Radical among the architects of today, Jean Nouvel continually amazes practicing architects and unstudied passerby alike with his brilliant manipulation of form, patterns, materials and colors. Currently discussed for his vibrant Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London and the recently built luxurious Chelsea apartments in New York, Nouvel has a history of creating the most striking and innovative buildings.

One of his earlier buildings, the Fondation Cartier in Paris 1994, employs the same dedication to transparency and rigor of the surface as the more recently designed structures of Nouvel. As a public space that houses contemporary art and graffiti exhibitions, the play between inside and out is very fitting as it creates an openness which invites people to experience the building from both up close and afar.

More on the Fondation Cartier after the break.