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PARIS - After more than a century reigning over the landscape of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is finally to have a rival approaching its own size.
By 2012, a futuristic 300m-high tower block, called La Phare (the lighthouse) is to be constructed amid the skyscrapers of the La Defense area, just west of Paris proper.
The new landmark will be only 20m shorter than Gustav Eiffel's famous tower, which has stood since 1889, and will be almost one third as tall again as the Tour Montparnasse, the only true skyscraper within the city boundaries.
Californian architect Thom Mayne's design has flowing curves like a giant ship's funnel. The building will be asymmetric - looking different from every angle - and will be crowned by a forest of giant, electricity-generating windmills.
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