Paris, January 2016: The maquette of the Observation Tower project by Antonio Pio Saracino enters the Permanent Collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Saracino’s was asked to design a Tower on the grounds of an old house in the countryside surrounding the southern French city of Carcassonne, just southeast of Toulouse.

The two-story historical villa lacked a high point from which the panorama of the beautiful landscape could be fully appreciated.

The owner’s request was for Saracino to create a tower that would provide this view and also serve as a landmark in the region, which would allow visitors and local residents to view the countryside from an advantageous height. The 25-foot tower is also reminiscent of Carcassonne’s many castle towers, historically used to maintain military control of the territory.

The tower is built from a series of stainless steel tubes woven in space and anchored to a free-floating red steel staircase that begins from an entrance that extends into a diving board and ends in an open-air bench, allowing the owner and guests to enjoy the view from an elevated perch.

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