Jean Nouvel (Studio Paperback)

Rating:
Summary: Good reference book
Review: This 206 pages reference book briefly gave us a glimpse of Jean Nouvel's accomplishment. The introduction told us of Jean's anti-establishment past, his evolution from embracing pop-culture (on the same wavelength as Robert Venturi) & subsequently, to tectonic architecture. Here, we started to appreciate his depth, his versatility, his vision in undertaking small & major projects alike; urban planning; residential, industrial, & commercial buildings. Some of the highlights would be the Opera House at Lyon, Cartier Building at Paris, Building at Berlin, The Arab World Institute, Paris. Towards the end of the book, there was a list of his principal projects & buildings from 1970 to 1996, his biography, & professionals that he is working with. It was a rather easy book to handle with plenty of pictures, & descriptions conveyed in 3 main languages: English, German, French respectively. For readers who want to read more about his latest works, perhaps, a new edition is waiting in the pipeline? Well-worth browsing through.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting look at Jean Nouvel's work
Review: This book is worth a look for anyone not acquainted with Jean Nouvel's work, or anyone wanting to get a better sense of his projects,philosophy, and aesthetic views. The images in this book are beautifully photographed (check the images on the Lyon Opera House). My one complaint about this book and many other monographs is that most of the concepts for the projects are left unexplained. It's hard to fully appreciate the work if the sense of space, and volume are hazy and unclear. It would be nice if some of Jean Nouvel's projects were documented with plans,eleveations, section cuts. But despite this fact, this book still holds my interest.

Rating:
Summary: Jean Nouvel's Revolutionary ideas in architecture
Review: This is a very interesting book. It covers everything from Jean Nouvel's beginings in architecture, his aesthetic ideas and his influences. Then it explores some of Nouvel's most important projects such as the Lyons Opera House, the Lucerne Concert and Convention Center, etc. The book is written in French but it has the Germanand English translations in it. Very interesting book.