This building was so loathed that it inspired a construction ban.
The tower is one of the most hated in Europe(Image: Getty)
Bursting skyward from one of the most iconic skylines in the world is a building that was so hated after its construction, a law was passed to stop any more like it being built.
Tour Montparnasse is a towering, 210 metre high office skyscraper which juts up above the Montparnasse area of Paris. It was built in 1969, and is the fourth tallest building in all of France still to this day.
The tower does have an observation deck which offers views across Paris. However, there is a common joke amongst Parisians that it is the most beautiful view in the city purely because it is the only place from which you cannot see the tower itself.
Designed by architects Eugène Beaudouin Urbain Cassan and Louis de Hoÿm de Marien, the tower is a simple monolithic office block that is at odds with the rest of the surrounding buildings.
It was so strongly disliked that two years after its construction was finished, a law was passed banning the construction of any building over seven storeys in Paris.
This law stayed in place up until 2015 and was reinstated in 2023 after the construction of the Tour Triangle, the 180 metre tall pyramid-shaped glass skyscraper at Porte de Versailles.
The construction of the building was delayed by 12 years due to the backlash and multiple legal and planning battles.
In 2017, Paris approved a £680 million renovation project to revitalize Tour Montparnasse by stripping it back to its frame and replacing the dark facade with transparent glazing.
There were plans for sky gardens to soften the outline, and openings to allow natural ventilation to the building.
There was even a plan to transform the upper floors into a luxury hotel, but the entire project was scrapped earlier this week.
According to sotiraparis, this is because the asset manager of the building told the co-owners that it no longer wished to pay for the transformation and instead wants to opt for a more modest renovation which isn’t so expensive.
The future of the building now looks uncertain. A new team of architects will need to make a new plan for the renovation, but the building permit expires in November of this year, which makes things even more challenging.
There has been no timeline announced for the new project as of yet.