#renzo-piano

#renzo-piano

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) unveils a new vision for the Ensemble Immobilier Tour Maine-Montparnasse, a large-scale urban retrofit that transforms a closed 1970s retail complex into an open, pedestrian-focused piece of Paris. Commissioned by the co-owners of the Montparnasse Commercial Centre and the CIT Tower, the project unfolds in parallel with the ongoing redevelopment of the adjacent Montparnasse Tower, led by Nouvelle AOM. The two interventions aim to recalibrate one of the most contested sites of the city, shifting it from an inward-looking megastructure to a permeable urban district grounded in daily life, movement, and public space.

This thin ribbed concrete shell functions entirely in compression, distributing loads to a few internal supports and multiple perimeter points along the square island base, which forms the archetypal footprint of the building. Between the ribs, the structure allows for openings, while the outer rain screen, expected to be clad in ceramic tiles, follows the shell's complex curvature. These tiles vary in size to create a pixelated texture that shimmers with a mother-of-pearl effect, subtly shifting with changing light and weather conditions.