Leaning towers of Paris are approved
Jean Nouvel V-shaped skyscrapers will launch new Bruneseau district on Rive Gauche
PARIS is to get a pair of new leaning skyscrapers - one 175m high, the other 115m - on the Rive Gauche.
The new "leaning towers of Paris" are designed by star architect Jean Nouvel and will be the first in the new high-rise quartier Bruneseau at the border of the city and Ivry-sur-Seine in the 13th arrondissement.
They will have a common base which opens out into the form of a V.
Called BS3, the new buildings beside the Seine at Quai d'Ivray and the Périphérique will offer more than 90,000 sq.m of office space, a 237-room four-star hotel, and 1,800 of commercial space, including a revolving restaurant.
Built on Rue Bruneseau and Boulevard du Général Jean Simon, they will tower above the marshalling yards to the south-east of the capital.
Work on the new site will start in summer 2014 and after finishing in late 2017 first tenants should move in during spring 2018.
They are the first buildings for the new Bruneseau district which will rival La Defense at the other side of Paris. When completed, it will contain 244,000 sq m of offices, 178,000 sq m of housing and 18,000 of commercial space.
Nouvel's design was chosen by a jury led by Paris deputy mayor Anne Hidalgo.
