42|PROTAGONISTA the impRessive Resume of Jean nouvel Jean Nouvel was born in Fumel, France, in 1945. Porfessional Awards • Aga Khan Prize for the Arab World Institute (1989) • Gold Medal from the Academy of Architecture, France (1998) • Golden Lion from the 7th International Architecture Biennale, Venice, Italy (2000) • Praemium Imperiale International Art Awards in Ar- chitecture, Japan (2001) • Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, United Kingdom (2001) • Borromini Award for the Culture and Convention Cen- ter in Lucerne, Italy (2001) • The Wolf Foundation Prize in Arts/Architecture, Israel (2005) • Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, USA (2006) • International High-rise Award for the Agbar tower, Germany (2006) • Pritzker Architecture Prize, USA (2008) Academic Awards • Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Royal College of Art of London, UK (2002) • Honoris Causa Doctorate by the University of Design of Naples. Italy (2002) • Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (2003) • Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Higher Institute of Art of Havana, Cuba (2006) • Honoris Causa Doctorate by the Catholic University of Louvain UCL, Belgium (2013) Honors and Awards Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (1997) • Officer of the Order of Merit (2006) • Officer of the Legion of Honor (2010) Jean Nouvel has designed projects throughout the world, including countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, The Netherlands, Qatar, Spain, United States, United Arab Emirates... Major completed projects Arab World Institute (Paris - 1987), Opera House (Lyon - 1993), Cartier Foundation (Paris - 1994), Galeries Lafayette (Berlin - 1996), Culture and Congress Cen- ter (Lucerne - 2000), Justice Center (Nantes – 2000), Dentsu Tower (Tokyo -2002), Agbar Tower (Barcelo- na - 2005), extension of the Queen Sofia Arts Center (Madrid - 2005), Quai Branly Museum (Paris - 2006), Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis 2006), Richemont head- quarters (Geneva - 2006), 40 Mercer housing building (New-York - 2008), Symphonic House (Copenhagen - 2009), Ferrari’s factory (Maranello - 2009),“One New Change” (London - 2010), 100 11th avenue building (New-York - 2010), Sofitel hotel (Vienna - 2010), City hall (Montpellier - 2011), Theater “Archipel” (Perpignan - 2011), office tower (Doha - 2011), Renaissance hotel (Barcelona – 2012). Major projects under design or construction Louvre Museum (Abu Dhabi), Philharmonic Hall (Pa- ris), National Qatar Museum (Doha), “Tour de Verre”, integration of the management of MoMA Gallery (New York), Police Station and the extension Charleroi Dan- ses (Charleroi), Marina Life Residential Complex (Ibiza), Frasers Broadway (Sydney), Learning Resource Center (Nicosia), residential Tower (Kuala Lumpur), Founda- tion Imagine (Paris), Anderson 18 (Singapore), Tour Ardmore (Singapore), Gare du Midi (Brussels), Office tower La Marseillaise (Marseille), Duo Tower (Paris) architect responsible for the coordination of the project de l’île Seguin urban renewal (Boulogne-Billancourt). In the case of the Agbar Tower, for example, when I explain this project internationally at conferences abroad, no one understands, of course, be- cause they have no reference of the mountain of Montserrat. They know Gaudí but they do not understand all the connotations that surround this work. They don’t know Monserrat. They lack the references of the pla- ce, the base. I am taken as a sexual freak. Maybe I am, but it is not the issue in this case. Here, though, they understand the Torre Agbar, because it is so linked with the place in which it is located. This building marks the beginning of the Diagonal Avenue and therefore it has a shocking shape. In the case of Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel, we had to differentiate oursel- ves from the rest of the hotels in this area, especially in the way the guests will enjoy their stay in the hotel. The people who come here will be surpri- sed and then talk about it. Therefore, they are the situations, the ones that create structures. I am against cloned buildings that seem empty. Another architect with whom you have collaborated, Fermín Váz- quez, explained to iCandela that the interior lighting of the Agbar Tower is almost ‘domestic’ with natural light supplemented by te- chnical lighting. What is the ideal relationship between the two? The Torre Agbar is based on the principle that the occupants live in the Tower. As people live in their homes, we believe that the people who work there is as if they lived in the same space. In this building, the light does