Buildings, perhaps unlike any other art form or edifice, have a capacity to influence or become part of a place's cultural identity and history. Defining an architectural monument is, however, an ambiguous exercise – most of their ilk only reach this status years after completion. AD Classics are ArchDaily's continually updated collection of longer-form building studies of the world's most significant architectural projects. Here we've assembled five structures and buildings which, often aside from original intentions, embody that most ephemeral feeling: a sense of progress.
Paris: The Latest Architecture and News
5 Monuments to Progress
I.M. Pei's Le Grande Louvre Wins AIA 25 Year Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected The Grand Louvre – Phase I as the recipient of the 2017 AIA Twenty-five Year Award. Designed by I.M. Pei with his firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the project is notable for its 71-foot-tall glass and stainless steel pyramid, which according to the AIA, “now rivals the Eiffel Tower as one of France’s most recognizable architectural icons.”
The award is presented annually to a project that has "stood the test of time by embodying architectural excellence for 25 to 35 years."
145 Housing Units + FAM + PMI / Avenier Cornejo Architectes + Gausa Raveau Actarquitectura
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Architects: Avenier Cornejo Architectes, Gausa Raveau Actarquitectura
- Area: 16000 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Colt, Compagnie Francaise du Parquet, Griesser, MC FRANCE
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Professionals: Franck Boutté Consultants, Bassinet Turquin Paysage, Bureau Michel Forgue
Physical Education Ground of Saint-Paul Gardens / NP2F
AD Classics: Eiffel Tower / Gustave Eiffel
The world had never seen anything like the graceful iron form that rose from Paris’ Champ de Mars in the late 1880s. The “Eiffel Tower,” built as a temporary installation for the Exposition Universelle de 1889, became an immediate sensation for its unprecedented appearance and extraordinary height. It has long outlasted its intended lifespan and become not only one of Paris’ most popular landmarks, but one of the most recognizable structures in human history.
AD Classics: Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis / Abbot Suger
The origin of Gothic architecture, a style which defined Europe in the later Middle Ages, can be traced to a single abbey church in the northern suburbs of Paris. The Basilique royale de Saint-Denis (Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis), constructed on the site of an abbey and reliquary established in Carolingian (800-888 CE) times, was partially rebuilt under the administration of Abbot Suger in the early 12th Century; these additions—utilizing a variety of structural and stylistic techniques developed in the construction of Romanesque churches in the preceding centuries—would set medieval architecture on a new course that would carry it through the rest of the epoch.
Hydraulic and Electrical Installations / DATA
Social-Housing Units in Paris / Atelier du Pont
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Architects: Atelier du Pont
- Area: 1300 m²
- Year: 2015
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Professionals: RPO, EVP, Plan02, Delta Fluides
M6B2 Tower of Biodiversity / Edouard Francois
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Architects: Edouard Francois
- Area: 13830 m²
- Year: 2016
Hotel Flottant / Seine Design
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Architects: Seine Design
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: ACPI, EUROMODULES, EVAC, FAPEL, IDOINE, +4
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Professionals: Interware
BIG Joins Kuma, Perrault and EMBT in Designing Stations for the Grand Paris Express Metro
BIG and French studio Silvio d'Ascia have been selected to design the new Pont de Bondy metro station in Paris. The station is the latest design to be announced as part of the Société du Grand París’ Grand Paris Express project, which is seeking to modernize the existing transport network through the addition of nearly 200 kilometers of rail lines and a series of architect-designed stations throughout the city.
Of a total of 68 new stations, nine have been labeled as “emblematic,” meaning that they are expected to serve as significant neighborhood nodes within the larger masterplan. The Pont de Bondy station will constitute one of these emblematic projects, joining designs from Kengo Kuma & Associates, Dominique Perrault, Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT) and Bordas+Peiro, Agence Duthilleul, and Elizabeth de Portzamparc.
Pezo von Ellrichshausen Constructs Temporary Wooden Tower in Paris' Jardin des Tuileries
Chilean studio Pezo von Ellrichshausen has erected a temporary wooden tower of “an ambiguous” scale in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. Named the “Deci Pavilion,” the structure is made up of ten stacked octagonal wooden drums of decreasing size. While in reality only large enough to hold one visitor at a time, the column’s form and relationship to its surroundings give it the presence of a much larger structure.
Apartment in Paris / UBALT
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Architects: UBALT
- Area: 36 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: LOTTE CHEMICAL, Saint-Gobain, CE.SI. Ceramica, Cassina, Charlotte Perriand
Bookshelf House / ANDREA MOSCA CREATIVE STUDIO
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Architects: ANDREA MOSCA CREATIVE STUDIO
- Area: 160 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Plexwood, Cinna Ottoman, Stone Italiana
Public Day Nursery Jules Guesde / B+C Architectes
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Architects: B+C Architectes
- Area: 700 m²
- Year: 2014
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Professionals: ATELUX, LM Ingenierie