The La Defense is a 160 ha business district in the west of Paris, currently under a renewal plan to strengthen its place among the great international business districts. The plan is managed by the EPAD (The Public Establishment for Installation of La Défense), an organization formed by local authorities, government and neighbors focused on developing the La Defense for the best interests of its 20.000 residents and 150.000 inhabitants in floating population.

The renewal includes several high rise sustainable towers. One of this towers, the Tour Signal, entered an international closed competition for teams of architects/investors/developers, on which EPAD didn’t impose a site. The candidates were thus able to choose their sites either from among the entrances to the business district (South Gate and West Gate), either from sites subject to demolition operations. The Tour Signal will thus endow the business district with a new landmark in 2013.

The finalists for this project were Jacques Ferrier Architectures, Foster + Partners Ltd, Studio Libeskind Architect, Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Wilmotte et Associes SA.

And a few days ago, the winner was announced: Ateliers Jean Nouvel, project shown on the video above.

More pictures of the Jean Nouvel proposal, and the rest of the candidates/finalists after the jump.

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b720 just informed us that they won the ideas competition for the new Market dels Encants in Barcelona, Spain, commissioned by the city.

Near the iconic Agbar Tower, the project develops as a continuous platform that deals with the topography of the site, covered with a big roof that unifies all the activities on this platform. The roof varies its inclination in order to reflect different views and daylight changes.

Sadly, this is the only picture available. More information soon, as b720 is developing the executive project.

b720 is a spanish studio lead by Fermín Vázquez. They have worked with Jean Nouvel (Agbar Tower, MNCARS) and David Chipperfield (America´s Cup Building, Justice City Complex, AV Campus, among others) as local architects.

Every year the PS1 Gallery at the Museum of Modern Art in New York invites young emerging architects to propose a temporary structure for their Warm-up Music festival, and unless you´ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you already know that Work AC won this years edition with their PF1 (Public Farm One) proposal.

PF1 (Public Farm One) is an urban farm concept built with inexpensive and sustainable materials recyclable after its use at P.S.1, such as cardboard tubes that form a continuous surface creating multiple zones of activity including swings, fans, sound effects, innovative seating areas, and a refreshing pool at its center, as an Urban Beach.

We visited Work AC (interview coming this Sunday) and they told us how this project allowed them to get in touch with non architects for the technique for growing plants on the cardboard tube structure, which enriched the development of the project. They also worked with LERA structural engineers.

Installation opens June 20th, hosting the 2008 Warm Up summer music series at the PS1. You can follow the construction progress at the Public Farm 1 website.

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Erick van Egeraat has won the international competition for the design of a new incineration line in Roskilde, Denmark for Kara/Noveren, a local waste management company. Due to its large scale, the incinerator is destined to become an outstanding structure in the wide and open landscape of the Roskilde area. After its completion in 2013, the facility will produce both electricity and heating for the Roskilde district.

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3LHD is a croatian office that has developed some interesting houses, sports facilities and urban projects. And now they just won the private competition for the Zamet sports and community centre in Rijeka, Croatia. Rijeka is an industrial harbour city on the Adriatic Sea and the new complex will provide it with a new civic hub for both business people and the general public.

From their press release:

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