Paris Curtain Wall Facade Behind Tree Canopy

5 October 2017 · Paris

A modernist curtain-wall tower rises behind a screen of tree branches and pink roses in bloom, its vertical glass fins imposing a strict rhythm on the view. To the left, a Haussmann-era facade — pale stone, mansard roof, wrought-iron balconies — holds its ground a metre away. The overcast Paris sky pulls both buildings into the same flat light, which is what makes the contrast work: the old building is all ornament and mass, the new one all repetition and transparency.