Légende (former EDF tower)

Légende

Year of construction: 2001
Architects: Peï, Cobb, Freed and Partners and SRA (Saubot, Roult and Associates) Architects
Surface area : 64 300 sq.m
Height: 165 m, 40 floors

Address: 20 place de la Défense - 92800 Puteaux
Nearest car park: Centre - Grande Arche
Nearest public transport: La Défense (Grande Arche)

Delivered in 2001, the tower completes a project begun a quarter of a century earlier. The first studies began in 1984. Henri La Fonta was then approached as project manager for a building that he wanted to be triangular. A few years later, in association with the Chaix and Morel agency, he drew up new plans for a 150-metre-high hemicylindrical tower. But it is finally the association Peï, Freed and Partners and SRA Architects that wins the contract. The project containing a covered forecourt using the almond-shaped notch of the tower won all the votes.
The EDF tower is a perfect example of architectural prowess. With a length of 70 m and a maximum width of 32 m, it is wider at its top than at its base. The entrance, located on the Parvis side, is punctuated by a 24 m diameter canopy which gives it a masterly appearance while protecting pedestrians.
For the anecdote, the top of the EDF tower is at the same height as the Grande Arche.

A word about the architects

Founded in New York in 1955 under the name I.M Peï and Associates, the Peï, Cobb, Freed and Partners agency changed its identity in 1989, the year Ieoh Ming Peï (1917) completed the pyramid in the Louvre.
Considered as one of the most important American firms of the post-war period, it carries out projects all over the world: extension of the National Gallery in Washington, design of the Miho Museum near Tokyo, realization of the John Hancock Tower in Boston...
The agency has been involved in the Tête Défense project since 1973. After Peï's retirement in 1990, his partner, Henry N. Cobb, took over. At the head of Peï, Cobb, Freed and Partners, he created two office buildings near the GDF-Suez Tower: Adamas and Pyramidion.

Légende

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