Product Description

France's premier architect designs his own monograph.



The work of France's internationally celebrated contemporary architect and recipient of the 2008 Pritzker Prize in a book designed by the master himself.



Jean Nouvel is widely regarded as France s most original and important contemporary architect. From 1967 to 1970, he assisted influential architects Claude Parent and Paul Virilio, before creating his own practice in Paris. His first widely acclaimed project was the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (1981 87). Since then he has completed the Lyon Opera House, the Euralille Shopping Center, Lille, and the Fondation Cartier, Paris. His major completed projects since 2000 include the Culture and Convention Center in Lucerne, Switzerland, the spectacular Agbar Tower in Barcelona, the extension of the Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nouvel won the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Gold Medal in 2001.



Jean Nouvel worked for five years with author Philip Jodidio on this prodigiously illustrated TASCHEN monograph, a book commensurate with the architect s talent. Two 400-page hardcover volumes give the most complete overview to date of Jean Nouvel s career, including works in progress such as the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the MoMA extension in New York. The book s graphic design and images were conceived and selected by the architect; in addition, the transparent printed dust jackets mimic the architect s own tendency to play with contrasts and overlaid patterns. This publication is Nouvel by Nouvel, inside and out.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49049 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-10
• Original language: German, English, French
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 896 pages

About the Author
Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His books include TASCHEN's Architecture Now! series, Building a New Millennium, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, and Álvaro Siza. He is internationally renowned as one of the most popular writers on the subject of architecture.

Customer Reviews

Confusion and disappointment.
When I bought Jean Nouvel volumes, I expected vivid, extraordinary publication, outstanding as all Jean Nouvel's brave and innovative projects.

Instead, I got poor prints, blurred photographs and poor quality paper.

I am not sure if this is recycled paper or recycled paint. May be this is "New Wave" or "New Fashion" of TASCHEN "Newspaper quality" printing style and technology?

Most of photographs are blurred and out of focus. Sometime it is hard to distinguish the buildings, the volumes, the shadows, the colors. Others probably enlarged from the "cell phone camera type" small photographs.

This TASCHEN publication is not compare with vivid publication by the same TASCHEN of Richard Meier's work on high quality heavy paper published last year in the same large format.

Nowadays, when architectural periodic like The Plan from Italy, Japan Architect and Architecture and Urbanism from Japan, Architecture Australia and Houses from Australia, Object from Netherlands, printing extraordinary photographs and taking advantage of contemporary digital photographic technology and printing on super high quality paper, TASCHEN decided otherwise.

Other concern, these books are enormous in size and not fitting any book shelf, also the human eyes can not oversee the gigantic poster size photographs from the reading distance, especially if they are not in focus.

In addition I found that it is extremely uncomfortable to flip pages back and force for project data information on the back side of the book.

It is real waste of money to pay $200 for this edition and $700 for signed.

The only plus is extraordinary projects, informative text and nicely designed book covers.

The truly impressive result of a five year collaborative project
Jean Nouvel has well earned his acclaim as one of France's most talented architects working today. One of his most recent professional honors was achieving the 2008 Pritzker Prize. Now the best of his work is showcased in "Jean Nouvel by Jean Nouvel: Complete Works 1970-2008", an impressive, two volume, 896-page compendium that he designed himself and which is also the truly impressive result of a five year collaborative project with architectural author and editor Philip Jodidio. Here displayed with expert and insightful commentary is a seminal monograph on the man and his work that is as informed and informative as it is thoughtful and thought-provoking. A seminal and comprehensive body of work, "Jean Nouvel by Jean Nouvel: Complete Works 1970-2008" is a very highly recommended core addition to professional and academic Architectural Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.