Headquarters of the French Communist Party

The headquarters of the French Communist Party sits behind a sweeping, curved glass facade that hugs the street. Designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the late nineteen sixties, the building floats above the ground on massive concrete pillars. Niemeyer wanted to create an open space where the building met the sidewalk. Inside the main concrete dome, the subterranean conference hall features a ceiling covered in thousands of aluminum strips, creating a shimmering, metallic effect that hides the room's mechanical systems.