Yes, it’s true. Soon, skyscrapers will surround Parisians in a concrete maze, just as in many other modern cities struggling to remain vital and livable. Hidden in the fine print of all the articles on this however, is that the development will only be allowed to take place in the 13th arrondissment, leaving almost all of what tourists think of as “classic Paris” untouched. The 13th is the section immediately south of the 5th, and to the east of the 14th.
One of the striking things about Paris is that, for a major city whose metropolitan area includes nearly 12 million people, there are very few buildings more than five or six stories tall. Since 1977, soon after the construction of the 689 foot tall Tour Montparnasse, a building that sticks out like a sore thumb and is widely disliked by Parisians, there has been a height limit of 121 feet on all new buildings. (The Eiffel Tower, at 1,063 feet, is by far the tallest structure in the city.) But on Tuesday, Le Monde reported, the Paris City Council voted to raise the height limit to a revolutionary 590 feet, meaning that in the next few years, the Paris skyline will have a growth spurt.
[From Newly Freed from Height Limits, Paris Skyline Ready to Rise : TreeHugger]
Make sure to read the article since the explanation and vision are interesting. This should create an opportunity for new, ground-breaking architecture, including a planned crystal pyramid (artist’s drawing).
