Tag Archives: Tour Montparnasse

“Paris Without Skyscrapers”

Posted on May 29, 2022 by David Brussat

There is an infinity of reasons why Paris should not build skyscrapers. Each street, each building, amounts to such a reason. You could say each citizen of Paris, each citizen of the world is a reason. But one reason I … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Poetic justice in Portugal?

Posted on February 11, 2018 by David Brussat

In what may be the first major demolition based on aesthetic considerations, Viana do Castelo, a city in northern Portugal, plans to demolish a modernist residental tower that, in 1973, deflowered the character of its historic center. Not surprisingly, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fond adieu to Horne’s Paris

Posted on February 18, 2017 by David Brussat

Here are several more passages lifted from the closing chapters of Alistair Horne’s engaging Seven Ages of Paris: Less felicitous were architectural scandals like the Tour Montparnasse (started in 1959, but not finished till 1973), greatest urban project since Haussmann, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

7 brides for 7 buttheads

Posted on June 5, 2015 by David Brussat

A breathtakingly gargantuan amount of balderdash was published by the New York Times today in “Seven Leading Architects Defend the World’s Most Hated Buildings.” The architects have all talked to Alexandra Lange. The first is the hardest sell – the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Development, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments