. A first Management Plan is adopted in 1964, which built the first real estate (Esso, the Nobel Tower, etc.) and are gaining him gradually to factories, the nearby cottages and some farms. At the beginning of the 1970s, to respond to a considerable demand, the towers of second generation make their appearance. The 1964 plan is modified to increase the area of real estate. The perimeters of 100,000 square meters makes its appearance in buildings such as the Fiat Tower (now Areva), 184 meters high and 44 floors. After 1973, the economic crisis strongly slows the development of this district: for 4 years not sold nor a square meter of Office.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, to implement the construction of La Défense, towers of third-generation, on a more economic model are built: less broad and less high (such as Pascal, Voltaire and all the neighborhood Michelet towers). In 1981, establishing the largest shopping centre in Europe (at the time): 'Les Quatre Temps' of 100,000 square meters. In 1982, President Mitterrand organized international contest called 'Tete défense', in order to promote and enhance the sector. Otto Von Spreckelsen was winner of this contest and the great Arch of la Défense was released. The CNIT, who took the present appearance was remodelled and hotels were built. In 1992 took the line of the Métro, allowing join La Défense to the Centre of Paris in a few minutes. In 1993, La Défense met its second crisis. It would have to wait until 1997 to emerge a spectacular restart. Banks and insurance companies leave the Parisian neighborhoods where they traditionally exercise its activity (Bourse and Opéra) and are installed here. The property market revives with the inauguration of new skyscrapers (EDF, Cœur Défense, etc.).

La Défense has aged and an injection of new air needed to stay in the competition. "Shorter term than you imagine, La Défense could become a neighborhood 'bottom', a sort of Museum of century XX", said Bernard Bled, general manager of the Epad, during the presentation of the project 'défense 2015' in March 2006. Bled to the Board of Directors proposed a major development plan which involves building on 10 years of 850,000 square metres of offices and 100,000 square metres of new housing, the building of a tower of 400 meters of height and the renovation of the existing towers.

The revision of the 71 torres remarked the weaknesses of the current real estate Park. For example, 31 of the real estate offered plants of less than 1,200 square meters, which do not correspond to the standard of current demands, 20 buildings have a less than 40,000 square meters floorspace, one of every six buildings is built before 1985 and it has not been renovated since then: 17 towers, some 650,000 square meters, 20 percent of the Park, they could be considered nowadays as obsolete. These towers need at least significant restructuring, and even the demolition and reconstruction. The first priority of the plan is the regeneration of the old towers that do not follow the standard international and whose obsolescence may affect the set of the real estate market of La Défense. The objective is the regeneration until 2013 at least half of the buildings described as priority by the audit, which will take to get started in this period the realization of at least 150,000 square meters of new surfaces.

The objective is to build more, but also building better and reconciling human with urban: creation of dwellings, improvement of transport, extension of the green zones. The architecture seeks a total rupture with which inspired the first two generations of skyscrapers: dry, monotonous and completely obsolete. Creativity, innovation and boldness are the key words of architectural contests open to the design of new buildings, all supported by the idea of sustainable development.

The great arc (Grande Arche) is certainly among the most known buildings of La Défense. Otto Von Spreckelsen devised this monumental Arch of steel and glass in response to the idea of extending the historical axis, in the Louvre, stretching up the Champs-Elysées, passes through the Arch of triumph and reaches the Neuilly bridge to the outskirts of the Paris intramuros. The arch was opened in 1989, on the occasion of the bicentennial of the revolution. The structure represents approximately a cube, with 110 metres in height, width 108 and 112 of depth, built in marble of Carrara and granite covered with plates of glass, with a weight of 300 thousand tons. Panoramic lifts allow access to the lookout point installed on the top.

Another building that captures the attention is the CNIT, devised by Prouveau, with its odd triangular shape due to that it was built in the place of the ancient Zodiac factories. Opened in 1958, it was refurbished in 1988, leading to 200,000 square metres of space for exhibitions and congresses.

The largest tower is Total, built in 1985. With 48 floors and 187 meters in height, is the second largest tower of France after the Montparnasse tower; It should be noted that the two towers are the work of the same architects Roger inhabited and François Julien.

Two new towers in a remarkable height, called T1 and Granite are being built. Tour T1, of 185 meters high and 70,000 square meters, is the work of Valode & Priste. Its glass façade will take the form of a sheet folded in two, like the sail of a boat henchida by the wind. The Tower Granite, located in Nanterre, in the new perimeter 'seine arche', raise to the skyscrapers of the Société Générale, which will be communicated through a gateway. The building is equipped with the latest in energy saving. Work of Christian de Portzamparc, has a height of 183 metres and an area of 68,000 square meters.

With delivery between 2011 and 2012 are the Phare Tower and the Generali, which is the tallest skyscraper of France. The Phare Tower, with 130,000 square meters and 300 meters, work of Thom Mayne, is a building of conical and curved lines that will incorporate new advances in the environmental field. To the South, a double skin will prevent unwanted temperature increase, while wind generators in the roof provide the energy needed to cool the building during the half of the year. The torre Generali, of Valode & Pistre will be 307,7 m, 50 plants and 90,000 square metres. Its slender, futuristic silhouette will be crowned at tips of Crystal pointing towards the sky.

La Défense in figures

• 170,000 employees
• 20,000 inhabitants
• 1,500 companies, including 14 of the 20 first in France and 15 of the 50 first in the world.
• 3 million square metres of offices
• 400,000 people walking down every day
• 230,000 square meters of shops, including one of the largest shopping centres in Europe
• 2 million tourists a year
• 31 has been pedestrian space
• 11 has of parkland