MAD’s design uses concave principles to create an optical illusion by setting every glass panel of the façade to a specific angle, so that the building itself turns into a city-scale concave mirror. The streets and rooftops of the neighboring buildings appear as if they are hanging in the sky; while the sky is mirrored onto the lower section of the building, blending into the atmosphere. The design creates a mirage of Paris, but upside-down, as if it is floating in the air. And, Paris’ other city landmark, the Eiffel Tower, will also appear upside down when looking at Montparnasse Tower from that direction.

Ma Yansong on the design: “At the time when it was built, Montparnasse Tower, like the Eiffel Tower, represented the pride and achievements of its era. It is mankind’s worship of technology and power that has created this tyrannical monument. It stands out amidst classical Paris. Today, we cannot really demolish this building and the historical regrets it stands for, but we can establish a new perspective to re-examine and think about how humanity can co-exist and interact with the tower and its environment, to bring meaning to our hearts.”
 
Until 22/10/2017, MAD’s “Mirage design proposal is currently on show in the Tour Montparnasse Exhibition at
Pavillion de l’Arsenal, Paris. 21 Boulevard Morland, 75004 Paris, France, +33 (0)1-42 76 33 97
http://www.pavillon-arsenal.com/en/

Animated visualization of the project is on YouTube and  Vimeo.

www.i-mad.com