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Local Expert: Kate Cyr

Transplanted New Yorker learning to love my new home in Paris...

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July 20, 2008
Local News

Prizewinning Architecture

The Pritzker Prize is architecture’s highest honor and this year that honor was given to French architect Jean Nouvel. The jury commended Nouvel’s work for its "persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation.” I first learned about Nouvel in this New York Times profile published recently.  Although he has designed buildings throughout the world, a few prime examples of this creative experimentation are right here in Paris:
The Institut du Monde Arabe  next to the Seine in the 5th arrondissement was built in 1981. The building is directly aligned with the towers of Notre Dame on the north side, and the south face of the building has glass-covered aluminum openings inspired by Moorish latticed screens. The openings were designed to function like a camera shutter, made to open or close depending on the weather to maintain a constant level of light and temperature within the building. Be sure to visit the rooftop terrace for a great view of the Seine and Notre Dame. 
The Fondation Cartier builiding in the 14th arrondissement was built between 1991 and 1994 and houses the contemporary art organizations’s galleries and adminstrative space. The building is set back from the street, behind a long glass wall built to the height of the surrounding building.  
The Musee de Quai Branly, built in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in 1999, houses the national collections of African, Oceanic and Native American art. Once again, Nouvel used a glass wall to separate the building from the street. Inside the museum, Nouvel designed display areas influenced by the local origins of the pieces on display. The jury (of anthropologists and architecture critics) is still out on this design decision - visit the museum to see for yourself.

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