Tour Montparnasse Gets a Long-Awaited Makeover

For 53 years the Tour Montparnasse has smudged the Paris skyline — a 689-foot, cigar-brown tower that remains the lone skyscraper in low-rise Paris. Now the unpopular landmark and its neglected commercial base are due for a major overhaul: a consortium called Nouvelle AOM will reshape the tower with lighter, more transparent lines, verandas planted with greenery and a garden on the roof, while Renzo Piano is redesigning the surrounding mall and public spaces.

Mr. Piano proposes carving up the hulking concrete platform at the tower’s base to create winding pedestrian promenades and a tree-lined piazza, arguing ‘‘we are not demolishing everything — we’re transforming.’’ The plan seeks to reuse much of the existing concrete to cut construction emissions.

The complex makeover, likely to exceed $700 million, is expected to begin after the tower is emptied and closed to the public by the end of March. The project has reignited arguments about the site’s future.

France, Paris

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