Lunchtime on the Steps, La Défense Esplanade, Paris

4 October 2017 · Paris

Workers spill onto the steps of La Défense's esplanade at midday, papers spread between them, the CNIT's ribbed concrete shell arching over the plaza behind. The esplanade holds two things at once — the relentless forward motion of a business district and a midday stillness carved out of it. Skyscrapers frame the sky above; pigeons and pedestrians cross the wide paving below.