La Défense, Paris
About this Zone
The history of La Défense goes back to 1950 when the Federation of Engineering Industries planned to construct the large exhibition hall CNIT on a triangular plot of land. This area lies at the city border of Paris next to the site which is today known as the business district La Défense.
In 1960 the three architects of the CNIT suggested to extend a major boulevard next to CNIT by bordering it with tall office and apartment buildings that would be linked by overhead walkways. Convinced by government authorities and the CNIT's presence, the ESSO company bought a plot of land in 1957 on which to built its new Paris headquarters.
The French government officially launched its La Défense operation in 1958 by creating a Public Corporation for managing the project, the "Etablissement Public pour l'aménagement de la région de La Défense", or EPAD. 750 hectares of land were allocated from three different neighboring towns - Courbevoie, Puteaux, and Nanterre.
In 1960 EPAD studied an urbanization plan. Approved in December 1964, it echoed the functional principles propounded by Le Corbusier: the creation of a pedestrian-only esplanade that would cover a network of roads underneath. To maintain architectural unity, all office buildings at La Défense would have to respect the same rules. Dimensions at the base were to be 24 by 42 meters for 100 meters of height. Each individual building could have whatever shape it liked so long as it obeyed these ground rules. As early as 1967 the first generation of skyscrapers began to rise, notably the Nobel Tower and the Aquitaine Tower. These were Paris' first skyscrapers.
Residential buildings were not to be more than ten floors high. Square in shape and built in front of the skyscrapers to take advantage of the sun, they opened towards the middle onto a garden/patio area.
In 1989 the Grande Arche - a veritable monument to the 20th century - enhanced the business district's international dimension and opened the view westward onto new urbanization. EPAD is moving forward with new urbanization plans that will rise on top of the underground A-14 motorway.
Today 140,000 people work and 30,000 people live in La Défense, Europe's largest business center. With headquarters of companies such as Cégétel, Société Générale, Elf, Total, Rhone-Poulenc, Usinor, La Défense is a French and European economic powerhouse.
The following buildings are currently listed in La Défense:
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