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01-533
Tour Signal project
for La Défense
/ Paris (France)
/ 2007
La Défense, which was created in the wake of the
Second World War according to a master plan inspired
by the Athens Charter, has witnessed every one of the
rapid-fire shifts in architecture of the last four decades.
These include the large thin-shelled structure of the
cnit
(which was strongly disparaged by Le Corbusier in one
of his final texts), Otto von Spreckelsen’s Grande Arche,
which echoes the Arc de Triomphe, as well as several
residential towers that range from the magnificent (such
as the Tour Nobel) to the mediocre. Philippe Samyn’s
project is located on the banks of the River Seine at the
level of the Pont de Neuilly, on the site of the current
Novotel. The proposed development would link the
La Défense esplanade with the green space located
above the metro station in order to resolve the issue of
the connection with inner Paris. The multi-coloured,
‘discontinuous’ tower, rising to a height of 450 metres,
is divided into ten-floor sections, each containing a hol-
low space at one of the building’s corners. No void is
built over another, and each may accommodate local
developments. A central 18 m
2
void running the entire
height of the building generously channels light and
serves as the main conduit for the building’s natural ven-
tilation. Multi-coloured solar sensors in the form of scales
are arranged to accommodate users’ requirements. The
project consists of 60,000 m
2
of offices, 85,000 m
2
of
residential space, 5,000 m
2
of shops and a 6,000-m
2
hotel. Other lower buildings offer 60,000 m
2
of residen-
tial space and 8,000 m
2
of multi-purpose space.
The structure of the tower consists of a mixed exoskel-
eton of steel and concrete sheets, braced at the perim-
eter of the facades. Four tubular latticework cores, 10.8
metres on each side, constitute the vertical circulations
shafts and provide stability in the event of an attack.
Energy of all types is managed rationally, in particular
via exterior solar sensors and black-tinted solar panels
that cover the facades of the hollow spaces. At a time
when the discussion of towers within cities and their
‘branding’ of the urban space is once again being taken
up, this proposal combines strength and grace, without
– as certain recent projects do in the same area –
playing the often biased deconstructivism card.