Government
The Problem With an Invisible Tower in Paris
Developers of the first skyscraper to go up in 40 years are selling it as a shard of luminous crystal, not a looming tower.
The second time’s the charm for Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Last week, she won a significant victory when the Paris City Council voted in favor of building a new tower in Paris, the first skyscraper to go up in more than 40 years.
As building stories go, this one’s a political thriller. The June 30 referendum on the Triangle—the work of Herzog & de Meuron, the expert Swiss architecture firm—was the second vote taken. Back in November, the council defeated the proposal by a narrow margin, 83–78, in a secret ballot designed to give cover to sympathetic allies and opponents alike.