Every design for Nanterre

From the Grande Arche de la Défense the gaze runs out over the towers that Nanterre shares with Courbevoie and Puteaux, towards a town that is far more than a business district. Nanterre is the prefecture of Hauts-de-Seine, home to one of the largest universities in the Paris region, and the seat of a court known for its high-profile cases, many of them involving the corporations headquartered at La Défense.

The Forteresse du Mont-Valérien crowns the hill at the far end of the plain of Nanterre, and together with the Mémorial de la France combattante it gives the town a sombre, dignified place of remembrance. Down by the Seine, archaeologists uncovered a Gallic necropolis and traces of pre-Roman and Roman building, enough to reopen the question of where the Parisii really had their capital. Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, was born here as well, and the town hall, shaped like a pyramid, gives the centre an unmistakable outline.

So whether you studied on the campus, worked in the shadow of the towers or grew up between the river and the hill, Nanterre is yours to carry: a town where Gaul, the university and the skyline all fit on one map.