Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel in 2009
Born	(1945-08-12) August 12, 1945 (age 66) Fumel, Lot-et-Garonne, France
Nationality	French
Alma mater	École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
Awards	Aga Khan Award for Architecture (Arab World Institute), Pritzker Prize, Wolf Prize in Arts
Work
Practice	Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Buildings	Arab World Institute, Paris Culture and Congress Centre, Lucerne Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis Torre Agbar, Barcelona Musée du quai Branly, Paris Fondation Cartier, Paris
Projects	Louvre Abu Dhabi (in progress) Philharmonie de Paris (2012)

Jean Nouvel (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ nu.vɛl]) (born August 12, 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l'Architecture. He has obtained a number of prestigious distinctions over the course of his career, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (technically, the prize was awarded for the Institut du Monde Arabe which Nouvel designed), the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2005 and the Pritzker Prize in 2008.^[1][2][3][4] A number of museums and architectural centres have presented retrospectives of his work.^[5][6]

Family and education[link]

Nouvel was born August 12, 1945, in Fumel, Lot-et-Garonne, France, the son of Renée and Roger Nouvel who were teachers. His family moved often when his father became the county's chief school superintendent. His parents encouraged Nouvel to study mathematics and language, but when he was 16 years old he was captivated by art when a teacher taught him drawing. Although he later said he thought that his parents were guiding him to pursue a career in education or engineering, the family reached a compromise that he could study architecture which they thought was less risky than art.^[4]

When Nouvel failed an entrance examination at the École des Beaux-Arts of Bordeaux, he moved to Paris where he won first prize in a national competition to attend the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. From 1967 to 1970, Nouvel earned his income as an assistant to architects Claude Parent and Paul Virilio, who after only one year, made him a project manager in charge of building a large apartment complex.^[4]

Nouvel and filmmaker Odile Fillion married and have two sons, Bertrand, who is a post-doctorate computer scientist working at LM3LABS in Japan, and Pierre, who is a theater producer and designer at his company, Factoid. With his second wife Catherine Richard, Nouvel has a daughter, Sarah. He lives now with Mia Hägg, who is a Swedish architect working at her practice Habiter Autrement (HA) in Paris.^[4]

Practice[link]

Torre Aigües de Barcelona (Agbar), Barcelona

Torre Agbar (2005, upper right) in Barcelona is one of Nouvel's most famous recent buildings.

By age 25, Nouvel completed school and entered into his own partnership with François Seigneur. Parent sent them work, and gave Nouvel a valuable recommendation to the directorship of the seventh edition of the Biennale de Paris^[5] where for fifteen years, Nouvel designed exhibits and made contacts in the arts and theater.^[4] Soon into his career, Nouvel became a key participant in intellectual debates about architecture in France: he co-founded the Mars 1976 movement in 1976 and, a year later, the Syndicat de l'Architecture. Nouvel was one of the organizers of the competition for the rejuvenation of the Les Halles district (1977) and he founded the first Paris architecture biennale in 1980.

In 1981, Nouvel won the design competition for the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) building in Paris, whose construction was completed in 1987 and brought Nouvel international fame. Mechanical lenses reminiscent of Arabic latticework in its south wall open and shut automatically, controlling interior lighting as the lenses' photoelectric cells respond to exterior light levels.^[4]

Nouvel had three different partners between 1972 and 1984: Gilbert Lezenes, Jean-François Guyot, and Pierre Soria. In 1985, with his junior architects Emmanuel Blamont, Jean-Marc Ibos and Mirto Vitart, he founded Jean Nouvel et Associés. Then, with Emmanuel Gattani, he formed JNEC in 1988. Ateliers Jean Nouvel, his present practice, was formed in 1994 with Michel Pélissié and is one of the largest in France, with 140 people in the main office in Paris. Ateliers Jean Nouvel site offices are in London, Copenhagen, New York, Rome, Madrid and Barcelona. As of 2008, they are working on 40 active projects in 13 countries.^[4] Nouvel designed a flacon for L'Homme, an Yves Saint Laurent fragrance, in a limited edition launched in 2008.^[7]

Pritzker Prize[link]

Nouvel was awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2008, for his work on more than 200 projects,^[8] among them, in the words of The New York Times, the "exotically louvered" Arab World Institute, the bullet-shaped and "candy-colored" Torre Agbar in Barcelona, the "muscular" Guthrie Theater with its cantilevered bridge in Minneapolis, and in Paris, the "defiant, mysterious and wildly eccentric" Musée du quai Branly (2006) and the Philharmonie de Paris (a "trip into the unknown" c. 2012).^[3][8]

Pritzker points to several more major works: in Europe, the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art (1994), the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne (2000), the Opéra Nouvel in Lyon (1993), Expo 2002 in Switzerland and, under construction, the Copenhagen Concert Hall and the courthouse in Nantes (2000); as well as two tall towers in planning in North America, Tour Verre in New York City and a cancelled condominium tower in Los Angeles,^[4]

In its citation, the jury of the Pritzker prize noted:

Of the many phrases that might be used to describe the career of architect Jean Nouvel, foremost are those that emphasize his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms in order to stretch the boundaries of the field. [...] The jury acknowledged the ‘persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation’ as qualities abundant in Nouvel’s work.^[4]

Projects[link]

Nouvel has designed a number of notable buildings across the world, the most significant of which are listed below. As part of the announcement of Nouvel's Pritzker Prize, the Hyatt Foundation, which awards the prize, published a full illustrated list of Nouvel's architectural work, including projects which were never built, projects in construction and designs for which construction has yet to start.^[9][10] In 2001 director Beat Kuert filmed a documentary about five of Nouvel's projects titled Jean Nouvel.

Proposed[link]

• In March 2010, Jean Nouvel presented his plans for the National Museum of Qatar.
• Jean Nouvel is one of the architects involved in the designing of the new Slussen in Stockholm.^[11]
• On Tuesday 05/27/2008 Nouvel's design won the contest for the upcoming Tour Signal in La Défense.^[12]
• In February 2008, Nouvel agreed to design a 45-story luxury condo tower in upscale Century City section of Los Angeles, California. The tower will be of modern design—it is designed to maximize views of the Los Angeles Country Club from the units and is opposed by both homeowners associations in Beverly Hills for the shadows it will cast on many small homes and its next door neighbor, Beverly Hills High School.^[13]
• In November 2006, Hines commissioned Nouvel to build a new 75-story tower, named the Tour de Verre, next to the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan. The tower will house a hotel, luxury apartments and three floors (2nd, 4th, and 5th) will be used by MoMA to expand its exhibition space.^[14] The tower has ignited a controversy in New York City, with many objecting to the tower, and Community Board 5 has rejected the project.^[15]
• In April 2007, Jean Nouvel associated with Marshall Day Acoustics Ltd won the competition to build a new Orchestra Hall (Philharmonie de Paris) in Paris, close to Cité de la Musique (opening in 2012)^[16]
• The Centre for Sustainable Development in Le Havre, France. The project includes the construction of a 120 m high tower on a former seaport area. The project is currently on hold because of an important increase in projected costs.^[17]

Under construction[link]

Tower 25 in Nicosia, Cyprus

One New Change (2010) in London

Guthrie Theater (2006) in Minneapolis

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (2005) in Madrid

Monolith for Expo.02 (2002) in Switzerland

Zlatý Anděl (2001) in Prague

Gasometer A (2001, foreground?) in Vienna

Culture and Convention Center (2000) in Lucerne

Dentsu Building (1998) in Tokyo

• In March 2007, the Louvre announced it would build a Louvre branch in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, on Saadiyat Island. Jean Nouvel was chosen as architect. The museum is expected to be completed by 2013.^[18]
• A 20-story condo tower built on a parking lot at 11th Avenue and 19th Street in New York City. The tower is next to the Venus (mural) (1970) by New York painter Knox Martin^[19] on the south side of Bayview Correctional Facility and will block the 10 story mural from view.^[20] (Expected completion in 2010. The Wall Street Journal reported in August 2008 that the project is some $50 million over budget and one year behind schedule)^[21]
• In Montpellier the new Hôtel de Ville designed in partnership with François Fontès is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2011.^[22]
• Central Park redevelopment plan in Sydney will see 11 new buildings in partnership with architects such as Norman Foster to recreate an abandoned brewery occupying almost four inner-city blocks. Nouvel's 120 meter One Central Park is his first project in Australia, and will feature a cantilevered mirror hanging over the central square off of the side of the building.
• Tower 25 in Nicosia, a 17-stories tall building in the center of the town.^[23]

Completed[link]

• 2010 - London - One New Change
• 2010 - Baku, Azerbaijan - Baku Museum of Modern Art^[24]
• 2009 - 100 11th Avenue (Nouvel), in Manhattan.^[25]
• 2009 - Copenhagen, Denmark – Copenhagen Concert Hall^[26]
• 2008 - Genoa, Italy – Pavilion B, Genoa Exhibition Centre^[27]
• 2008 - New York City, U.S. - 40 Mercer Street Residences
• 2006 - Minneapolis, Minnesota – Guthrie Theater^[28]
• 2006 - Paris, France – Musée du quai Branly
• 2005 - Madrid, Spain – Reina Sofía Museum expansion
• 2004 - Seoul, South Korea - Museum Two, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art^[29]
• 2003 - Barcelona, Spain – Torre Agbar (Office)^[30]
• 2002 - Murten, Switzerland – Monolith of Expo.02^[31]
• 2001 - Cologne, Germany – KölnTurm^[32]
• 2001 - Prague, Czech Republic – Zlatý Anděl (Office / Retail)^[33]
• 2000 - Lucerne, Switzerland – Culture and Convention Center (Performance Space / Conference Hall / Museum / Restaurant)
• 2000 - Lucerne, Switzerland – Reconstruction of The Hotel (Hotel / Restaurant-Bar)^[34]
• 2000 - Mons, Belgium – Science Park (Museum)
• 2000 - Nantes, France – Palais de Justice (Nantes) (Institutional)
• 1999 - Bregenz, Austria – Interunfall (Office / Housing)
• 1999 - Rueil-Malmaison, France – Foundation Cognac-Jay (Hospital)
• 1999 - Strasbourg, France – Schutzenberger Brewery (Restaurant-Bar)
• 1999 - Wismar, Germany – Technology Center (Office)
• 1998 - Paris, France – Musée de la Publicité (Museum)
• 1998 - Tokyo, Japan – Dentsu Building (Office / High-Rise)
• 1995 - Berlin, Germany – Galeries Lafayette (Retail / Office)^[35]
• 1995 - Lille, France – Euralille (centre commercial) (Retail / Office / Housing)
• 1994 - Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France – Social Center (Institutional)
• 1994 - Boisseuil, France – Pôle de Lanaud, Genoscope (Office)
• 1994 - Paris, France – Fondation Cartier (Office / Cultural)^[36]
• 1993 - Bezons, France – ZAC Parmentier (Housing)
• 1993 - Lyon, France – Renovation of the Nouvel Opéra (Opera House / Restaurant)
• 1993 - Périgueux, France – Vésunna Gallo-Roman Museum (Museum)^[37]
• 1993 - Saint-Imier, Switzerland – Cartier CTL (Industrial)
• 1993 - Tours, France – Conference Center (Conference Hall)^[38]
• 1993 - Tours, France – Housing (Housing)
• 1993 - Tours, France – Tourism Office (Office)
• 1993 - Tours, France – Parking (Transportation)
• 1992 - Dax, France – Hôtel des Thermes (Hotel / Restaurant)
• 1992 - Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France – Perception (Institutional)
• 1992 - Issy-les-Moulineaux, France – CLMBBDO (Office)
• 1992 - Tours, France – Bus Terminal (Transportation)
• 1991 - Blois, France – Poulain (Industrial / Office)
• 1991 - Cap d'Ail, France – Pierre & Vacances (Housing)
• 1990 - Freiburg, Germany – Interdica (Industrial)
• 1989 - Bouliac, France – Hôtel Saint-James (Hotel / Restaurant-Bar)^[39]
• 1989 - Nancy, France – INIST (Office)
• 1989 - Paris, France – ADP Offices (Office)
• 1989 - Paris, France – Bailly Apartments (Housing)
• 1988 - Paris, France – Galleries Bailly (Cultural)
• 1988 - Paris, France – Hit Parade (Retail)
• 1988 - Saint-Herblain, France – Onyx (Performance Space)
• 1987 - Combs-la-Ville, France – La Coupole (Cultural)
• 1986 - Marne-la-Vallée, France – Gymnase du Luzard (Sport)
• 1987 - Nîmes, France – Dhuoda (Education)
• 1987 - Nîmes, France – Nemausus 1 (Housing, 114 apartments)
• 1987 - Paris, France – Arab World Institute (Cultural / Museum)^[40]
• 1987 - Saint-Ouen, France – Housing (Housing)
• 1986 - Nîmes, France – Sport Center (Sport)
• 1984 - Antony, France – Les Godets (Education)
• 1984 - Belfort, France – Municipal Theater (Performance Space)^[41]
• 1983 - Paris, France – Yves Dauge Offices (Office)
• 1982 - Kerjouanno, France – SEA Center (Education / Leisure)
• 1982 - Paris, France – Péniche Club de Presse Renault (Restaurant-Bar)
• 1980 - Antony, France – Collège Anne Franck (Education)
• 1979 - Bezons, France – Val-Notre-Dame Clinic (Hospital)
• 1979 - Troyes, France – Devoldere Residence (Housing)
• 1978 - Troyes, France – Dick Residence (Housing)
• 1976 - Paris, France – Trocadero Library (Institutional)
• 1974 - Périgueux, France – Delanghe Residence (Housing)
• 1974 - Trélissac, France – Kindergarten School (Education)
• 1973 - Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France – Delbigot Residence (Housing)
• 1972 - Paris, France – Baillais – Printing House (Office)
• 1971 - Paris, France – Plateau Beaubourg (Cultural)

Abandoned projects[link]

• 1989 - The Tour Sans Fins (Office/High-Rise) at La Défense, France, was never realized. Nouvel's winning design, proposed as Europe's tallest building in 1989, was to change ground up from granite, followed by aluminum, stainless steel and finally glass—"increasingly diaphanous before disappearing into the sky".^[4]

Awards and honors[link]

Nouvel and the buildings which he designed have received a number of distinctions during his career, the most prestigious of which are listed below.

Individual distinctions[link]

• 2008 - Pritzker Prize^[3]
• 2005 - Wolf Prize in Arts^[2]
• Honorary degrees from the University of Buenos Aires (1983), the Royal College of Art, London (2002) and the University of Naples (2002).^[5]
• Honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects (1993) and of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1995).^[5]
• In 1997, Nouvel was named Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He first joined the order in 1983. He is also Chevalier de la légion d'honneur.^[4]

Distinctions for projects[link]

• 1989 Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Institut du Monde Arabe.^[1][5] In 1987, the building also won the Équerre d'Argent awarded yearly to the best building in France.^[42]
• * 2010 Wallpaper Design Award, Best new public house category for Copenhagen Concert Hall^[43]

Retrospectives[link]

• 2005 - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art^[6]
• 2001 - Centre Pompidou, Paris^[5]

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buildings by Jean Nouvel

• Official website
• Jean Nouvel biography and works
• Vanity Fair Interview
• Buildings by Jean Nouvel