La Défense () is a major

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

in France's

Paris metropolitan area The Paris metropolitan area () is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris, France and its surrounding suburbs. Overview In 2020, France's national INSEE statistical bureau introduced the concept "ai ...

, west of the

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...

. It is located in

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region's department of

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

in the communes of

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

La Garenne-Colombes La Garenne-Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from Notre Dame de Paris, France's kilometre zero. Name The commune used to be part of the neighbouring city of Colombes. At t ...

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

, and

Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the tallest buildings in the metropolitan ...

. La Défense is Europe's largest purpose-built business district, covering , for 180,000 daily workers, with 72 glass and steel buildings (of which 20 are completed

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

s, out of 24 in the Paris region), and of office space. Around its

Grande Arche La Grande Arche de la Défense (; "The Great Arch of the Defense"), originally called La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (; "Fraternity"), is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west ...

and

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

("le Parvis"), La Défense contains many of the Paris

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

's tallest high-rises. Westfield Les Quatre Temps, a large shopping mall in La Défense, has 220 stores, 48 restaurants and a 24-screen movie theatre.

Paris La Défense Arena Paris La Défense Arena is a multipurpose Arena, indoor arena in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. Opened in October 2017, it was developed by the rugby union club Racing 92, and replaced Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir as their home. It is Li ...

, the largest

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

in Europe, was inaugurated in 2017. The district is located at the westernmost extremity of the ''

Axe historique The ''Axe historique'' (; "historical axis") refers to a straightly aligned series of thoroughfare streets, squares, monuments and buildings that extend from the centre of Paris, France, to the west-northwest of the city. It is also known as t ...

'' ("historical axis") of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, which starts at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in Central Paris and continues along the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

, well beyond the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

along the Avenue de la Grande Armée before culminating at La Défense. The district is centred in an orbital motorway straddling the

department communes of

and

. La Défense is primarily a business district and hosts a population of 50,000 permanent residents and 75,000 students. La Défense is also visited by 8,000,000 tourists each year and houses an

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

History

La Défense is named after the statue '' La Défense de Paris'' by Louis-Ernest Barrias, which was erected in 1883 to commemorate the soldiers who had defended Paris during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. In September 1958, the (EPAD) buildings (of which the Esso Tower was the first) were constructed and began to slowly replace the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Centre of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was built and first used in 1958. These "first generation" skyscrapers were all very similar in appearance, limited to a height of . In 1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office skyscraper built in the area. In 1970, the RER line A railway was opened from

La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...

to Étoile. In 1974, a contract for a Défense-

Cergy Cergy () is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, to the northwest of Paris. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commun ...

high-speed hovercraft train was signed and soon abandoned. In the early 1970s, in response to great demand, a second generation of buildings began to appear, but the economic crisis in 1973 nearly halted all construction in the area. A third generation of towers began to appear in the early 1980s. The biggest shopping centre in Europe (at the time), the ''Quatre Temps'', was created in 1981. In 1982, the EPAD launched the ''Tête Défense'' competition to find a monument to complete the ''

'', which eventually led to the construction of

at the west end of the quarter. During the same period, hotels were constructed, the CNIT was restructured, and in 1992, Line 1 of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

was extended to La Défense, which made the area readily accessible to more of the city. On

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

1990, French electronic composer

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...

staged an ambitious concert at the site, using the Grande Arche and three of the area's towers as projection screens, and building a pyramidal stage above the road. The free concert, titled Paris la Défense, attracted two million spectators, stretching all the way back to the

. This beat Jarre's own previous world record for the largest attendance for a musical concert. After Jean Michel Jarre, German DJ

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/ production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums ...

and the singer La Trec set the video clip for their song ''Stay'' at La Défense in 1997. After a stagnation in new development in the mid-1990s, La Défense is once again expanding and is now the largest purpose-built business district in Europe. Major corporations headquartered at La Défense include Neuf Cegetel,

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorati ...

, Aventis,

Areva Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through t ...

, and

Arcelor Arcelor S.A. was the world's largest steel producer in terms of turnover and the second largest in terms of steel output, with a turnover of €30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004. The company was created in 2002 ...

. The tallest skyscraper, the Tour First belongs to

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

, constructed in 1974. It is high, has 50 floors, and is the highest inhabited building in the Paris area. This title was previously held by the

Tour Montparnasse Tour Maine-Montparnasse (Maine-Montparnasse Tower), also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a office skyscraper in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the List of tallest buildings and structures in t ...

, which was the tallest inhabited building until the Tour First was renovated between 2007 and 2011, bringing it to its current height from a previous ; the tallest structure in Paris is the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

. On 9 September 2008, La Défense celebrated its 50th anniversary with a huge

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

display. In December 2005, , CEO and chairman of EPAD (La Defense Management and Development Office) announced an ambitious nine-year development plan called . This important modernisation plan has to give a new dimension to the district and focuses on four main axes: regenerate outdated skyscrapers, allow new buildings, improve the balance between offices and residential housing, and make the transport of local employees from their homes to La Défense easier. There are three aims: building of offices within demolition/rebuilding projects, building of offices within new projects, and building of housing. In July 2006, the government confirmed this plan, which has to be carried out around 2015. It is justified by the strong estate pressure, which plays in favour of building new skyscrapers near Paris. Those constructions have the advantage of being more economical than small buildings. But it will have to overcome some difficulties: the French economy faced a short-term slowdown; the government is trying to balance tertiary sector employment in the whole region again, because today La Défense concentrates a major part of those jobs; and traffic is already saturated in the district, while it would need huge investments to extend transport infrastructures. It launched high-profile international competitions and/or construction approval of several key tall sustainable development-style skyscrapers such as Tour Signal, Tour Phare, Hermitage Plaza, and Tour Generali. During said December 2005 Press Conference, EPAD released to the public an elaborate 3D animation film titled ''La Défense 2016''.

Education

Paris La Défense brings together the cluster of Leonardo da Vinci University Center, the IA Institut, a campus of EPITA and 4

business school A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

EDC Paris Business School EDC Paris Business School, also called ''Ecole des Dirigeants et des Créateurs d'entreprise'', is a French business School in the city of Paris, France, Paris located in the business district La Défense. It offers four complete programs in En ...

ESSEC Business School Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...

, ICN Graduate Business School and IESEG School of Management It is also home to the European School of Paris-La Défense, an international primary and secondary school that was accredited as a

European School A European School () is a type of international school emphasising a multilingual and multicultural pedagogical approach to the teaching of nursery, primary and secondary students, leading to the European Baccalaureate as their secondary lea ...

in 2020.

Area specifications

* Divided into 4 major sectors * * of offices * of flagstone and sidewalk * of shops (including the ''Westfield Les Quatre Temps'' Shopping Mall) * of greenery * 180,000 employees * 70,000 students * 50,000 residents * 2,600 hotel rooms * 1,500 businesses * 500+ companies * 150 restaurants * 61

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

, 76m (250 ft) average building height File:Monument Défense Paris - Courbevoie (FR92) - 2023-09-16 - 1.jpg, The name of the district comes from the statue of '' La Défense de Paris'' by Louis-Ernest Barrias which commemorates the Parisian resistance during the

. File:La Défense, Paris, France at night.jpg, View from

at night. File:La Défense and Bois de Boulogne from the Eiffel Tower, 11 June 2017 002.jpg, View from

. File:Centre commercial Les Quatre Temps.jpg, The Mall " Westfield

Les Quatre Temps Westfield Les 4 Temps is the main shopping centre in the business district of La Défense, in the western suburbs of Paris, on the territory of the commune of Puteaux in the Hauts-de-Seine. It is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. In ...

", one of Europe's largest shopping centers. File:Skylight tower - La Défense - 2017-09-23.jpg, Skylight tower. File:Western part of La Défense as seen from the Grande Arche - 2020-07-07.jpg, Western part of La Défense as seen from the Grande Arche. File:La Défense from the top of the Grande Arche to the east - 2022-08-13.jpg, La Défense from the top of the Grande Arche.

Open-air museum

Besides the representative architecture, the area also houses an

with 70 statues and pieces of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

,
La Défense > Artworks: Guide 2013
'. Leaflet published by Defacto, Établissement public de gestion du quartier d'affaires de la Défense. including the following works: * César, ''Thumb'' (1965) *

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

, ''Two fantastic characters'' (1976) *

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

, ''Red Spider'' (1976) * Yaacov Agam, ''Fountain'' (1977) *

Richard Serra Richard Serra (November 2, 1938 – March 26, 2024) was an American artist known for his large-scale Abstract art, abstract sculptures made for Site-specific art, site-specific landscape, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings, a ...

, ''Slat'' (1982) * Shelomo Selinger, ''The Dance'' (1983) * Bernar Venet, ''Two Indeterminate Lines'' (1988) *

Takis Takis may refer to: * Takis (snack), a spicy, roll-shaped snack * Takis Christoforidis, a Greek actor * Takis Fotopoulos, a Greek political philosopher * Takis Ikonomopoulos, a Greek football player * Takis Kanellopoulos a Greek film director * Tak ...

, ''Bright Trees'' (1990) * Igor Mitoraj, ''Tindaro'' (1997) * Emily Young, ''Four Heads'' (2002) * Patrick Blanc, ''Green wall'' (2006) * Louis-Ernest Barrias, ''La Défense de Paris'' (1883) *

François Morellet François Morellet (30 April 1926 – 10 May 2016) was a French contemporary abstract painter, sculptor, and light artist. His early work prefigured minimal art and conceptual art and he played a prominent role in the development of geometrica ...

, ''La Défonce'' (1990) * Guillaume Bottazzi, ''Peinture de 216 m²'' (2014) File:Bottazzi-public-art-la-defense-france.jpg, Guillaume Bottazzi, ''Untitled'', c. 2014

Highrise buildings

File:Tour First - La Defense - Inauguration 6 mai 2011.jpg, Tour First File:Tour-Total.jpg,

Tour Total Tour Total (previously known as Tour Elf from 1985 to 1999, then Tour TotalFinaElf from 1999 to 2003) is an office skyscraper located in La Défense, Courbevoie, the high-rise business district west of and adjacent to the city of Paris, France, ...

File:Areva1.jpg, Tour Areva File:Tour Trinity La Défense France.jpg, Tour Trinity File:Tour Eria, Paris La Défense.jpg, Tour Eria

Completed highrise buildings above 50 m (164 ft) (1967–2024)

Upcoming highrise buildings (2024–2027)

Canceled projects

# Tour Sans Fins (1989): # Hermitage Plaza (2022): # Tour Generali (2011): # Tour Signal (2009): # Tour Phare (2018):

References

External links

Satellite image from Google Maps

La Défense de Paris

Site officiel de l'EPAD (Établissement Public pour l'Aménagement de la Défense)

Connecting-Paris, web site created by the Chamber of commerce and industry of Paris to help companies setting up in La Defense

Expatriates Magazine
A printed publication distributed within various corporations situated in La Defense helping international employees integrate within the workplace and city

Structurae: Structural engineering and architecture guide to Paris-La Défense
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Defense Financial districts in France Central business districts in France Economy of Paris Tourist attractions in Hauts-de-Seine