Grande Arche

Description

La Grande Arche de la Défense is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west of Paris, France. It is usually known as the Arche de la Défense or simply as La Grande Arche.

Design and construction

A great national design competition was launched in 1982 as the initiative of French president François Mitterrand. Danish architect Johann Otto von Spreckelsen (1929–1987) and Danish engineer Erik Reitzel designed the winning entry to be a late-20th-century version of the Arc de Triomphe: a monument to humanity and humanitarian ideals rather than military victories. The construction of the monument began in 1985. Spreckelsen resigned on July 1986 and ratified the transfer of all his architectural responsibilities to his associate, French architect Paul Andreu. Reitzel continued his work until the monument was completed in 1989.

The Arche is in the approximate shape of a cube (width: 110m, height: 110m, depth: 110m); it has been suggested that the structure looks like a hypercube (a tesseract) projected onto the three-dimensional world. It has a prestressed concrete frame covered with glass and Carrara marble from Italy and was built by the French civil engineering company Bouygues.

La Grande Arche was inaugurated in July 1989, with grand military parades that marked the bicentennial of the French Revolution. It completed the line of monuments that forms the Axe historique running through Paris. The Arche is turned at an angle of 6.33° about the vertical axis. The most important reason for this turn was technical: with a métro station, an RER station, and a motorway all situated directly underneath the Arche, the angle was the only way to accommodate the structure's giant foundations. In addition, from an architectural point of view, the turn emphasizes the depth of the monument and is similar to the turn of the Louvre at the other end of the Axe historique.

La Voie Royale, an experimental short film by director Larbi Chikh, suggests that the turn precisely orients the structure towards the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. In reality, this would require a turn of 0.1°.

In addition, the Arche is placed so that it forms a secondary axe (axis) with the two highest buildings in Paris, the Tour Eiffel and the Tour Montparnasse.

The two sides of the Arche house government offices. The roof section was an exhibition centre, housing the Musée de l'Informatique (Computing Museum). The roof, when it was open to the public, was also popular for its views of Paris. However, after an accident without injury in the elevators in April 2010, the Department of Ecology, owner of the roof of the Grande Arche, decided to permanently close the computer museum, restaurant, and viewing deck. Access to the roof is still possible via the elevators in the north and south walls, but they are closed to the public.

A reopening is planned for May 2017.

View of the Arc de Triomphe from the Grande Arche
Christmas decoration at the Grand Arche
The Grande Arche seen from the Arc de Triomphe on the Axe historique
North façade of the Grande Arche de la Défense
The Grand Arche seen from the Arc de Triomphe - telephoto lens view

Source

Street view

Reviews

Wayne

What an amazing piece of architecture! We loved looking at, going to the top of it, and eating there. It is truly a Grande Arch

Real

From La Grande Arche, you can see l'Arc De Triomphe on a clear day and while you down Esplanade de la Défense, you can admire each towers with their unique architecture ?

Adam

Has to be the biggest Arche I've ever seen!
Great place to explore, each building has its own unique feature, feels like the future.

Evgenii

Cool place to visit. One could seat on a bench and take a rest while looking on skyscrapers around this place.

Alex

From the classical old architecture of Paris, its a beautiful juxtaposition to see the modern skyscrapers of this area. Beautiful modern arch with great views if you climb up the stairs!

Julius

Simply a sublime place, but under some fencing which spoil the views. Would benefit from some wet cleaning here and there. Beware of pigeons!

MASSIMO

Amazing sight from the top. The photographic show about Baby Brides in the world is astonishing, blood freezing but really helpful to know how life conditions can be hard while not believable if not seen.

Francois-Olivier

Despite the fancy decoration and excellent service, it's outrageously expensive to pay €15 to use a lift and possibly see one of the most awful views of Paris... Even the Eiffel tower cannot be properly observed as it is aligned with brownish Tour Montparnasse. Up from the terrace, Paris looks like a combination of a building site, office towers and ugly suburbs....

Filip

Amazing view and amazing place to see in Paris. Definitly one to visit when in the city. The view from the Grand Arc is stunning and shows how incredible cities were designed before the II WW. Warsaw would be an outstanding example if not for its total destruction. Love Paris!

simona

I’ve never seen the biggest shopping mall! The cube is great with her monstrosity. Nice modern place.

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