General Information

Tour Areva (the former Fiat tower) measures 184 metres and upon its completion in 1974, it was the tallest tower in the high-rise business district of La Défense. Now, the smooth black monolith with façade looking like congealed glass is the fifth tallest building in Paris and an icon of the second generation of skyscrapers.

Additional Information

In 1987 Patrick Gayardon made a “legal” Base jump from the tower, which was unusual as the urban jumps were very rarely allowed in France.

Architecture: Highlights

The entirely black structure of the office skyscraper, in a shape of a perfect square prism and with cladding made of dark granite and darkened windows is said to have been modelled after the black monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.

Architecture: Explained

The load-bearing outer walls made of reinforced concrete have been clad in black granite and tinted glass with barely visible black sections. The fixed windows get taller as they reach the top – it is an ‘anti-taper perspective’ intended to reduce the impression of foreshortening for the viewers below.