Site Tour Eiffel

Paris, France | 2019-2024 Phase 1 Completed

Every year 30 million people visit the Eiffel Tower and seven million choose to ascend the monument for soaring views over the city. One of the most iconic landmarks in the world, the site is a victim of its popularity. Fundamental issues like over-crowding, impaired accessibility, lack of services, and congested gardens have impacted the experience of it and its surroundings.

‘OnE’ is the winning scheme of 42 entries in a major international competition that envisioned a resilient, inclusive, and environmentally orientated future. Responding to the brief ‘discover, approach, visit’ it proposes a unifying axis, celebrating the Eiffel Tower at the centre of a line that connects the Place du Trocadéro, the Palais de Chaillot, the Pont d’Iéna, the Champ de Mars and the Ecole Militaire. Along this central green axis, a series of reimagined landscapes interlock: at the Place du Trocadéro, an amphitheatre of greenery restores space to pedestrians; a new and enlivened public space unfolds from the Varsovie Fountains towards the Pont d’Iéna; the bridge is reincarnated as a green promenade towards the gardens of the Eiffel Tower; the forecourt caters to the crowds with additional services and facilities, discreetly hidden amongst the trees; and the raised lawns of the Champ de Mars protect and elevate the landscape.

OnE creates spaces of pleasure and contemplation that punctuate the length of the site and unifies two historic landscape typologies: classical French gardens, characterized by major axes that express power; and French picturesque gardens, as places of artistic experimentation. Green routes and gardens introduce biodiversity, as well as areas for hosting temporary events, such as musical performances and sculpture exhibitions. OnE compresses into one word the idea and ideal of a unified space.