Paris is home to many world-famous buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Notre Dame, and the original statue of liberty. The Paris existing today is largely a product of the talents of Baron Haussmann, who had been commissioned by Napoleon III to modernize Paris in 1853; he destroyed most of the medieval city in the process. Modern Paris finds its best expression in La Défense, a gigantic, glittering business centre that is technically outside of the Paris boundaries; much of Paris is proper and the centre of an almost unbroken urban/suburban area is home to about 10 million people.