Tour Montparnasse

Tour Maine-Montparnasse (Maine-Montparnasse Tower), also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a 210-metre (689 ft) office skyscraper located in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011, when it was surpassed by the 231 m (758 ft) Tour First. As of June 2013, it is the 14th tallest building in the European Union. The tower was designed by architects Eugène Beaudouin, Urbain Cassan and Louis Hoym de Marien and built by Campenon BernardBuilt on top of the Montparnasse – Bienvenüe Paris Métro station, the 59 floors of the tower are mainly occupied by offices. The 56th floor, with a restaurant called le Ciel de Paris,[6] and the terrace on the top floor, are open to the public for viewing the city. In April 2012, the 56th floor and the restaurant were closed for renovations but reopened in June 7, 2012;[7] the terrace remains open to the public. The view covers a radius of 40 km (25 mi); aircraft can be seen taking off from Orly Airport. The guard rail, to which various antennae are attached, can be pneumatically lowered in just two minutes to allow helicopters to land. At the time of construction, it was the tallest building in Europe by roof height. The construction of La Grande Arche in La Défense places the tower in a second line of perspective across Paris: see Axe historique.The tower's simple architecture, large proportions and monolithic appearance have been often criticized for being out of place in Paris's urban landscape.[citation needed] As a result, two years after its completion the construction of buildings over seven stories high in the city center was banned.[8] The design of the tower predates architectural trends of more modern skyscrapers today that are often designed to provide a window for every office. Only the offices around the perimeter of each floor of Tour Montparnasse have windows. It is said that the view from the top is the most beautiful in Paris, because it is the only place from which the tower cannot be seen.[9] A 2008 poll of editors on Virtualtourist voted the building the second-ugliest building in the world