The Shadowless Pyramid Of Paris

A historical breakthrough this summer in the French capital's strict planning regulations has galvanized the design for a series of new and exciting towers to be built within the city. For over thirty years, Paris' building industry has literally laid low with a ban on buildings over 120ft in height instated by Jacques Chirac during his term as mayor of Paris in 1977.

City officials unanimously voted off the ban this July to combat the city's current housing shortage and invigorate the economy. This spurred the generation of 20 new highrise designs for the city, the first of which is Herzog & de Meuron’s Le Projet Triangle to be located at Porte de Versailles in Southern Paris. The tower is a giant high glass pyramid set to revamp the city's skyline. Standing at 590 feet or 50 stories, upon its topout in 2014 it will be the third tallest building in Paris. It is designed to house offices, a conference center, a 400 bedroom hotel, restaurants and cafes all to be powered by wind and solar energy.

Though the Le Projet Triangle is an Eco-friendly structure filled with many green features and facets, what seems most impressive of all is that, according to the architects, it wont cast shadows on adjacent buildings. The trick seems to be the orientation and shape of the structure: while it look like a massive pyramid from some elevations, other perspectives show it as an ultra thin structure.

The architects have no doubt that the building will successfully integrate itself into the city's landscape and evoke the urban fabric which is one the one hand classic (echoed by the pyramidic Northern facade) and ultra-modern, shown by the thin Southern facade. The actual location of the building links what is known as "petit" and "grand parcs," the two parts of the Parc de Expositions.

I would like to start of by just saying "WOW." I love the look of the Pyramid and am impressed with the concept of not casting any shadows on the surroundings. Still, there are a few things I am concerned about. There has not been any budget set for this project yet because many of the planned green aspects of the project are still undefined as are specifics on how it will generate its own energy showing that it has not quite transitioned out of the conceptual phase. Also, I wonder how the average Parisian will take this design. The Eiffel tower and the Pyramid of the Louvre were not received well though the rest of the world praised them for being forward thinking and revolutionary, particularly as it still does not blend well with its environment.

All in all, I think that this is a very exciting project and am happy that officials in the city planning department were smart enough to realize that lifting the ban would not only help with the housing situation but enable Paris to take its place alongside other cities today showcasing their advances in architectural technology and construction.


Images obtained from www.ecofriend.org
For more info, check http://gizmodo.com/5056228/new-paris-building-casts-no-shadows-generates-electricity