Blanche

Blanche

Year of construction: 1967
Renovation: 2004 and 2014
Architects: Luc and Xavier Arsène-Henri, with Bernard Schoeller
Surface area: 28,500 sq.m
Height: 100 m, 27 floors
Former names: Chartis, AIG, Aquitaine

Address: 34 place des Corolles - 92400 Courbevoie
Nearest car park: Corolles
Nearest public transport: La Défense (Grande Arche)

The first private operation in the business district, the White Tower is initially part of a programme of 21 identical office towers. According to the two white cement experts - the Arsène-Henry brothers - this constraint hinders the expression of their know-how. In response, they designed a deliberately thick façade made of white concrete posts leaving little glass surface - only 40%. A plastic that echoes the collective of architects and sculptors of Le Monde vivant, founded in 1965.
To contrast with the austerity of the exterior, the architects called on decorators and artists, including the sculptor Francesco Marino Di Teana, to design the interior. The interior includes a sports hall, a sauna and several lounges for rest and music.

A word about the architects

Graduates of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, Luc (1924-1998) and Xavier (1919-2009) Arsène-Henry had an important career until the 1980s. The two brothers made themselves known in 1953 with the Franciscan monastery of La Clarté-Dieu in Orsay. A building they imagined in white cement concrete, a material that very quickly became their trademark.

They designed several residential, office and administrative buildings and established themselves in Paris, Nîmes and Bordeaux. In 1967, they built Le Galion in La Défense, in association with Bernard Schoeller. This was followed by Le Galion and the Minerve apartment building.

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