Jean Nouvel was born in 1945 in Fumel, France. After graduating from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jean Nouvel started his first architecture practice in 1970.His contextual approach and ability to infuse a genuine uniqueness into all the projects he undertakes have consistently yielded buildings that indelibly mark the cities where they are built. These include the Arab world Institute (Paris), the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the National Museum of Qatar (Doha), the 53W53 tower (New York), the Museum of art Pudong (Shanghai) and the new Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain at Place du Palais Royal (Paris).

In the field of design, he has developed several collections related to his architectural projects such as the Less table, produced by Molteni&C for the Fondation Cartier headquarters. He founded Jean Nouvel Design (JND) in 1995 and has created more than 100 products in collaboration with leading contemporary furniture manufacturers since.

His works have gained numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale (2000), the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2001), the Praemium Imperial of Japan’s Fine Arts Association (2001) and the Pritzker Prize (2008).