Tour Gan is an office skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 located in La Défense

La Défense

La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...

, the high-rise business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 situated west of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It was designed by celebrated American architect Max Abramovitz

Max Abramovitz

Max Abramovitz was an architect best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz.- Life :...

.

Built from 1972 to 1974, the tower is 179 m (587 ft) tall at roof height. However, it reaches 187 m (614 ft) once including the antenna located on the roof. It is the third-tallest skyscraper in La Défense after Tour Total

Tour Total

Tour Total is an office skyscraper located in La Défense, Courbevoie, the high-rise business district west of and adjacent to the city of Paris, France designed in the Modern architectural style...

 and Tour Areva

Tour Areva

Tour Areva is an office skyscraper located in La Défense, a high-rise business district, and in the commune of Courbevoie, France, west of Paris....

. Its ground shape is in the form of a Greek cross.

In 1972, during construction, a protest campaign opposed the building of Tour Gan, which was deemed too tall and thus too visible from the historical center of Paris and particularly from the Champs-Elysées

Champs-Élysées

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...

. Protesters demanded a reduction in height. However, those protests had no effect and the tower was completed at the planned height.

All the asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

 from the Tour Gan was removed between 1995 and 2001.

The structure is owned by Fonciere des Regions

Fonciere des Regions

Foncière des Régions is a holding company of real estate investment companies that own residential and commercial properties in 8 countries...

.