new Paris tower

[Paul Clerkin]

Paris skyscraper to rival tower

Paris has chosen an American architect to build the French capital's tallest new building since the Eiffel Tower in the 19th Century.

The new curving skyscraper will be the centrepiece of a redevelopment project in the north-west of Paris.

Thom Mayne's Los Angeles-based company Morphosis beat off rivals as prestigious as the UK's Norman Foster and France's Jean Nouvel.

Building regulations have kept tall buildings out of Paris for 30 years.

One notable exception is the Tour Montparnasse which rises 180 metres (590 ft) in the south-west of the capital.

An international jury announced the winner, following a contest organised by French property group Unibail as part of a project to revamp La Defense business district.

The Paris city government opposes plans for a new skyscraper in the district, but the project is backed by French public body EPAD, which is in charge of the district's wider renovation, AFP news agency reports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6191132.stm

[LOB]

More images here
http://www.lefigaro.fr/images/20061128.WWW000000251_la_tour_phare_au_grand_jour.html

[malec]

I really don't know what to think of this building, definitely something out of the ordinary. It's quite ugly but it's definitely a bold and daring design that makes a statement. I recon it'll be one of those that are despised at first and 30 years later they're gems.