CNIT

The Centre of New Industries and Technologies (French: Centre des nouvelles industries et technologies, better known as the CNIT), located in Puteaux, France, is one of the first buildings built in La Défense in Paris, France. It functions as convention centre, though it also houses shops and offices such as Fnac (a media and electronics retailer found throughout France), ESSEC Business School campus for executive education, as well as a Hilton hotel.

The initial of the building took place between 1956 and 1958 with the first concrete poured on May 8. Its architects were Robert Edouard Camelot, Jean de Mailly, Bernard Zehrfuss accompanied by the engineer Jean Prouvé for the exterior. The structural engineer for the concrete shell was Nicolas Esquillan.

At the time of its construction, the La Defense business district did not exist and the site for the building was at the roundabout or "rond point" of La Defense where the old Zodiac Aerospace factory was situated. The site was named for a statue called "La Defense De Paris" by the sculptor Louis-Ernest Barrias which was situated on a natural hill between the towns of Puteaux and Courbevoie. This statue, originally erected in 1883, has now been moved to the west of the La Defense plaza.

Originally conceived as an exhibition center for the French machine tools industry, the building was inaugurated by General, and soon to be President, Charles de Gaulle on 12 September 1958.

In 1978 a great plaza was constructed next to the site of the CNIT building. The newly raised pedestrian precinct covered the railway station, all of the tracks and a good third of the height of the CNIT building. The entrance ways, characterized by rectangular blocks, were removed.

The La Defense plaza now covers a large area to the south of this building and is three stories above ground level.

During 1988 the space covered by the CNIT building was completely emptied and refurbished to encompass 200,000 square metres instead of the initial 100,000 square meters. Only the vault was retained from the original construction. The internal structure which now contained new offices and a luxury hotel (currently the Paris La Defense Hilton) were radically changed.

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