A big part of Parisians hate high-rise buildings, even if they are set back to Paris center. Why that? They can be seen from the Jardin des Tuileries, and above all, people tend to think that they make the landscape monotonous: today, all the big cities are looking alike. But actually, it's not the case! And that's the point this tour aims to make. Their spectacular vertical reach gives them a highly symbolic dimension. And there is a lot of diversity brought by the richness of contemporary architecture in which France is no exception. Since 1960, the business district evolved significantly, and I'd like to share this amazing 70-year architectural journey that transformed the district in response of the needs arising from each crisis. This is why we now speak of 5 generations of towers at La Défense, even as a 6th begins to emerge…

In search of Functionalist architectures (1st and 2nd generations )

From left to right: Aurore tower, Manhattan and CB21 in the sky of La Défense

Originally, La Défense was not designed to be a business district, but a new city, envisioned by Paul Delouvrier's commission which wanted to reorganize Paris area, just like Evry, Cergy-Pontoise, or Marne-la-Vallée, a few years after World War 2. And to build this new city, you have to start from scratch. The ambition at La Défense was to make it a manifesto of modern city district. In 1958, the government created the EPAD, a public agency responsible of developing this new district, which gave it greater flexibility within the law. And this EPAD named 3 architects to develop the district future urban plan: Robert Camelot, Jean de Mailly and Bernard Zehrfuss. They laid the groundwork for the 1964 master plan which defined the layout of La Défense as we know it today. This was a slab-based urban design, on which buildings were constructed with specific dimensions based on their function. The towers were reserved for the offices and could not exceed 110 meters (360 feet) and the 28 000 square meters (301 000 square feet) in floor area. These were the 1st generation towers.

But 28 000m2 were actually a small amount of space in the early 70s. La Défense was already overwhelmed by this situation, it didn't reach the goals of the original masterplan. And to attract investors, we had to relax the rigid constraints of the masterplan. A company that wanted to establish its headquarters in La Défense and needed 70 000 square meters, impossible! Or else it would have to be spread between 2 different towers… So they hired Jean Millier who had worked for Paul Delouvrier's commission, to find ways to break the situation. Height limit and floor-area limit are gone: towers could now be split horizontally or vertically, offering larger floors area to companies. These were the 2nd generation towers.

In search for User comfort (3rd & 4th generations)

Calder's Red spider sculpture in front of la Maison de La Défense

The 1973 oil crisis really took a big bite into the real estate at La Défense. The skyscrapers were to energy-intensive. The district was deserted, and the vacancy rate was alarming. We needed strong measures to revitalize the neighborhood. Christian Pellerin, a young real estate entrepreneur was the right man for the job. He was convinced that if no one wants to work at La Défense, it's partly because the architecture became too austere and inhuman. So he wants to promote his concept of energy-efficient towers with a human scale. No more artificial lights and excessive heights. He wanted offices closer to the ground, where people can open the windows and breathe. The government was convinced and approved the budget that will make these third generation towers a reality.

But soon, those towers were once again obsolete as an Industrial Revolution was underway: the digital revolution. The first computers were democratized in the workplace, and the new challenge would be to optimize office spaces to these new uses. In practical terms, organizing space became much easier since you just needed to plug your computer in to work. Spaces would need to be more flexible and easily adaptable to change the occupants: vast open-plan areas that could be reconfigured and easily relocated. These were the 4th generation towers.

In Search of the Global Competitiveness of the Business District (5th & 6th generations)

The Esplanade de La Défense, with the Cœur Défense tower on the left and the Légende tower on the right

In the early 2000s, the situation was critical: the building stock was too old, and 1/5 of it no longer met current standards. This was a barrier to the district appeal, which the government hoped to promote on the global stage. These were the motivations behind the Renewal plan of La Défense, presented in 2006. To make La Défense attractive, the focus was to build iconic towers, symbols of the revival of modernism that would bring a renewed interest on form in architecture. International architects were invited to rethink La Défense's new skyline identity. Above all, an environnemental standard was created to remain competitive in the market: the HQE standard. These were the 5th generation towers.

And the 6th generation of towers at La Défense still hasn't arrive, even though we started to plan it. Today, we're worried for La Défense because climate change is here, and the area is one of the highest-carbon in France. The cause? The real estate sector, responsible of nearly half of the carbon footprint. But how can we address the challenge of creating a carbon-neutral business district? That's the question Paris La Défense asked itself from November 2022 to June 2023. And it came up with a series of 10 measures to make La Défense the world’s first post-carbon business district. Future skyscrapers will meet this challenge.

Practical informations

Duration : 3h

Meeting point : La Défense - Grande Arche (RER A, Métro 1, T2), exit 5 Calder - Miró

Language : In english.

Not accessible to people with limited mobility.