Diriger aux Bâtiments de Paris

Paris is of course the capital of France and a renowned city for architecture. Famous architects that lived or worked here include Le Corbusier, Perrault and Nouvel. The city has strong formal axes and spaces, with many interesting buildings by famous architects.

Enjoy your visit!



Paris Architecture : buildings listed alphabetically

Ten Key Paris buildings (chronological):

1. Notre-Dame Cathedral / Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, Paris IVe
1250
Architects n/a

2. The Pantheon, Paris / Le Pantheon de Paris, Paris Ve
1790
Soufflot

3. Arc de Triomphe, Paris VIIIIe
1836
Chalgrin; Blouet

4. Garnier Opera House / Opéra Garnier, Paris IXe
1875
Garnier

5. The Louvre Museum Pyramid / Musée du Louvre - Pyramide, Paris Ie
1876
I.M. Pei & Partners

6. Eiffel Tower / Tour Eiffel, Paris VIIe
1889
Eiffel

7. Sacre Coeur, Paris / La Basilique du Sacré Coeur, Paris XVIIIe
1912
Architect: Abadie

8. Pompidou Centre / Centre George Pompidou, Paris IVe
1976
Rogers / Piano Architects

9. Arab du Monde lnstitute / lnstitut du Monde Arabe, Paris V
1988
Nouvel, Architect

10. Parc de la Villette, Paris IXXe
1993
Tschumi, Architect



Key Paris buildings (alphabetical):
Centre George Pompidou / Pompidou Centre
lnstitut du Monde Arabe / Arab du Monde lnstitute
Musée du Louvre / The Louvre Museum
Pyramide du Louvre / Louvre Pyramid
Tour Eiffel / Eiffel Tower

Centre George Pompidou / Pompidou Centre
Rue Beaubourg, Paris IVe
1977
Richard Rogers / Renzo Piano Architects


Radical building for its time with service ducts expressed on the exterior and all structure glamourised and articulated externally where possible. Half of the plot was given over to a rectilinear square which again added dynamism to the architecture. Also known as the Beaubourg Centre or simply The Pompidou building: Hi -Tech Pompidou Centre
Renovation of Centre Georges Pompidou: 1995 - Renzo Piano Building Workshop

lnstitut du Monde Arabe / Arab du Monde lnstitute
1 Rue des Fossés, Paris V
Saint-Bernard
1988
Jean Nouvel, Architect


One of the strongest buildings of President Mitterrand´s “Les Grands Projects”
Famous for its arabic-inspired fenestration where small oculi open & contract to allow varying levels of light in. The Institue du Monde Arabe was a result of one of the first Grands Projet architecture competitions: Paris building

Musée du Louvre / The Louvre Museum
Paris Ie
1876;
various architects


Pyramide du Louvre / Louvre Pyramid
Paris Ie
1989
I.M. Pei & Partners [Pei Cobb Freed & Partners], Architects
The Louvre Pyramid by architect IM Pei was one of the most controversial of President Mitterrands´ Grand Projets:


Entitled Le Grand Louvre, the design completed in 1981 involved a glass pyramid central to the courtyard allowing better access and circulation into these famous Parisian galleries: Louvre building

Tour Eiffel / Eiffel Tower
Rue de Champ de Mars, Paris VIIe
1889
Gustave Eiffel

This has to be the most famous structure in Paris, an early skyscraper that was not liked by many when built but now symbolises Paris, and France, to the world:
Eiffel Tower

Sacre Coeur / Sacred Heart Church
Montmartre, Paris

Paris church

Key recent Paris buildings:
Société Générale tower
La Défense
2008
Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Paris skyscraper

Musée du quai Branly / Quai Branly Museum
15, rue Jean-Baptiste Berlier
2006
Jean Nouvel, Architect
£160m approx.

Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation
Architects: Frank Gehry
2006-
Louis Vuitton Paris

The Phare, Paris
2007-12
Morphosis, Architects

Paris Tower Building
Due to be tallest building in Paris after Eiffel Tower


Key Public Spaces in the city - Paris Squares & Parks:

Paris Squares:

Place des Vosges, Marais, Paris IV
Small grassy square with ordered trees in the centre of Paris

Place des Vosges
Simple elegant square just west of Paris centre, home to fine jewellers and clothes shops

Place Dauphine
Ile de la Cité

Place des Invalides
south of River Seine

Paris Parks & Major Spaces:
Park Citroen
/ Park André Citroën
rue Balard and rue Saint-Charles, southwest Paris, Paris XV
Alain Provost / Gilles Clément, designers
Park Andre Citreon is located at the site of a former Citroen car factory.
This modern Paris park resulted from a landscape design competition.
Nearest Metro: Javel
Opening Times: ever day of the year 24 hours a day
Admission: free

Park Villette
see the description further down this page

Bois de Boulogne
Paris XVI

Avenue des Champs Elysees
massive city axis incl. Place de la Concorde + Jardin des Tuileries + Jardin du Carrousel

Parc du Champs de Mar
Photo from Eiffel Tower southeast towards Ecole Militaire and Unesco Building - tower


Trocadero




Key buildings not yet included in this Guide to Paris Architecture (alphabetical order):

Arc de Triomphe / Triumphal Arch
Bibliotheque Nationale / French National Library
Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand / New Bibliotheque Nationale
Canal+ Headquarters
Cité de la Musique / Paris Concert Hall
Cite of the Sciences
CNIT Building / Sofitel - CNIT
College Maximilien Perret / Maximilien Perret College
Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain / Cartier Foundation Paris
Hotel Concorde Lafayette
Hyatt Regency Roissy
La Basilique du Sacré Coeur / Sacre Coeur Basilica
La Grande Arche de La Défense / Grand Arch at La Defense
Le Pantheon de Paris / The Pantheon, Paris
Maison de le Roche / Le Roche House
Maison de L'UNESCO / UNESCO Building
Maison de Verre / The Glass House
Maison Ozenfant / Ozenfant House & Studio
Musée du quai Branly / Quai Branly Museum
Musée Orangerie / Orangerie Museum
Notre-Dame, Paris / Notre-Dame Cathedral
Opéra de la Bastille / Paris Opera building
Opéra Garnier / The Garnier Opera House
Tour Pacific / Pacific Tower
Palais de Tokyo / Tokyo Palace
Parc de la Villette / Villette Park
Pavilion Suisse / Swiss Pavilion
Rue de Meaux / Meaux Street
Rue des Suisses - Maison / Suisses Street - Apartment Building
Tour Montparnasse / Montparnasse Tower
Tristan Tzara - Maison / Tristan Tzara House
UNESCO Space for Contemplation


Arc de Triomphe / Triumphal Arch
Paris VIIIIe (Paris XVIe)
1836
Jean François Thérèse Chalgrin, Architect; Guillaume Abel Blouet, Architect
Completed by Blouet, following the death of Chalgrin in 1811, the Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon to celebrate victory at Austerlitz. It is the world´s largest triumphal arch and influenced the later La Grande Arche further along this formal urban axis of the Étoile. More a national monument than significant piece of architecture..

Bibliotheque Nationale / French National Library
Quai François-Mauriac 75706, Paris XIIIe
1862-68
Henri Labrouste, Architect
A key Paris building that appears in most histories of world architecture.
The architect Labrouste was appointed in 1854.

Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand / New Bibliotheque Nationale
12 quai Panhard-Levassor, Paris XIIIe
1989-95
Dominique Perrault Architects
The largest of Mitterand´s Grand Projets for Paris: formed from four L-shaped corners of a square, 25 storeys tall on the banks of the Seine with a garden in the middle. Simple and powerful building, with a clear programme.
Bibliotheque Nationale - Website: www.bnf.fr

Canal+ Headquarters
Paris
1992
Richard Meier Architects

Cité de la Musique / Paris Concert Hall
City of Music, Avenue Jean-Jaurès, La Villette, Paris IXXe
1984-95
Christian de Portzamparc Architect
Located near Parc de Vilette. Other Portzamparc buildings in Paris include Cafe Beaubourg; Ungaro Boutiques; Hautes-Formes housing; National Conservatory of Music and Dance - also in La Villette, 1990. Portzamparc studied architecture in Paris; he received the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1997. He designed the LVMH Building - see our New York architecture page.

Cite of the Sciences
-
1986
Ian Ritchie Architects

Cite of the Sciences

CNIT Building / Sofitel - CNIT
La Défense, Paris
1958
Robert Camelot & Bernard Zherfuss, Architects
Renovated by Andrault & Parat, Architects, in 1989

College Maximilien Perret / Maximilien Perret College
Alfortville, Paris, France
1995-97
Massimiliano Fuksas Architects

Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain / Cartier Foundation Paris
261 boulevard Raspail, Paris
1995
Jean Nouvel, Architect with Emanuel Cattani et Associés
Intriguing building that plays games with layers of translucent screens to ask what is building and what is not? Existing mature trees on the site, south of the centre of Paris, are imaginatively integrated.
Cartier Foundation building

HEC School of Management
2008-
David Chipperfield Architects

David Chipperfield Architects
MBA Building Paris

Hotel Concorde Lafayette
Paris XVIIe
1974
Guillaume Gillet, Henri Guibout, Serge Maloletenkov, Architects
This Paris building is 137m high

Hyatt Regency Roissy
Paris
1988-92
Murphy/Jahn Architects

La Basilique du Sacré Coeur / Sacre Coeur Basilica
Montmartre, Paris XVIIIe
1912
Paul Abadie, Architect
Located in the north of Paris on the hill of Montmartre this catholic church is famously white and looks out over Paris from this artisans quarter. Sacré Coeur contains one of the world´s largest mosaics.

La Grande Arche de La Défense / Grand Arch at La Defense
1 place du parvis de La Défense, Puteaux, Paris XVe
1989
Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, Architect
Echoing the existing Arche de Triomphe the Grande Arche is typically bombastic for one of Mitterand´s Grand Projets. Unlike the earlier Arche de Triomphe this 35-storey building contains offices located over the formal axis of the Champs-Elysees. Despite the name the architect is apparently Danish.

Le Pantheon de Paris / The Pantheon, Paris
Paris Ve
1789/90
Jacques Germain Soufflot, Architect
The Pantheon in Paris was designed as a church under King Louis XV, a monument to Saint Geneviève. Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola and Voltaire are interred in the crypt below Le Pantheon de Paris.
Jean Bernard Léon Foucault conducted his famous experiment with a pendulum - Pendule de Foucault - in this building and to this day a 67m long pendulum still hangs here.

Maison de le Roche / Le Roche House
Le Corbusier, Architect
Home of the Fondation Le Corbusier

Maison de L'UNESCO / UNESCO Building
Paris VIIe
1958
Marcel Breuer & Pier Luigi Nervi, Architects
The UNESCO Building Paris is by two of the most famous architects in the history of Modern Architecture. Another Marcel Breuer building is the Whitney Museum in New York

Maison de Verre / The Glass House
31 Rue St-Guillaume
1932
Pierre Chareau, Architect
Aka Maison Dalsace / House of Glass: Paris house

Maison Ozenfant / Ozenfant House & Studio
Maison et atelier Ozenfant, 53, avenue Reille, Paris XIV
1922
Le Corbusier, Architect

Musée du quai Branly / Quai Branly Museum
15, rue Jean-Baptiste Berlier
2006
Jean Nouvel, Architect

near the Eiffel Tower
Musée du quai Branly

Musée Orangerie / Orangerie Museum
Tuileries Gardens, central-west Paris
Renovation 1998-2006

Notre-Dame, Paris / Notre-Dame Cathedral
Ile de la Cité 6, Place du Parvis, Paris IVe
1250
-
Contact: +33 1 42.34.56.10
Notre-Dame, Paris - Website: www.cathedraledeparis.com

Opéra de la Bastille / Paris Opera building
120 Rue de Lyon, Place de la Bastille, Paris XIIe
1983-89
Carlos Ott, Architect
The Opéra National de Paris is one of the weakest buildings of President Mitterrand´s “Les Grands Projects” and much vilified. the story goes that the judges thought it was by Richard Meier but in the `blind` architecture competition a fairly unknown architect, Carlos Ott, won.

Opéra Garnier / The Garnier Opera House
Paris IXe
1875
Charles Garnier, Architect
The auditorium of this famous Paris building was painted by Surrealist artist Marc Chagall in 1964

Pacific Tower / Tour Pacific
1988-92
Kisho Kurokawa

Palais de Tokyo / Tokyo Palace
Avenue de Président Wilson, 13, Paris XVI
2002
Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal, Architects
Adjacent to Museum of Modern Art, Trocadero

Parc de la Villette / Villette Park
Porte de la Villette, avenue Jean-Jaurès, Paris IXXe
1993
Bernard Tschumi Architects
An architecture competition was held in 1992 for a park on the site of national meat market & slaughterhouse.

Pavilion Suisse / Swiss Pavilion
Cité Universitaire, Paris
1931-32
Le Corbusier, Architect
This is one of the key buildings by Le Corbusier in Paris

Rue de Meaux / Meaux Street Housing
Rue de Meaux
1988-91 br> Renzo Piano Building Workshop - Architects
From the co-designer of the Pompidou Centre: tightly-detailed terracotta-tiled housing. Other Renzo Piano Paris buildings include Schlumberger Facilities in 1981, Bercy 2, Shopping Centre (Charenton Le Pont) in 1987, IRCAM Extension and Thomson Optronics Factory (Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines) both in 1988, Atelier Brancusi in 1992 and the renovation of the Pompidou Centre in 1995.

Rue des Suisses - Maison / Suisses Street - Apartment Building
19 rue des Suisses, Paris XIV
2000
Herzog & De Meuron, Architects

Tour Montparnasse / Montparnasse Tower
Paris XVe
1973
Beaudoin, Cassan, De Marien, Saubot; A. Epstein & Sons International, Inc., Architects
Paris skyscraper

Tristan Tzara - Maison / Tristan Tzara House
Paris
1926-27
Adolf Loos, Architect
Adolf Loos lived in Paris from 1922 to 1927.

UNESCO Space for Contemplation
UNESCO Building
1996
Tadao Ando Architects
Rotunda building by one of the world's most famous architects in his typical style of simple fare-faced concrete. Tadao Ando Architect & Associates are based in Japan.


Paris Architects

President Mitterrand´s “Les Grands Projects” in Paris:

lnstitut du Monde Arabe
Opéra de la Bastille
Cité de la Musique
Parc de la Villette
Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand
La Grande Arche de La Défense

Paris Architecture no longer standing:

Pavilion L'Esprit Nouveau / L'Esprit Nouveau Pavilion
-
1925
Le Corbusier, Architect


Paris buildings by Massimiliano Fuksas Architects
College Maximilien Perret, Alfortville, Paris, France
1995-97
Ilot Cantagrel Refurbishment, Paris, France
1999-2001

Library, Paris
1992
Toyo Ito & Associates

E6m bridge, Paris
-
Studio Bednarski Architects

Schlumberger Renovation, Paris, France
1981-84
Renzo Piano Architects

IRCAM Extension, Paris, France
1988-89
Renzo Piano Architects

Argenteuil Centre Régional de la Musique et la Voix, Paris
-
Keith Williams Architects

Building near Paris by Le Corbusier:
Villa Savoie - Paris house


World Architecture - City Guides:
Hong Kong Architecture
New York Architecture
Paris Architecture

Major French building by architect Zaha Hadid:
Pierre Vives, Montpellier, south France

Useful Links re Paris Buildings:

The Arsenal Pavilion
Pavillon de l'Arsenal - Website: www.pavillon-arsenal.com

Architecture Gallery
Galerie d'Architecture - Website: www.galerie-architecture.fr

American Centre Paris
Frank Gehry Architects

Paris Architect : Le Corbusier

Contemporary Architects

Modern Houses



Tour Signal - Paris Architecture Competition
New tower for Business District of La Défense, Paris

Paris Skyscraper Buildings

World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Paris building : Paris Airport



Buildings / photos for the Paris Architecture pages welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Paris Architecture : Photos © adrian welch / isabelle lomholt