Herzog & de Meuron are famous architects from Switzerland responsible for many well-know projects, like the Portsmouth Soccer Stadium in England, Beijing’s Birdnest Stadium, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Their latest project is expected to restore flow to it’s environs by reconnecting the rue de Vaugirard and avenue Ernest Renan at the site of the building.
This first of many high-rise buildings currently being planned for Paris, Projet Triangle will incorporate shops and restaurants at the ground level in addition to offices, a conference center and a 400 room hotel. Upon completion in 2014, the project will be the third tallest structure in the inner city after the Eiffel Tower and Tour Montparnasse. 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. 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 façade 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 façade which allows it to be perceived variously.”
We’re hoping that it will compete against the Generali Tower in La Defense for the best sustainably-designed high-rise in Paris.
