Summary: Jean Nouvel of Paris was named the 2008 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize on March 31. The 62-year-old architect first received international acclaim two decades ago as architect of the Arab World Institute, one of Paris’ Grand Projects under the aegis of President Francois Mitterrand. Since then, although the majority of his work is in France, Nouvel has designed projects all over the world, including in Japan, Spain, England, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Korea, Mexico, Israel, Brazil, Qatar, Lebanon, Cyprus, Iceland, UAE, Taiwan, Malaysia, Portugal, Kuwait, Morocco, Russia, and the U.S.—more than 200 buildings in all.

Recently, Nouvel has expanded his work arena to the United States. Minneapolis is home to his Guthrie Theater, which was completed in 2006, while New York City will be the venue for Tour Verre, a 75-story-tall residential tower currently under construction adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art. Los Angeles also will soon house a Nouvel high-rise condominium.

Nouvel is arguably best known for his fresh approach to traditional architecture challenges and his willingness to take risks. “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,” says the Pritzker Prize jury. “For over 30 years, Jean Nouvel has pushed architecture’s discourse and praxis to new limits. His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects, which, regardless of varying degrees of success, have greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.”

Building a practice
Nouvel, born in Fumel in southwestern France in 1945, attended l’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Bordeaux and then l’Ecole National Superiere des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he earned his degree in architecture. While in school, he worked in the architecture office of Claude Parent and Paul Virilio. After finishing school, he opened his own office in partnership with François Seigneur. Nouvel credits Parent for sending work to his fledgling office and recommending him for the job of director of the Paris Biennale, which allowed Nouvel to design exhibits for 15 years and make many contacts in the art and theater worlds.

From 1972 to 1984, Nouvel associated with Gilbert Lezenes, Jean-Francois Guyot, and Pierre Soria. In 1985, he founded Jean Nouvel et Associés with Emmanuel Blamont, Jean-Marc Ibos, and Mirto Vitart. In 1988, he formed JNEC with Emmanuel Cattani. His current firm, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, which he founded with Michel Pélissié in 1994, today employs some 140 people, making it one of the largest architecture practices in France. Ateliers Jean Nouvel has site offices in London, Copenhagen, New York, Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona. They currently count more than 40 active projects in 13 countries.

Internationally celebrated works
Here is a sampling of Nouvel’s 200 projects:

• La Philharmonie de Paris, Paris (under construction)
• Champs Elysees Gallery, Paris (under construction)
• DNP Tower, Kuala Lumpur (under construction)
• Geneva Train Stations, Geneva (under construction)
• Hotel Puerta America, Madrid (2005)
• Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis (2006)
• Agbar Tower, Barcelona (2005)
• Mediapark 1 and Mediapark 2, Cologne (1993, 2001)
• Andel Building, Prague (2001)
• Cultural and Conference Center, Lucerne (2000)
• Galleries Lafayette, Berlin (1996)
• Tours san Fins (unbuilt, 1994)
• Lyon Opera House, Lyon (1993)
• Arab World Institute, Paris (1987).

Perhaps best of all his works, Nouvel’s Arab World Institute most clearly and literally demonstrates the common thread through his works: skillful coaxing of light to enter and play in his buildings. The building’s south-facing façade is constructed entirely of mechanical oculi operated by photoelectric cells that automatically open and close in response to light levels. It also beckons images of latticework screens iconic to the Mid-East and as such reveals another common thread of Nouvel’s works: deferential reference to historic and physical surround.

This strong response to context means that Nouvel’s oeuvre does not impose the burden of a signature starchitect style on individual projects. “We, as a jury, recognize that architecture is a field of many challenges and complexities and that the career of an architect does not always follow a linear path,” noted the Pritzker jury in their release statement. “In the case of Jean Nouvel, we particularly admire the spirit of the journey—persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation—qualities that are abundant in the work of the 2008 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.”

In Nouvel’s own words: “My interest has always been in an architecture which reflects the modernity of our epoch as opposed to the rethinking of historical references. My work deals with what is happening now—our techniques and materials, what we are capable of doing today.”

Honors from everywhere
Among Nouvel’s myriad honors and accolades are:

• The Wolf Foundation Prize in the Arts (2005)
• Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur (2002) and Chevalier Ordre de Merit (1987)
• 2001 Praemium Imperiale architecture laureate (2001)
• Borromini Award for the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne (2001)
• Royal Gold Medal from RIBA (2001)
• Golden Lion from the 7th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale (2000)
• Gold Medal from the French Academy of Architecture (1998)
• Commandeur of Ordre des Artes et des Lettres (1997)
• Honorary Fellowship in the AIA (1993), RIBA (1995), and AIA Chicago (1993)
• Silver Medals for Lyon Opera House (1993), and Institut du Monde Arabe (1987)
• Aga Khan Prize for Institut du Monde Arabe (1989)
• Grand Prix National d’Architecture (1987).

Nouvel also holds honorary doctorates from the Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen; Royal College of Art, London; University of Naples; and the University of Buenos Aires.

The prize
The formal presentation ceremony will take place on June 2 at the newly renovated Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., at which time Nouvel will receive the bronze Pritzker Prize medallion and a $100,000 grant. The Pritzker ceremony has been held in Washington five times previously: twice at Dumbarton Oaks Estate (home to an addition by the first Pritzker Prize recipient Philip Johnson), and once at the National Gallery of Art, National Building Museum, and the White House.

The Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered to be one of the most prestigious architecture prizes in the world, was established by the Hyatt Foundation in 1979 to honor annually “a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment that has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.” The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family, whose international business interests are headquartered in Chicago.

Nouvel is the second Frenchman to receive the Pritzker, following Christian de Portzamparc in 1994. Other past Pritzker Prize recipients include Sir Richard Rogers, last year’s recipient; Philip Johnson, the first recipient; Frank Gehry, FAIA; Rafael Moneo, Hon. FAIA; Kevin Roche, FAIA; Richard Meier, FAIA; Thom Mayne, FAIA; and Renzo Piano, Hon. FAIA.