What's that strange saucer-like antenna tower to the east of Paris?

Have you ever looked up at this strange radio tower near Les Lilas? Impossible to miss, with its flying saucer shape resting on a shaft, it intrigues. Built in the 1980s to broadcast TV, radio and the Internet, and designed by Claude Vasconi, this 141-meg tower is now classified as Remarkable Contemporary Architecture. We'll take you on a tour!

Tour TDF de Romainville is an impressive 141 m high tower perched on the Fort de Romainville (actually in Les Lilas), overlooking the whole of north-east Paris. Built between 1982 and 1986 by architect Claude Vasconi - famous for the Forum des Halles - it replaces the old Buttes-Chaumont tower to broadcast television, radio, telecoms and the Internet.

Why does this tower look like a spaceship?

With its pre-stressed concrete shaft topped by a circular platform, it's like seeing a UFO! In fact, Claude Vasconi 's bold design was awarded the Grand Prix National d'Architecture in 1986, and in 2018 the tower received the "Remarkable Contemporary Architecture" label. Its shape is not just aesthetic: it optimizes wave diffusion and resists heavy technical constraints.

What exactly is its purpose?

Its role: to relay and distribute television (DTT), radio (FM and DAB+), internet and telecoms signals in the Paris region and beyond. Choosing the Fort de Romainville for its location guarantees security and natural height, favoring radioelectric coverage Unfortunately, the public has no access to it: a sensitive site. But a privileged few can claim that a vintage elevator leads to the top, where the view of Paris, La Défense and even... Les Mercuriales is well worth the detour.

What astonishing figures are there to remember?

Total height: 141 m (some quote 143 m including base)

Estimated weight: 7,000 tonnes of concrete and steel - impressive!

Key dates: built 1982-1984, commissioned 1986

The TDF tower in Romainville is a futuristic sentinel in the middle of the city: a visual signature of northeastern Paris, visible from afar, sometimes nicknamed the "Eiffel Tower of 93" or the "lighthouse of Seine-Saint-Denis". This flying saucer-like radio tower, built by Vasconi, is not just a curiosity in the Parisian landscape: it has been at the heart of communications in the Paris region for 40 years. Listed as a remarkable monument, it symbolizes the technological mutation of the '80s. Invisible from below (literally), but omnipresent in the skyline, it continues to arouse curiosity and admiration.

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