Image © SOM | Ateliers 2/3/4/ | AREP Group
In a city where the Eiffel Tower (rightly) dominates the skyline, it’s hard for more modern Parisian architecture to stand out. But if a new project from Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) lives up to expectations, that could change for reasons that have little to do with the project’s height. As part of a broader coalition of architects, landscape designers, and urban developers working on the Charenton-Bercy project, SOM has introduced plans for a 590-foot-tall mixed residential and hotel tower in the shadow of the River Seine. Aiming to exist as a zero-energy building, once completed, it would stand as one of the greenest buildings in Europe.