Sited at the heart of France's main business district at La Défense, the enormous and impressive Grande Arche was always more than a monument to the triumph of humanitarian ideals over military glory.

The 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe – a marble and glass cube measuring 110m high by 110m wide and 110m deep and big enough to fit Notre Dame cathedral in its archway – stood as a totem to French economic clout.