At the heart of the Beaugrenelle district, nicknamed “Little New York” because of its resemblance to Manhattan, the Totem Tower was designed according to a slab-based urban planning approach, advocating the strict separation of living, working, and circulation areas in line with the modern principles of the Athens Charter.

Rising to a height of 100 meters, the maximum height permitted at the time of its construction, the tower features a structure composed of a central concrete core housing the circulation systems, to which glazed residential modules are attached in groups of three. Arranged in a star-shaped layout, they provide unobstructed views as well as dual or triple exposure for each apartment. The entire structure has been left exposed, in a purely Brutalist approach, giving the building the appearance of a fruit tree or a bunch of grapes, an aesthetic that recalls the Choux de Créteil, a large housing complex completed a few years earlier.

The entrance hall was decorated by the artist Yvette Vincent-Alleaume, and the tower’s commercial brochure, published in 1976, was designed by the artist Salvador Dalí.

Architects Michel Andrault (1926–2020) and Pierre Parat (1928–2019) studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where they graduated in 1955. They partnered soon after and founded their firm ANPAR, also known as Andrault & Parat, in 1957, going on to co-design a large number of collective housing projects and office towers across France.

Among their most renowned works are the Basilica–Sanctuary of Syracuse (1994), the Tolbiac University Center (1973), the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy (1984), and the renovation of the CNIT at La Défense (1988).