Last Updated on: 11th June 2025, 02:55 pm
Have you heard of La Défense? Located in Paris, this glass and steel towers complex is the largest business district in Europe.
On this map of Paris’ arrondissements you can see that La Defense is located to the northwest of the city.
This area looks nothing like the Paris we know from movies and songs. As you step out of the subway, you can’t but feel overwhelmed by the giant towers with rounded edges, reflecting onto each other, covering the sky almost completely.
Towers in La Defense – not your usual Paris
Nothing is old in this futurist space. Trees and people alike are young. Monuments are also young. Point Growth is probably the best example.
What Is Point Growth?
Point Growth, created by South Korean artist Lim Dong-Lak, is a symbol of resilience, growth, and the organic spirit that persists even within the most urban of landscapes.
Since October 2007, this remarkable work has been standing by the base of the Opus 12 tower, having migrated from its original position on the main Parvis of La Défense.
Point Growth, on a backdrop with high rises and dark clouds
The sculpture is a delicate sprout emerging from a polished stainless steel sphere. It reminds me of my gardening attempts, my kohlrabi sprouts I tended to for several months before planting them in the garden.
A Gift of Vision
Even though the sculpture itself is intriguing, what makes Point Growth truly remarkable is its origin story.
The sculpture was offered as a gift to the district’s development authority by Lim Dong-Lak himself. In an environment where that screams expensive, this donation represents something rare: art given freely to enrich the public space.
The artist’s vision captures something essential about La Défense that many visitors miss.
While critics often dismiss the district as a soulless business enclave, Lim Dong-Lak saw something different. In Point Growth, he presents La Défense not as a sterile environment hostile to life, but as fertile ground for new forms of growth and possibility.
Metaphor in Metal
The sculpture’s central metaphor is both elegant and complex. The sphere, crafted from shiny stainless steel, represents the built environment, an artificial construct that has nothing to do with nature. Yet from this man-made sphere emerges the sprout, organic and reaching, suggesting that even within the most constructed spaces, life finds a way to thrive.
This reminds of the tiny flowers or shrubs emerging from the cracks in the concrete on sidewalks.
The juxtaposition is particularly powerful in its setting. As office workers hurry past on their way to meetings in the surrounding towers, Point Growth offers a moment of pause. The professional climbing corporate ladders, the district itself evolving and expanding, the very city of Paris extending westward, all echo the simple upward thrust of this metal sprout.
Balance and Surprise
Those who encounter Point Growth often comment on the sculpture’s surprising sense of balance and force. The smooth, pure forms integrate seamlessly into the architectural landscape while maintaining their distinct identity.
There’s something almost meditative about the work’s proportions. The solid sphere anchoring the delicate emergence above is taller than the average human, yet it appears small when compared against the high rises around.
The shiny surface of the sphere is perfect for a distorted selfie. I guess by night it reflects the lights in La Défense.
I haven’t photographed it by night, so I guess I’d need to schedule another trip to Paris.
This is my Point Growth selfie – look carefully to spot my face in this convex mirror
Living Symbol
Perhaps what’s most striking about Point Growth is how it has become a living symbol of La Défense itself. As a matter of fact, there are many such monuments in Paris, symbols we pass by without even noticing them. The Fourth Apple in Place de Clichy is another good example.
