Jean Nouvel, Winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2008
Image Source: Dezeen
On Jun. 2, Nouvel will receive the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor, in a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington. The Paris-based architect has won the profession’s highest honor – Pritzker Prize 2008, for a career of memorable buildings. This is undoubtedly Jean Nouvel’s moment, aside from winning the Pritzker, his offices in Paris, New York, London, Copenhagen, Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona are busy with more than 40 active projects in 13 countries (My design lecturer claimed that he has 30 projects in hand, and I would assume that he has about 15 – 25 staffs, probably more, Jean Nouvel has something to learn from him).
Jean Nouvel’s structures bear no signature style, unlike Frank Gehry and his curved walls; Jean Nouvel has to constantly re-invent himself instead of relying on a single award winning style, which is what most architects does.
Jean Nouvel (Icon Magazine) and Dr.Evil (Right). Image Source: Dezeen
Anyway, does Jean Nouvel resemble the movie character Dr.Evil from Austin Power? Probably it is just me. Here is a summary of his family and education background:
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 his 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. – Wikipedia
“…they thought was less risky than art…”, I guess lots of parents has this opinion of art as a useless subject, especially Asian parents with their traditional mindset. I’ve always believed that art is the key to man’s salvation.
Tags: 2009, Architect, Architecture, Jean, Jean Nouvel, Nouvel, Pritzker Architecture Prize 2008, Pritzker PrizeRelated Articles
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New York City – City of the Great Pyramids
Image Source: Dezeen Copyright: Jean Nouvel
A new kid on the block – the 53 West 53rd Street by Jean Nouvel.
French architect Jean Nouvel did it again; his latest groundbreaking design for Manhattan will rival the Chrysler Building in height and possibly the old bird’s iconic statues. 53 West 53rd Street by Jean Nouvel is a mixed-use tower, it will contain a hotel, luxury apartments, offices, shops, and restaurant, the restaurant and lounge are below ground level, the idea is to have the pedestrians peering in through the exterior, which is entirely sheathed in glass.
It is a bold design, something different for a change. Critics believed that “Nouvel’s exciting concept has the potential to become an international architectural design icon, this bird nest like structure appears to be the current architecture trend, probably inspired by non other than the OMA’s CCTV Tower and Herzog & de Meuron’s “Bird Nest” stadium aka Beijing National Stadium in China.
Image Source: Dezeen Copyright: Jean Nouvel
Back to the 3 West 53rd Street by Jean Nouvel, the smooth curvature from bottom to the top of the tower is not by any chance a design concept, it has something to do with the city’s ground-breaking Zoning Resolution of 1916, the resolution established the height and setback controls and designated iconic tall, slender towers that epitomize the city’s prewar business districts.
This regulation has earned New York City as the City of the Great Pyramids, the question is, where are the pyramids?
In high density districts, such as Manhattan in New York, front walls of buildings at the street line may be limited to a specified height or number of stories. Above that height, the buildings are required to set back behind a theoretical inclined plane, called sky exposure plane, which cannot be penetrated by the building’s exterior wall. For the same reason, setbacks may also be used in lower density districts to limit the height of perimeter walls above which a building must have a pitched roof or be set back before rising to the permitted height.
It’s an invisible pyramid shaped by the exterior facade of all the buildings, amazing.
Something interesting: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was named after him, as Brad Pitt is a fan of his architecture.
Further readings:
- New York Times, Tower Will Reach for the Stars
- Curbed, Nouvel’s Blinding Vision
Tags: 3D max Rendering, 53 West 53rd Street, Clay Rendering, Jean Nouvel, Manhattan, New York, Shiloh Nouvel, sky exposure plane, Wikipedia
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