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JEAN NOUVEL,2009
Who was Architect Jean Nouvel?
Jean Nouvel (born 12 August 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. A
number of museums and architectural centers have
presented retrospectives of his work.
Family and education
Nouvel was born on 12 August 1945 in Fumel, France.
He is the son of Renée and Roger Nouvel who were
teachers.
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.
Cont.,
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.
Cont.,
Nouvel and filmmaker Odile Fillion married
and have two sons, Bertrand, who is a post-
doctorate computer scientist working at Mind
storm Multi touch in London, 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.
Cont.,
By age 25, Nouvel
completed school and
entered into his own
partnership with François
Seigneur.
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.
Torre Aigües de Barcelona (Agbar), Barcelona
Least of Jean Nouvel works