Barrault Pressacco

Through this competition, we define the conditions for building a tower in Paris, which has recently repelled its impulse of modernity and high-rise buildings. The proximity with the Tour Montparnasse engenders the opportunity for a dialogue between the old and the new buildings, and the project is a way of looking at the existing tower, without overshadowing it.
The tower explores a dimensional range, starting at 37 metres, the height of the Parisian ceiling, and ending at 210 metres, the height of the Montparnasse tower. The project isn’t a technological challenge, either by its height, its energy efficiency or building performance.
The tower isn’t an icon or an exceptional object, isolated or symbolically loaded. The tower is a casual building. The tower is an urban tower, not an urban project. It settles in the city without seeking to construct a neighbourhood or an identity. The tower fully belongs to the street and its relation to the ground is obvious and immediate: the facade and the pavement are in direct contact.