Photo-Blog Hans-Josef Jeanrond

Back again at La Défense.

With all the big and sometimes great projects at La Défense – “le renouveau de la Défense” – construction will be a part of daily life for lots of people working and living there. And of course, construction also becomes a topic of photography at la Défense and of this blog.

I will not have the time to be a chronicler of change in the years to come, but I hope to catch and transmit images that symbolise construction activity and transformation within a functioning urban environment.

It will be a major challenge for builders, urban planners and logistics experts to operate this transformation without unduly disrupting the life and work environment of several ten thousands of people!

Here I have chosen images from just two of the current construction projects, both to be completed in 2008:

T1 Faubourg De L’arche – Courbevoie, behind the Sofitel
Architects: Valode & Pistre
Investor-Developer: Lucia-Groupe Colony Capital / SITQ

Granite Tower of Société Générale, Nanterre
Architect: Christian De Portzamparc
Development Manager: Nexity Entreprises

The small image above, the one that opened this blog several weeks ago, is still my favourite symbol of construction activity at La Défense. It shows the main crane of the Granite Tower construction site reflected in the two existing towers of Société Générale.

The next image shows Granite Tower creeping up between the two existing towers.

The T1 construction is reflected here in Les Collines de l'Arche and then in Tour SFR (Sequoia)
(Click on the images to enlarge)

Omnipresent construction:

You can pick up the reflections of construction sites over quite some distances.

Here, the T1 construction is reflected in the Tour Pacific, right next to the Société Générale buildings (from Courbevoie to Nanterre).

And below the crane of the Granite Tower shows up again, this time in multiple reflections in the Place de l'Hémicycle:

Of course, the infrastructure of La Défense has to be constantly adapted to the changing environment.
Here we see an “old” part of the Boulevard Circulaire being demolished while the new road passes on its left. This area will change again massively with the construction of Tour Phare.

(Click on the image to enlarge)