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The Grand Axis of Paris began in the Tuileries
Gardens in the 17thcentury and was projected beyond the River
Seine in the twentieth century, becoming the pedestrian core of
a major business district. It runs through the Arc de Triomphe
and culminates in the Grand Arche, a hollow office building topped
with an art gallery and viewing platform. Dan Kiley, the American
landscape architect and garden designer, was responsible for a
0.5 mile stretch, the Dalle Centrale, between the River Seine
and the Grand Arche. It is an exercise in classical modernism,
embellished with water features and other works of art. Kiley
wrote : "It is filled with large pools of water animated
by jets and waterfalls, shaded seating areas, earthen bocce courts
and open-air cafes.. Above ground we planted long, linear bosques
of pollarded London plane trees on either side of the corridor".
West of the Arche, a decked bridge extends the axis towards St-Germain-en-Laye.
"La Grande Arche"
Four miles out from the Arc de Triomphe at the far end of the
Voie Triomphale, has put La Défense high on the list of
places to which Paris visitors must pay homage. Created by a Danish
architect, Johan-Otto von Spreckelson who won a competition called
by the President Mitterrand, this hollowed-out cube, weighing
300,000 tons, 110m (352 ft) high and 70 meters (225 ft) wide (The
whole of Notre-Dame cathedral would fit in its frame), was entitled
"La Grande Arche". This monument, dedicated to Fraternity,
is built of concrete with a facing of Carrara marble and grey
granite. On the esplanade are works by Takis, fountains, luminous
signals and statues by Mirò. Various ministries have their
offices in the massive supporting pillars, the human rights commission
(Fondation des Droits de l'Homme) and major corporations have
their office there. The Arche also includes an exhibition hall.
Seated up above on the terrace one can admire the impeccable success of its perspective, whose lines can be followed to the Arc de Triomphe, along the Champs-Élysées to the obelisk on the Place de la Concorde, over the Tuileries gardens to the Louvre's Cour Carrée, assuming that the weather is clear and the air free of polluting fumes.
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