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Help save this high tech masterpiece by Odile Decq and Benoit Cornette from the wrecking ball

Help save this high tech masterpiece by Odile Decq and Benoit Cornette from the wrecking ball

Benoit Cornette and Odile Decq’s 25-year-old Banque Populaire de l’Ouest (BPO) building is threatened by demolition after the owner was unable to sell it and subsequently received permission to tear it down. The building’s double glazed, suspended facade and its panoramic elevators were considered major technical innovations when it was built.

The architectural heritage of the building is under threat for purely financial matters, but if the building can receive a pending classification, it would allow the architects one year to draw a plan to refurbish, repurpose, or otherwise save the building.

A petition was launched on July 7th, and can be found here. According to the Save the BPO website,

It is time to act and react. The stake is to save a major building of the 20th century…BPO’s building brought international recognition to its authors with a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1996. Their innovative approach of mixing architecture, engineering and industry in search of a new spatiality was highly acclaimed at the time. Technically exceptional with its architectural experimentations, the BPO’s building embodies the “high tech” movement at the same level as the HSBC Tower in Hong Kong or the Lloyd’s Headquarters in London.

Sign up for updates to learn more at the group’s Facebook page or on Twitter.

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