So, Herzog and de Meuron are building this trapezoidal-shaped tower in Paris right now.

It's 158m tall and about 40 storeys (which makes it comparable in height to One Delisle). It's extremely narrow in one direction (see above), and so from central Paris it is intended to be read as a kind of thin pencil tower. But when viewed in the east-west direction, you get the full width of its trapezoidal shape (see above, again).

Not surprisingly, this has been a highly contentious development -- which is why it was 15 years in the making. It is now under construction, though, and it is expected to be completed sometime in 2026. But this is likely to be the last tower in Paris for quite some time.

Partially because of this Triangle Tower, Paris has just decided to ban tall buildings in the city. The new height limit is now back to 37 meters (or 12 storeys), which is essentially the same height cap that was put in place in 1977 following completion of the Tour Montparnasse.

So this is seemingly how things work in Paris. Somebody builds a tall tower. People mostly hate it. And then the city bans tall buildings for a number of decades. The previous height cap was relaxed in 2010. (Also, for those of you who are wondering, La Défense, which is generally where Paris puts its tall buildings, is outside of the city limits.)

Regardless, I think there's no question that this new Triangle Tower is destined to become an iconic punctuation in the city's skyline. Which means that we're probably going to have to update our thinking. If Paris, today, is sometimes thought of as a city with two principal towers -- the Eiffel Tower and the "awful tower" -- it will soon be a city with three principal towers.

Perhaps the only question that remains is: Will people learn to love it like the Eiffel Tower or will it end up as another Tour Montparnasse?

Image: Herzog and de Meuron

This morning I toured a site/project that is using a balcony glazing system from a company called Lumon. The product looks like this from the outside:

Like this from the inside (from on the balcony):

And it retracts/opens up like this (the glass panels stack neatly to one side when you want to create a traditional balcony and guard condition):

Obviously the idea here is to create outdoor spaces that can be enjoyed for more months of the year. In the summer it opens up so you get a typical balcony condition. And then in the cooler months or on a windy or rainy day, you get a solarium. Maybe it even works in the winter with the right sun exposure.

But obviously there is a cost to adding something like this to new projects. So my development question to all of you today is: Would you be willing to pay a premium for a balcony glazing system like the one shown here? And if so, how important would you rank a feature like this for multifamily buildings?

If you have a few minutes, please let me know in the comment section below.

The winners of this year's Architizer A+ Awards are out.

Now in its 11th year, the A+ Awards are intended to "honor the world's best architecture and spaces." And supposedly, it is also the world's largest (119 categories) and most democratic architectural awards program. I don't know, I read that here.

I went through the list of winners this evening (okay, I skimmed this Urban Toronto article), and I'm now excited to report that 13 Canadian projects/firms won an award -- either a Jury Award, a Popular Choice Award, or a Special Mention.

I'm also excited to announce that one of the winners is our One Delisle project. It is the Jury Winner for best unbuilt multi-unit housing project (over 10 floors). Awesome!

If you'd like to see the full list of winners, click here.