a+u 2019:08 Feature: Arabic Context and Culture – 3 Projects by Jean Nouvel
Content
The August issue of a+u is organized into two sections, featuring recent architectural projects that span a considerable geographic distance. In the first, we trace the development of Ateliers Jean Nouvel’s National Museum of Qatar and Louvre Abu Dhabi, and re-examine the earlier Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA). These projects are then contextualized in an essay by Michael Webb, which speculates on the history and influence of Islamic aesthetics as well as the urban implications of Nouvel’s recent work.
With the exception of Valerio Olgiati’s Pearling Path Visitors Center, the issue’s second section consists of recent cultural projects developed outside of the Arabic context, such as Frank O. Gehry’s Luma Arles Arts Resource Centre and Smiljan Radić’s Teatro Regional del Biobio. It also features residential work scaling from Peter Zumthor’s Secular Retreat to Peter Märkli’s Apartment Building Güetliweg.
