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Institut du Monde Arabe - Paris
1 Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard, Paris
1987
In 1980 the Arab World Institute (Institut du Monde Arabe) was founded in Paris by 18 Arab countries together with France,
to research about the cultural and spiritual values of the Arab world. This organisation disseminates informations about the Arab
countries and also promotes the cooperation and exchange between France and the Arab world. Four years after its founding,
the organisation was joined by Libya. The Arab World Institute is domiciled in a building designed by Jean Nouvel, which is located in
the 5th arrondissement of Paris. The commission was the result of an architectural competition in 1981. This building also is representative for the
new policy of major wokrs by the French president François Mitterand - a prior project was cancelled and a new competition for the Institut du Monde-Arabe
was launched. The building was completed in 1987 and has a floor space of about 17`000 square meters. The building houses a library, a museum, an auditorium,
a documentation centre, children workshops, restaurants, offices and a roof terrace. The construction site is located between the river Seine and the
Jussieu Campus of the Pierre and Marie Curie University, which was built in large rationalist urban blocks. The facade along the river is curved and follows the waterway.
This part of the building holds to traditional sizes of buildings and is important for the integration of the building within the urban fabric of the city quarter.
The southwest facade, a strictly rectangular curtain wall, contrasts with the curved river facade. Behind the glass wall, a spectacular metallic screen,
which contains moving geometric motifs with an ornamental appearance, is visible. This metallic screen actually consists of 240 photo-sensitive
motor-controlled shutters. These highly sophisticated shutters open and close according to the intensity of the sunlight, so that they work as a technical brise soleil.
This System controls the amount of light and solar heat entering the building. On the interior, this facade results in spaces with filtered light,
related to the Islamic architecture, which often uses similar effects in its climate-oriented architecture. This elevation faces a large public
square, open in the directen of Notre Dame.
This innovative design and the success of the building are considered to be the startingpoints of Jean Nouvel`s fame.
The building received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Today it is considered to be part of the cultural values of the city of Paris.