Aillaud Towers
The Aillaud Towers, located in Nanterre, France, are a distinctive group of residential high-rise buildings designed by architect Émile Aillaud. Completed in the early 1970s, the towers are notable for their colorful, abstract façade designs and unique cylindrical shapes.
The Tours Aillaud (also known as Tours Nuages) is a group of residential buildings located in Nanterre, in the inner suburbs of Paris, France.
Built in 1976 at the outskirts of La Défense business district, the Tours Aillaud are named after their main architect, Emile Aillaud. The housing project represents 18 towers including 1,607 apartments all together. The tallest of those are the Tours 1 and 2 with 39 floors and a height of 105 meters. The Tours 3 to 10 have 20 floors and the Tours 11 to 18 have 13 floors.
Despite the differences in height, the towers share the same shape, consisting of the superposition of several cylinders. Their cladding is made of frescos representing clouds in the sky (in French nuages), which is the origin of their nickname.
The frescos in "pate de verre" were designed by Fabio Rieti, son-in-law of Emile Aillaud, while his daughter Laurence Rieti designed the large snake shaped sculpture that constitutes a large part of the playground area near the highest towers. Emile Aillaud noticeably looked after the outdoor area so that there would be one tree per apartment, and so that each apartment would have a designated tree (there were more than 1600 of them).
Villa Savoye
Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier was occupied twice during World War II, first by the Germans and then by the Americans, leading to significant damage and neglect. After the war, it fell into severe disrepair until restoration efforts began in the 1960s, culminating in its full restoration by 1997. Today, it stands as a UNESCO World Heritage site and a testament to modernist architecture.
Van Doesburg House
In the suburbs of Paris, Dutch Artists of the De Stijl and Dada movements, Theo van Doesburg & his wife, Nelly van Moorsel built a Modernist live and work space which now serves as an artist's residency.
