architecture enlightens life

the 2008 pritzker prize laureate is announced to be Jean Nouvel, a 68 years old french architect. to be honest, I’m very impressed with his work, (of course we do, that’s what Pritzkers are for) particularly of his design principle as contextual, which he claimed;

“Generally, when you say context, people think you want to copy the buildings around, but often context is contrast. The wind, the color of the sky, the trees around — the building is not done only to be the most beautiful,  It’s done to give advantage to the surroundings. It’s a dialogue.”

his works do not have particular identity such as other prominent architects, yet they are all outstanding, distinctive - you can see how geniously the colors, textures, materials are incorporated into the buildings. it just compliments, enhances the surroundings, just enlightens the context!

arab world institute (institut du monde arabe), the iconic building that shoots jean nouvel into international fame, winning him an aga khan award (awards on islamic architecture)-

the repetitive motives on the facade are actually functional, as light control mechanisms with 240 of them. they adjusts the entrance of natural light into the interior, refering to the light element often found in islamic architecture

agbar tower or torra agbar in barcelona, spain- now you would understand what I meant as creative use of colors in architecture. it was in fact of LED colors that lighted up the facade during the night. jean drew inspiration from the color changes of geyser jets in mountains of barcelona- again reflecting the culture or should i say the context where it is located. well, reminds me of what he said;

“All my life, I have fought against generic architecture and fought for specific architecture. When you travel around the world, in the big cities, you see exactly the same buildings. I think it is important in this globalisation to consider that architecture is a form of resistance to this uniformisation of the world.”

woah, a great stance against modernism? he is going to arm weapons against the preachers of mies van der rohe. and again he doesn’t really take buildings as timeless pieces,

“Architecture is always a temporary modification of the space, of the city, of the landscape,” he said. “We think that it’s permanent. But we never know.”

guthrie theatre, another masterpiece of jean nouvel. alright, we could say this piece of work earned Jean a Pritzker. with the jury stating;

“both merges and contrasts with its surroundings. It is responsive to the city and the nearby Mississippi River, and yet, it is also an expression of theatricality and the magical world of performance.”

I know the picture doesn’t explains much; but trust me; his palette of colors on the building was just; one word; awesome. find some photos of guthrie theatre in detail and you’ll understand

well, his works actually do have one similarity; the elements of translucency and opacity. but that is already more than enough, cause of him, I’m fully rejuvenated for architecture again!

so, a famous quote you would like to keep in mind; (in case you’re against modernism)

“Each new situation requires a new architecture.” Jean Nouvel