After spending nearly two weeks living in the charming 6ème arrondissement and exploring the central historical parts of Paris, the labyrinth of narrow streets and mélange of Gothic, Neo-Classic, Romanesque and Renaissance façades have become a common sight. With its high-towering glass buildings of different shapes and sizes, La Défense is an entire world of its own, a dramatic contrast to the classic image of Paris.  

La Défense is situated to the northeast of the city. It lies at the end of Line 1 of the Métro, which, unsurprisingly, is named Métro: La Défense. La Défense was one of the largest urban construction projects in Paris’s history, and it started with the inauguration of the CNIT building (to me, a larger version of MIT’s Kresge Auditorium) in the mid 1950s by Charles de Gaulle. Today, more than 100 buildings at this site house some of France’s biggest corporations, government offices, a large mall, and an IMAX cinema.  The most striking structure on site is La Grande Arche de la Défense, a hollow cube which looks like something straight out of a Star Wars film. This arch lies at the end of the Champs-Elysées, in the same line as the other two arcs of Paris- L'Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in the courtyard of the Louvre, and L'Arc de Triomphe de L'Etoile.

Starting from the foot of the arch, walking down the main vein of La Défense leads you through an open-air gallery of colorful contemporary art pieces. Sculptures by Miró and Calder (again, reminiscent of MIT’s Stata Center) flank the left and right, and a beautifully lit pool by Agam lies in front of the Arch. Further down the path, you can find a drinking fountain in the shape of a frog, an industrial chimney decorated with all colors of glass tubes, as well as many other artistic curiosities which are scattered throughout. (-Carmel)

An industrial chimney decorated with glass tubes.