La Défense

La Defense is Europes largest purpose-built business district, a 160-hectare high-rise quarter west of Paris straddling Courbevoie, Nanterre, and Puteaux. Planning began in 1958 with the state development authority EPAD, charged with creating an office centre on the historical axis running from the Louvre through the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe to the Rond-Point de la Defense. Over decades, Paris skyscrapers have risen here, most famously the Grande Arche designed by Johann Otto von Spreckelsen and opened in 1989 - a 110-metre open cube as a modern echo of the Arc de Triomphe. Today around 180,000 people work daily in the towers of Total, EDF, Societe Generale, and many others. A vast pedestrian esplanade links the high-rises with shopping centres, sculptures by Calder, Miro, and Cesar, and cafes overlooking the Paris skyline.