Paris it is a city with a highly relevant architectural and engineering heritage. Among the most iconic structures, there is certainly the Tour Montparnassethe tallest skyscraper within the city center, located at 33 Avenue du Maine. 210 meters high, it rises 59 floors and is the tallest skyscraper within the administrative borders of Paris. So let’s take a closer look at this fascinating project.
Project description
Inaugurated in 1973, the Tour Montparnasse represents a controversial architectural expression of the entire Parisian architectural and engineering panorama. The skyscraper stands in the 15th arrondissement, and its lines break, in a very abrupt way, the panorama of the city of Paris, characterized by the typical slate and zinc roofs, much desired and desired by Baron Haussmann in 19th century. The project bears the signature of the architects Jean Saubot, Eugène Beaudouin, Urbain Cassan and Louis de Hoÿm de Marien
One of the first questions that the customer asks himself, when faced with the panorama of the city of Paris, is: why did you choose to create a sort of “monolith” in the middle of the city?
While cities like Milan and London have essentially embraced verticality, creating real business areas in their urban context, Paris has instead opted for a real “break” with its landscape, and this is ultimately also the answer to the question we asked ourselves in the title. Although criticized by some, Parisians love what the Tour Montparnasse has to offer, such as the wonderful view from the 56th floor. However, there is a famous joke among Parisians, which goes more or less:
“It’s the best place to look at Paris from, because it’s the only one from which you can’t see the tower itself”
The tower seen from the Arc de Triomphe
By Steven Strehl – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Tour Montparnasse of Paris towards the future
The entire complex where the Tour Montparnasse stands will be the subject of a major renovation project, with it being closed to the public starting from March 31, 2026. Signed New AOM (Franklin Azzi, ChartierDalix, Hardel Le Bihan), the project will radically transform the entire building, making it entirely glass, with shops, offices and also an agricultural greenhouse dedicated to the on-site cultivation of fruit and vegetables.
Not only the tower will be restored but, as we have said, the complex interior where it stands. The shopping center in the area, in fact, will have to be dismantled and replaced with one traversable, open and green space. The total cost of the restoration work is estimated at around 600 million euros, almost entirely financed by the condominiums, with the exception of interventions on the public.
What will undergo a major reorganization is precisely what belongs to public areas, such as the main car park of the neighborhood which will be de-urbanized and planted with 1,000-2,000 treeswhile new contemporary style buildings will host offices, student accommodation, shops and rooftop sports grounds. The Montparnasse Tower will no longer be just an administrative building: it will become an emblem of urban diversification and modernity.
