Winner in March of the Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel of architecture, the French architect Jean Nouvel won the support of the tower Signal, which will embody the end of 2013 upon renewal of the business district. After the tower Dentsu Tokyo, Agbar Tower in Barcelona and projects in New York (Hines) or Santa Monica (Suncall), Jean Nouvel expected to be able to draw a turn for the French capital. Therefore, it is a consecration for those who became known to the general public through the facade to moucharabies the Arab World Institute in Paris. A contrast also after the failure of its "never-ending tour" envisaged in 1989 by the Ministry of Defence.
The poject was loudly launched last summer by the Public institution management of Defence (Épad). Together with Spanish investors and Medea Layetana which will invest nearly one billion euros, of which € 600 million for construction, Jean Nouvel has tamped the pawn in the American Daniel Libeskind, the British Sir Norman Foster and French Jean - Michel Wilmotte and Jacques Ferrier. The new building, which will open on the town of Puteaux, will "rebalance the landscape of Defense around the Grande Arche, welcomed Patrick Devedjian, president of the general council of Hauts-de-Seine et de l'Épad, who chaired the jury.  "The tower signal is the building of reference for a Grand Paris, which is being shaped," said Patrick Devedjian, also general secretary of the UMP. An architectural gesture the largest since the Eiffel tower, "he added. "We had to change the very essence of what a tower," said Jean Nouvel, all dressed in black, as usual.
The originality of this project makes the difference, "said jury president. The tower will signal a rectangular building made of concrete and glass with a stainless steel skin. It will stand out in the skyline of Defense, along with future tours Generali, Phare and other Aviva, its large loggias colored breakthroughs in the facade. But the novelty of the project lies in its mix, which should help to make a living. Exit the "zoning" policies of the city that cantonnaient so far the central business districts for a mono, "said the architect.  Signal, which will peak at 301 meters in height from 71 storeys, will be an overlay of four cubes: luxury apartments of 200 square metres (the summit), a hotel, offices and shops (foot tower). The offices organized around indoor places, housing around a patio open. The lucky owners will take a peak at the Eiffel Tower. In each component of the building, large atriums leave enter daylight and will naturally ventilate the building, which exceed an environmental point of view most of its neighbours. Solar panels, windmills, mirrors integrated into the windows…: solar energy has been privileged. The objective is to limit the energy consumption by 50 annual kWh per square metre.