Paris La Defense

La Défense: a bit of history

The business district “La Défense”

La Défense is Europe's largest purpose-built business district to the West of the city of Paris. The district is a showcase of France’s great leap into the 21st century. For many visitors to France who come to Paris with a preset image in their mind, the Business District is rather unexpected and its true value lies in its position at the far end of the Historical Axis. La Défense is indeed the height of the Historical Axis which starts at the Louvre and continues through the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe.

Le centre d’affaires de La Défense

The area of La Défense was once along the path which led to the castle of Saint-Germain en Laye, the country residence of the Kings of France, ideally located on the edge of a vast forest where they could hunt.

The idea to link the Louvre to Saint-Germain en Laye with a straight road over the little hill of Chantecoq emerged during the 15th century. The crossing of the River Seine at Neuilly was eased by the installation of a ferry, later replaced by a stone bridge when, on the 9th June 1605, the King’s coach fell into the water.

During the reign of Louis XIV, the axis became the obligatory route to reach the forest of Saint-Germain and was strictly aligned on the Historical Axis that architect Le Nôtre had worked on from the Tuileries.

However, it was urban architect Perronet who laid out the road in a direct line from the Champs-Elysées in 1766 to the top of the Chantecoq hill which is now the location of the Grande Arche. At that point, the architect shaped a round intersection similar to that on Place de l’Etoile and called it “Etoile de Chantecoq” or “Place de la Demi-Lune” (Half-moon square).

In 1863, Napoleon III erected a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in the centre of the square and renamed it “Rond-Point de l’Empereur” (Emperor Roundabout).

In the 1870s, following the Franco-Prussian war, the local authorities commissioned Louis Ernest Barrias a make a new statue to replace that of Napoleon which was to pay homage to the defenders of Paris: “La Défense de Paris”. Since then, the new name given to the square was by extension applied to the whole area: La Défense. The historic statue is still visible today, on its plinth right in the middle of the esplanade of La Défense, amidst high-rise buildings.

In the 1950s, the authorities decided to create a significant business centre outside Paris in the residential and industrial district of La Défense. First the CNIT (National Centre for Industries and Technologies) was built with its unique shape of a triangular vault resting on three supports, and then a plethora of skyscrapers whose highest reach 200 metres.

In order to not block the fantastic vista of the Historical Axis but still allow traffic to flow without constraints, it was decided to construct the “Dalle”, a concrete slab that slopes gently from the Pont de Neuilly up to the Grande Arche.

This artificial platform ingenuously hides all the transport links (motorway A14, the roads, métro and train railway lines) to create a huge pedestrian area offering fine views on the Arc de Triomphe in the distance.

In the midst of the skyscrapers bordering the Historical Axis in La Défense, a strong unifying symbol was needed, one on a grander scale.

Once elected President, François Mitterrand announced that La Défense needed a monumental structure which would represent the French state for centuries to come. The project was called “Tête Défense” (Head Défense) and was part of the so-called “Grands Travaux” (the ‘Great Works’), which involved the construction of a series of impressive architectural projects such as the Louvre Pyramid and the new Bastille opera house.

Like the Eiffel Tower at the time of its inauguration, the controversial Grande Arche was not welcomed by everyone. The President was often compared to Louis XIV, the Egyptian Pharaohs or even “dieu” (god) by the media for his zeal for building long-lasting and imposing landmarks throughout the French capital. But for Mitterrand, the timing was once again historic: for plans were being made for the huge celebrations of the bicentenary of the French Revolution to take place in 1989.

Amongst the hundreds of proposals for the Head Défense, that of Danish architect Johan-Otto Von Spreckelsen was chosen. It featured an open cube to look like a window open to the world with and gazing towards the future.

The architect described his project as: “a modern Arc de Triomphe, erected to the glory of the triumph of humanity; a symbol of hope that in the future people may meet freely”.

The gigantic and stunning monument is 110 metres tall by 112 metres deep and could hold the cathedral Notre-Dame in within its arch. The magisterial modern triumphal arch is undeniably a successful project blending perfectly with the surroundings thanks to its contemporary outline of white marble. Alongside the Eiffel Tower, it is probably Paris’ most imposing monument.

Viewed from the distance, one notices the deviation of the Grande Arche from the Historical Axis, for technical reasons (the network of railway lines and road tunnels underneath it made the project a complex one to complete). However, this allows one to better appreciate its remarkable cubic volume.

The “dalle” of La Défense

The “Tête Défense” project

The “Grande Arche de la Fraternité” of La Défense

The Défense skyline viewed from the Arc de Triomphe

The statue of La Défense de Paris © French Moments

The “dalle” of La Défense and the Historical Axis viewed from the panoramic terrace of the Grande Arche © French Moments

The CNIT of La Défense © French Moments

La Défense includes:

❖ 1.6 square kilometres
❖ 3,075,000 square metres of offices
❖ 230,000 m² of shops, including one of Europe’s largest shopping mall: “Les Quatre Temps”
❖ 2,500 businesses
❖ 1,500 headquarters of companies, including 15 of the 50 first in the world.
❖ 180,000 employees
❖ 20,000 residents
❖ 450,000 people travel to, from or through La Défense every day.
❖ More than 6 million tourists visited La Défense in 2009.

Interesting facts about La Défense

Visit the Historical Axis in Paris!

Official website of Paris’ Tourist Office Board:

http://www.parisinfo.com

Tourist information site of Ile de France:

http://www.nouveau-paris-ile-de-france.fr/

Official website of La Défense district:

http://www.ladefense.fr

PDF Guide to History and Stories of La Défense (English Version):

http://www.ladefense.fr/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/guidehistoireuk.pdf

Official website of La Défense-Seine-Arche urban project:

http://www.ladefense-seine-arche.fr/

The highest towers in 2011:

❖ Tour First: 231 metres (2011)
❖ Tour Total: 187 metres (1985)
❖ Tour GDF-Suez (T1): 185 metres (2008)
❖ Tour Areva: 184 metres (1974)
❖ Tour Granite: 184 metres (2008)
❖ Tour CB21 (ex GAn): 179 metres (1974)
❖ Tours Société Générale: 167 metres (1995)
❖ Tour EDF: 165 metres (2001)
❖ Tour Cœur Défense: 161 metres (2001)

The highest towers to be built by 2016:

❖ Hermitage Plaza Towers A and B: 323 metres (2016)
❖ Tour Phare: 287 metres (2017)
❖ Tour Generali: 265 metres (2013)
❖ Tour Air2: 220 metres (2014)
❖ Tour Majunga: 195 metres (2013)
❖ Tour Carpe Diem: 166 metres (2013)

The Grande Arche is out of line by 6°33 in relation to the Historical Axis, which is exactly the same angle that the square courtyard of the Louvre is to the axis.

Not only does the Grande Arche occupy the place of honour on the western extremity of the Historical Axis, the urban planners also positioned it in such a way that it forms another perspective, with a perfect alignment towards the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse, France’s highest buildings today.

Again, the link to the sun is significant, for it sets in the centre of the Grande Arche vault around the 24th June.

←Tours de la Société Générale

←Tours GAN and Cœur Défense

←Tours GAN, Total and Cœur Défense

Tour First (tallest building in France in 2011) →

The Historical Axis from La Défense (Basin of Takis) towards the Arc de Triomphe. Another perspective (right) opens onto the Eiffel Tower. © French Moments