La Tour Triangle

The Tour Triangle is a skyscraper under construction on the Paris exhibition grounds, designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. At a planned height of 180 meters (590 feet) and 44 floors, it will be the third-tallest building in the city after the Eiffel Tower and the Tour Montparnasse. Its architectural form is a triangular prism resting on one of its side faces. This unusual geometry means the silhouette changes dramatically depending on your vantage point: from certain sides the building looks broad and pyramid-like, from others slender like a conventional skyscraper.

The project has a checkered history. The first designs date back to 2008, but the Paris City Council did not grant the building permit until 2015, after earlier attempts had failed. Construction began in February 2022, with costs rising from an original €520 million to €660 million. The main investors are Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and the insurer AXA. Across a total floor area of 91,000 square meters (about 980,000 square feet), the plans call for mostly office space, along with a 130-room hotel, a day care center, and shops.

Despite the start of construction, the project remains highly controversial. Critics accuse it of spoiling the city's horizontal skyline and of contributing to neoliberal displacement, arguing that the apartments and offices will be affordable only to wealthy clients. There have also been legal disputes, including investigations into possible irregularities in the contracting process and lawsuits from environmental groups that object to the carbon footprint of the glass-and-steel structure. The building is not currently open to visitors, as it is still under construction.