Architect JEAN NOUVEL was born in Fume, France, in 1945. He has designed projects all over the world, including the Arab World Institute (Paris, 1987), the Lyon Opera House (1993), the Cartier Foundation (Paris, 1994), Galeries Lafayette (Berlin, 1996), the Culture and Congress Center (Lucerne, 2000), the Justice Center (Nantes, 2000), Dentsu Tower (Tokyo, 2002), Agbar Tower (Barcelona, 2005), the extension of the Queen Sofia Arts Center (Madrid, 2005), the Quai Branly Museum (Paris, 2006), Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, 2006), the Richemont headquarters (Geneva, 2006), 40 Mercer housing building (New York, 2008), Symphonic House (Copenhagen, 2009), Ferrari’s factory (Maranello, 2009), “One New Change” (London, 2010), 100 11th Avenue building (New York, 2010), the Sofitel Hotel (Vienna, 2010), City Hall (Montpellier, 2011), Theater “Archipel” (Perpignan, 2011), an office tower (Doha, 2011), and the Renaissance Hotel (Barcelona, 2012).

Nouvel’s principal projects currently being designed or under construction include the Louvre Museum (Abu Dhabi), Philharmonic Hall (Paris), National Qatar Museum (Doha), “Tour de Verre,” integrating the extension of the MoMA galleries (New York), Hôtel de Police and extension of Charleroi Danses (Charleroi), the mixed use high-rise building Frasers Broadway (Sydney), the Learning Resource Center (Nicosia), a residential tower (Kuala Lumpur), Imagine Foundation (Paris), Anderson 18 (Singapore), Tour Ardmore (Singapore), Gare du Midi (Brussels), office tower La Marseillaise (Marseille), Duo tower (Paris), and the Marina Life residential complex (Ibiza). Nouvel is also the architect in charge of the coordination of the Île Seguin urban renewal project in Boulogne-Billancourt.

Nouvel’s professional awards include the Aga Khan Prize (1989) for the Arab World Institute, the Gold Medal from the Academy of Architecture, France (1998), the Golden Lion from the 7th International Architecture Biennale, Venice (2000), the Praemium Imperiale International Art Awards in Architecture, Japan (2001), the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, United Kingdom (2001), the Borromini Award for the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne (2001), the Wolf Foundation Prize in Arts/Architecture, Israel (2005), the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, U.S.A. (2006), the International High-rise Award for the Agbar Tower, Germany (2006), and the Pritzker Architecture Prize, U.S.A. (2008).

He has received honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Art of London (2002), the Design University of Naples (2002), the Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen (2003), the Higher Institute of Art of Havana (2006), and the University of Louvain, Belgium (2013). Nouvel was named Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997), Officier of the Ordre du Mérite (2006), and Officier of the Légion d’honneur (2010).

Photo Credit: Gaston Bergeret