A look at the major work of architect Jean Nouvel

A look at other architectural marvels from Jean Nouvel, the architect of Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn, New York, rests between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. AP Photo

Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 1987
Nouvel had been working for 20 years before he completed the project that effectively announced his entry into architecture's major league. Designed as a venue for cultural exchange and a showcase for the scientific and technological achievements of the Arab world, L'Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) contains many of the themes and ideas that have preoccupied the architect ever since: technological innovation, a concern with the control of light and its ephemeral effects and a commitment to creating buildings that respond to their context. With the IMA, Nouvel succeeded in creating a building that is not only modern but also makes reference to the traditional architecture of the Middle East without resorting to Orientalist clichés. Sandwiched between the Seine and two universities in Paris's fifth arrondissement, the institute's river facade follows the curve of the waterway. Its south-west facade features motor-controlled shutters that open and close in response to sunlight, filtering it like some giant mechanical mashrabiya.
Cartier Foundation, Paris, France, 1994
If one Nouvel's main goals is to create architecture that "dematerialises" into a series of intangible reflections and transparencies, then the building he describes as "the phantom in the park" may well be his piece de resistance. Made almost entirely of glass, the Cartier Foundation features walls of living plants – a feature Nouvel repeated en masse at his Musee du Quai Branly in 2006 – and enormous sliding windows that can be opened to reveal the gallery spaces within. The results are interiors and exteriors that dissolve into each other, blurring the distinction between the building and its surroundings.
Jane's Carousel, Brooklyn, US, 2011
Pavilions are a project that architects return to throughout their careers – Nouvel designed the temporary Serpentine pavilion in London's Hyde Park in 2010 – but it is difficult to imagine many who would dedicate their efforts to the fun of the fair. With the pristine acrylic box that houses a restored carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park however, Nouvel has done just that. All of the architect's familiar devices are there, but the building also captures something of Nouvel's well-documented joie de vivre. The architect is as likely to be found working in one of his favourite restaurants or sampling a city's nightlife as he is in the studio.
Burj Doha, Qatar, 2012
Nouvel has designed many buildings in the GCC (an opera house for Dubai, a cultural and educational centre in Kuwait – he even submitted plans for the competition to design the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque) but the 238-metre-tall Doha Tower is the first to be completed. It will not be the last. As well as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Nouvel also won a competition to design the new 430,000-square-foot National Museum of Qatar, a project the architect describes as a "modern day caravanaserai", that is said to have taken its inspiration from the form of a crystallised sand formation known as a desert rose. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2014.
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