Choux de Créteil

In the suburbs of Paris stands an ensemble of ten quasi-futuristic buildings commonly known as les Choux, or “the cabbages” in English. Towering 15 stories tall above the Créteil district, each of the apartments comes with a unique, bowl-shaped balcony.

Designed to provide private open-air spaces, these 2-meter-tall balconies are equipped with curved concrete screens that resemble flower petals or cabbage leaves. This is said to have drawn inspiration from the area’s past, when it was a farmland growing vegetables for the kitchens in Paris.

Initially, the balconies were to be covered with ornamental plants, giving the towers varying appearances according to the seasons, but the developers turned down the idea as it could attract the unwanted attention of insects and cause problems in maintenance.

Designed by architect Gérard Grandval and completed in 1974, the project has been designated as a heritage of the 20th century by the French Ministry of Culture, given praise as the pinnacle of modernist architecture in 1970s France. Today, the unusual high-rise buildings are used as residential flats and student dormitories.