From their summit, the capital stretches out at your feet.
Only the Eiffel and Montparnasse towers exceed them in size.
But to admire the view, it will take a few more months.
Time for the 800 workers and engineers who work on site to complete the Duo towers project, these false binoculars imagined by Jean Nouvel, which take shape in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, on the edge of the ring road.
READ ALSO>
Olympic village, towers in Paris, metro… 10 projects that will mark Ile-de-France in 2021
“The offices should be delivered in October before Natixis takes hold of them and sets them up.
Its first employees, out of the 7,000 announced, are expected there for mid-2022, ”explains Audrey Camus, vice-president of Ivanhoé Cambridge, an investor company.
The offices, that means the whole of Duo 1, the highest of the towers which rises to 180 meters with its 38 floors - and a mezzanine.
As well as a large part of Duo 2. That is 90,000 square meters on the ground.
View from the top of Duo 1, from where you can see the future restaurant and rooftop bar in Duo 2. LP / Jean-Baptiste Quentin
The top floors of the smaller twin sisters will house a 4-star hotel with 139 rooms, as well as a restaurant and a rooftop bar by Philippe Starck, all managed by the Laurent Taïeb group.
"We are scheduling the delivery of this part devoted to the public for January 2022, with an opening scheduled for April of that same year", continues Audrey Camus.
A project contested since 2011
It is almost from there, at about 120 meters high, that the view is finally the most beautiful, Paris keeping a minimum of relief rather than being crushed.
Dinners promise a lot of emotions.
From inside the buildings, nothing really shines through yet.
The sanitary facilities are well finished, the floors close to the final rendering, but we especially get lost in this immense site where gusts of wind come to remind you that all the bay windows have not yet been installed.
Visit of the premises of the restaurant, which is due to open in spring 2022. LP / Jean-Baptiste Quentin
From the outside, however, there is no more room for doubt.
The Duo towers are impressive.
At their genesis, in 2011, moreover, several voices were raised to criticize their excessiveness.
Ecologists, residents, associations ... "For such constructions, we had ultimately not had that many complaints", smiles today Vincent Chaigneau, project manager at Ateliers Jean Nouvel.
"Just like Montparnasse, we only see that"
Among these refractories, we could count Patrice Maire.
The president of Monts 14 is fighting for the preservation of historic Paris, and for the proper integration into the landscape of the new buildings.
What does he think, now that Duo 1 and 2 pierce the Parisian sky?
Newsletter Essentials of 75
A tour of the news in Paris and in the IDF
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
"I regret not having managed to prevent this project," he says straight away.
The problem is not so much their integration into the district, already made up of a lot of not very pretty buildings.
It is rather the place they occupy when we observe Paris as a whole, from a height.
Just like Montparnasse, we only see that.
Even from the Seine, and the Pont des Arts, we can see them… ”
However, at Jean Nouvel, we are rather proud of the work accomplished.
“Sometimes we have intentions, and then there is what we achieve.
There, everything works very well, congratulates Vincent Chaigneau.
These towers were designed to reveal the place on which they are built.
Located near railways and Marshals, interior elements refer to it.
And by a play of reflections, the two southwestern facades let you guess what is happening below.
"
Will local residents be won over?
Above all, the major challenge lay in the inclination of Duo 1, precisely 5 degrees.
That is to say 10 meters of gap between the foot and the head of the building.
“The construction site is not located in the extension of the avenue de France, underlines Vincent Chaigneau.
Right away, Jean Nouvel therefore wanted to tilt the great tower so as to give it a sense of belonging, as if it were to be the focal point of this route.
The rendering clashes.
And even lightens the visual impression left by the tower.
It remains to be seen whether the residents will manage to appropriate the place.
At the foot of the building, shops and a garden will be created.
A metro station is also planned, in case the extension of line 10 decides to stop there.
"When neighbors complain, as soon as we explain the project to them, I have the impression that they understand our ambitions," insists Vincent Chaigneau.
Before, there was nothing here.
"