I can't wait for that one.
How long is the renovation supposed to last ?

The cladding of T1 is green ? yuck :shuffle:

some aerial pictures of LD:

http://lafrancevueduciel.free.fr/pho...ghdef/6046.jpg

http://lafrancevueduciel.free.fr/pho...ghdef/6052.jpg

please notice the strange curves on the roof of the Exaltis building:
http://lafrancevueduciel.free.fr/pho...ghdef/6048.jpg

nice aerials!!!

Is this project : Hotel Méridien still alive ?

http://www.auralab.com/galerie01/hidef01.jpg

Yeah it is. That building should be inaugurated in 2009, at about the same period as the inauguration of the renovated AXA tower.

This part of La Défense near the banks of the Seine should massively change in the next 10 years. There is a project to build a pedestrian bridge above the Pont de Neuilly which is thought as a direct extension of La Défense esplanade on the Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle in Neuilly-sur-Seine. In the same project, two highrise buildings of 150 m are proposed in Neuilly on the other side of the Seine.

The Axe Historique, starting at the Louvre and continuing through the Champs-Elysées, will really become something outstanding if everything goes well. The A14 motorway which is crossing La Défense underground should be connected to the périphérique with the project consisting in making the RN13 highway underground, below the Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle in Neuilly. That project will have as consequence to erase all disrupts on the Axe Historique, which will become something perfectly integrated from La Défense to the Arc de Triomphe (Pedestrian bridge between La Défense and Neuilly, reorganization of Porte Maillot).

Very impressive. From the aerial pictures it would appear that the immediate area around La Defense isn't quite as prosperous as the area around Canary Wharf with the swaves of yuppie flats that are going up. That said, go a couple of miles away and you're in the poorest area of London...

I disagree, the immediate area around La Défense is actually very prosperous and very well-furnished. A lot more than around Canary Wharf. Granted few buildings of yuppies are built nearby CW, but that can't be compared with the old and rich municipalities of Courbevoie, Puteaux and Neuilly.

The only place in the immediate area around La Défense which isn't well built is Nanterre, right behind the Grande Arche. It used to be an industrial area. However, that's exactly the place where the major constructions are currently taking place. It's called "Seine-Arche" and consists actually in building a whole new district dedicated to business.

Canary Wharf is actually a lot more peripherical than La Défense is. I know that people are suspicious when they hear so because CW is in the Greater London when LD isn't located in the City of Paris, but you shouldn't be misleaded by the very different administrative organization of both cities.

La Défense is fully part of the dense core of Paris. The whole area between La Défense and the center of Paris is very densely built and consists exclusively of appartment buildings. A significant number of them being built as soon as during the 19th century. LD is located on the historical axis starting at the Louvre and continuing through the Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe. And that historical axis is currently extended further than La Défense with the new Seine Arche business district. At the opposite, CW is separated from the City of London by a wide area made of residential houses.

LD is clearly better located and better connected to the city center than is CW. As for the the immediate surroundings of both district, I would clearly like better to live in Courbevoie than in Greenwich.

Paris will get a SWFC, a Freedom Tower, a SwissRe and a Burj Dubai dwarf? Cool! :)
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5...6ld2015ex5.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenL From the aerial pictures it would appear that the immediate area around La Defense isn't quite as prosperous as the area around Canary Wharf with the swaves of yuppie flats that are going up.

Actually, as Metropolitan already said, La Défense is located in a very wealthy area. Notably, it is located right across the Seine River from Neuilly-sur-Seine, which is one of the richest communities in Europe.

In any case, statistics are better than subjective points of view. Here are statistics I found. La Défense is surrounded by 3 communes (municipalities): Neuilly-sur-Seine, Courbevoie, and Puteaux. In absolute terms, the average monthly income for a resident household in Neuilly-sur-Seine is 6,250 euros (£4,230). Monthly I said. In Courbevoie, the average monthly income for a resident household is 2,537 euros (£1,717). In Puteaux it is 2,143 euros (£1,450). I don't think that you can seriously claim than an area where households earn on average between 2,143 and 6,250 euros per month is a destitute area.

Now in relative terms, in 2004 the median fiscal income for a resident household was:
- in Neuilly-sur-Seine: 2.3 times (i.e. 130%) above French average, and 91% above Île-de-France (Greater Paris) average
- in Courbevoie: 52% above French average, and 27% above Greater Paris average
- in Puteaux: 28% above French average, and 7% above Greater Paris average
Again, hardly a destitute area.

Note that all these statistics concern resident households, i.e. people who live in these three communes (municipalities) surrounding La Défense. They do not concern the companies located in the area.

Thanks for that. Interesting how appearances and initial impressions may mask reality - some of them looked a bit like British council estates really.

Still on :

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3575/dsc00887gq1.jpghttp://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2680/dsc00888gj9.jpg

But still no sign of construction at the site :

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/794/dsc00889fn7.jpg

thanks for the info , hopefully the design of the building is not going to be changed

After the project has been approved, the design shouldn't be modified. If the construction starts shortly, which I hope, the design will definitely be the same.

Things won't go fast though. The delivery of the hotel is planned the 4th quarter of 2009.

The foundations are going to be a though case to realize , there is afterall the boulevard circulaire that is going underneath

Right. It's going to be tricky. But the foundations won't be very deep. The hotel is supposed to have a height of "only" 82,7m.

Rumour

Iris building (7 floors, near Gan Tower and the new Hotel Meridien ) would be demolished for build a 240 meters tower
The owner of this towers would be Generalli insurance

http://pix.nofrag.com/c6/b8/a39df511...cf8c6a302.jpeg
http://www.defense-92.fr/photos/ph344.JPG

How could they build this small building in the first place ! This is beyond me.
La Défense has focused too long on short term profit and the result is a bunch of mediocre low rises that use valuable locations.

Here's the first rendering of the new Generali tower which is planned to be built behind Tour Gan. It is NOT the famous "tour Signal". Its height is supposed to be between 240 meters and 280 meters according to contradicting sources:

http://www.businessimmo.info/_img_up...top_une145.jpg


I have edited a picture to show how it could look like on the skyline. On that picture, the tower is about 280 meters, spire included:

http://mapage.noos.fr/marla13/generali.jpg

It strives to be iconic and it's certainly different. My view might change but I like it.