Montparnasse Tower

first      previous      next      last     

One of the late French president Pompidou’s “grand projects,” in addition to the Front de Seine, was this high-rise building, the Maine-Montparnasse Tower (often just called the Montparnasse Tower, or Tour Montparnasse /tuʁ mõpaʁnas/ in French). Although it is small by U.S. standards, at only 59 stories, it Montparnasse Tower). Although it is small by U.S. standards, at only 59 stories, it was the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe for years after its construction, until the construction of the Canary Wharf building in London in 1991 (but two buildings in Eastern Europe were already taller when the Montparnasse Tower was built). Personally, I'm glad that most skyscrapers are being built in Asia these days.

The Maine-Montparnasse Tower was built in 1973 (although it had been proposed as early as 1958), and was designed by architects Eugène Beaudoin, Urbain Cassan, Louis Hoym de Marien, and Jean Saubot. The sewage-brown tower follows the monolithic, fairly featureless style popular for skyscrapers at the time, only it lowers it to a new level of ugliness. Only the outside offices on each floor have a view of the world outside. The floor plan of the tower forms an M and its mirror image.

Unlike the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower has few supporters, even thirty years after its construction. Personally, I have never heard any compliments made about it, and I cannot say that I am surprised by that. The tower is 209 metres in height—about 2/3 the height of the Eiffel Tower—and it used to offer an even better view of the city from its rooftop observation decks than does the Eiffel Tower itself (in fact, I have a picture of the Eiffel Tower taken from the Montparnasse Tower years ago, if you would like to see it). Unfortunately the observation deck is now completely enclosed by a glass wall, so I can no longer recommend it.

This photograph was taken from the Montparnasse cemetery, one of the few spots in the area with a fairly unobstructed view of the tower. You are looking northwest in this view, and the tower is about half a kilometre away.

Lately the tower's reputation has been further tarnished by the discovery of large amounts of asbestos within.

Photographed on June 12, 2001.