Palais des Congrès de Paris

A massive, rectangular block of black glass and steel slices horizontally through the Porte Maillot area. Built in nineteen seventy-four, the Palais des Congrès de Paris houses a cavernous convention center and a concert hall designed to host thousands of people at once. When architect Guillaume Gillet finished the structure, he embedded the building directly over the Périphérique ring road. Cars rush beneath the auditorium floors, muffling the roar of traffic so performers can play above the city's primary transit artery.