Tour Triangle

"Triangle” is primarily perceived at the metropolitan scale of the city of Paris. Its elevated stature will lend major visibility to the Porte de Versailles and the Parc des Expositions site within the overall conurbation. It will also permit its integration in the system of axes and perspectives that constitute the urban fabric of Paris.

On the scale of the Porte de Versailles site, the project will also play a significant role in the reorganisation of the flow and perception of urban space. The Parc des Expositions site currently forms a rupture between the Haussmannian fabric of the15th district of Paris and the communities of Issy-les-Moulineaux and Vanves, emphasised by the visual impact of the peripheral boulevard.

The construction of an ambitious building on the Porte de Versailles site will mark its opening and restore the historical axis formed by the rue de Vaugirard and avenue Ernest Renan.

The square of the Porte de Versailles is a complex space in its current configuration. Its initial semi-circular organisation is difficult to interpret given the many visual obstructions and lack of clearly identified public spaces between the Parc des Expositions and the opposite buildings. Building on the square itself would intensify this complexity: our project therefore proposes to free this space by positioning itself along the avenue Ernest Renan. This decision offers three major advantages:

• It permits the creation of a public square and park between the boulevard Victor and Hall 1 of the Parc des Expositions, by reorganising the logistic flows.
• It creates a strong link between what are known as the “petit” and “grand” parcs, the two poles of the Parc des Expositions.
• It marks the Paris / Issy-les-Moulineaux axis, allowing the urban space to cross the peripheral boulevard by activating the entire facade of the avenue Ernest Renan.

Situated along the avenue, the project is located at the heart of the Parc des Expositions site, setback from the surrounding residential areas. The building’s trapezoidal footprint is generated by rotating the north and south axis from the rectangular plot to create a dynamic setback from the peripheral boulevard to the south and from the Palais des Sport to the north. The volume also takes into account the impact of a high building on its environment. Its triangular shape reduces casting shadows on adjacent residential buildings. The environmental approach of the project is also perceptible in its simple, compact volume, which limits its ground impact.
This dialogue with the urban context is not limited to its silhouette and its location on the site, but also defines the internal organisation and texture of the project. The evocation of the urban fabric of Paris, at once classic and coherent in its entirety and varied and intriguing in its details, is encountered in the façade of (the) Triangle. Like that of a classical building, this one features two levels of interpretation: an easily recognisable overall form and the fine, crystalline silhouette of its façade, which allows Triangle to be perceived in various ways.

The west façade simply extends vertically so as to anchor the project in relation with the adjacent Hall1, while providing the efficient, repetitive footprint necessary for the integration of state of the art single office spaces. The east façade is steadily stepping, setting itself back from the property line creating diverse floor plates for open plan offices. The filigree, crystalline nature of the north and south façades decompose the volume to further define its internal functions like meeting rooms and large offices while allowing further integration with the adjacent residential buildings.

Triangle is conceived as a piece of the city that could be pivoted and positioned vertically. For the visitor, the project is first experienced from the square of the Porte de Versailles, where the public transportation networks converge. The base of the project is open to all, from the square of the Porte de Versailles and along the avenue Ernest Renan, which regains the appearance of a Parisian street with shops and restaurants. The north-east vertical axis of Triangle facing the centre of Paris has a funicular that links the public spaces at street level to a panoramic restaurant and further in the heights of Triangle, up to a belvedere from which the entire metropolis can be discovered.

Triangle will thus become one of the scenes of metropolitan Paris. It will not only be a landmark from which the urban panorama can be experienced, but also an outstanding silhouette in the system of axes and monuments of the city.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2012

PROJECT TEAM
Herzog & de Meuron Project Team
Partners: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Ascan Mergenthaler (Partner in Charge)
Project Team : Raymond Jr. Gaëtan (Associate, Project Director), Stefan Goeddertz (Associate, Project Director), Michael Bär, Marta Colón de Carvajal Salís, Guillaume Delemazure (Associate), Sarah Firth, Piotr Fortuna, Claire Gamet, Pauline Gaulard, Erik Gerlach, Yann Gramegna, Stefan Hörner, Julien Combes, Shusuke Inoue, Kentaro Ishida (Associate), Anna Jach, Daekyung Jo, Srdjan Jovanovic, Daniel Kiss, Yuichi Kodai, Pawel Krzeminski, Andrea Landell, Jaroslav Mach, Clément Mathieu, Sara Jimenez Nunez, Leonardo Pérez-Alonso, Ella Ryhiner, Heeri Song, Basil Spiess, Masato Takahashi, Julie Wagner, Yves Wanger, Christian Zöllner

Architect Planning
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, Switzerland

Partner Architect
Valode & Pistre Architectes, Paris, France

Mechanical Engineering
EGIS, Paris, France

Structural Engineering
SETEC TPI, Paris, France

Climate Engineering
Egis Concept (Elioth), Paris, France

Economist
AE75, Paris, France

Vertical Circulation
ARUP, London, UK

Acoustics
LAMOUREUX, Paris, France

Security Consultant
SOCOTEC Construction et Immobilier, Paris, France

Elevator Consultant
ARUP, London, UK

Environmental Engineer
Egis Concept (Elioth), Paris, France

Fire Security / Code
CSDFACES/APEX, Paris, France

[FR]

Triangle se perçoit tout d’abord à l’échelle métropolitaine de la ville de Paris. Sa forme singulière, celle d’une pyramide irrégulière à base trapézoïdale, contraste avec la perception unique qu’offrirait une tour classique en extrusion simple. Cette volumétrie confère à Triangle des perceptions multiples et dynamiques, qui varient selon le point d’observation. Elle devient donc ‘‘actrice’’ de la silhouette parisienne et apportera à la Place de la Porte de Versailles et au site du Parc des Expositions une grande visibilité depuis l’ensemble de la métropole. A l’échelle de la Place de la Porte de Versailles, l’insertion d’un bâtiment emblématique et reconnaissable le long de l’avenue Ernest Renan, au cœur du Parc des Expositions et en retrait de la Place et des bâtiments avoisinants jouera un rôle important dans la réorganisation des flux et dans la perception de l’espace urbain tout en réactivant l’axe historique reliant le 15ème arrondissement de Paris et les communes limitrophes d’Issy-les-Moulineaux et de Vanves. La calibration précise de sa volumétrie favorise son insertion et vise à limiter l’impact du bâtiment sur son environnement. Sa forme triangulaire a deux fonctions ; elle conserve de généreux angles de vues du ciel pour les riverains et elle réduit, tel un cadran solaire, la projection d’ombres sur les bâtiments avoisinants. Triangle est pensé comme un morceau de ville que l’on aurait fait pivoter et placé verticalement. Pour le visiteur, le projet est d’abord perçu depuis la Place de la Porte de Versailles où converge le réseau des transports en commun. Le socle du bâtiment est ouvert à tous, depuis la Place et le long de l’avenue Ernest Renan qui retrouvera l’apparence d’une rue parisienne animée, avec ses commerces et services. L’axe Nord-Est faisant face au centre de Paris intègre deux ascenseurs inclinés qui relieront l’atrium depuis le socle jusqu’à un restaurant panoramique en haut de tour. Cette visite pourra ensuite se prolonger dans les plus hauts niveaux de Triangle, jusqu’au belvédère d’où l’on découvrira des vues exceptionnelles sur l’ensemble de la métropole. Triangle deviendra ainsi l’un des lieux majeurs de Paris. Il recréera un espace urbain fort et animé, Place de la Porte de Versailles, offrira un point de repère depuis lequel on pourra percevoir le panorama urbain et apparaîtra comme une silhouette remarquable dans le système d’axes et de monuments de la ville, tel un signal en plein du cœur du Parc des Expositions.

[IT]
Il progetto si inscriverà nel sistema di assi e prospettive che compongono il tessuto urbano parigino. Progettato su scala della Porta di Versaille, giocherà un ruolo importante nella riorganizzazione dei flussi e nella nuova percezione dello spazio urbano”.

La piazza della Porta di Versaille è, nella sua configurazione attuale, uno spazio molto complesso. La sua organizzazione a semi-cerchio è difficile da interpretare, dati i numerosi impedimenti visivi nonché l’assenza di spazi pubblici chiaramente identificabili tra il Parco delle Esposizioni e gli edifici che sorgono di fronte.

Costruire sulla piazza contribuirebbe a peggiorare questo problema di percezione. Per questo il nostro progetto propone di liberare tale spazio e di costruire lungo l’avenue Ernest Renan.

Tale scelta offre tre vantaggi fondamentali:
- consente la creazione di una piazza pubblica tra il boulevard Victor e la Hall 1 del Parco delle Esposizioni, grazia alla riorganizzazione dei flussi logistici;
- crea un forte legame tra i cosiddetti “piccolo” e “grande” parco, le due aree del Parco delle Esposizioni;
- segna l’asse Parigi-Issy-les-Moulineaux, consentendo allo spazio urbano di attraversare il viale periferico attivando l’intera facciata della avenue Ernest Renan.

L’edificio sorge nel cuore del Parco delle Esposizioni, arretrato rispetto alle vicine zone residenziali. La volumetria, semplice e compatta, tiene conto dell’impatto di un’architettura verticale sull’ambiente circostante. La geometria triangolare gli consente infatti di non proiettare ombra sugli edifici adiacenti.

Il Triangolo è concepito come una porzione di città sviluppata in verticale. È tracciato da una rete di flussi di traffico verticali e orizzontali di velocità e capacità differenti. Come i viali, le strade e i passaggi più intimi di una città, questi flussi di traffico ricavano la costruzione da piccole isole di forma e dimensioni diverse.