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Jean Nouvel

By Elise Knutsen 11/28/11 11:39am

Starchitecture

New York by Frank Gehry at 8 Spruce Street (Photo from NYC Loves NYC)

Starchitecture Is Actually Worth the Money

Once, living in a building with celebrity residents or prewar pedigree was the goal of every nouveau riche New Yorker. Trump International, anyone? Yes, please, 740 Park.

Now upwardly mobile denizens of our great city have slightly different aspirations: starchitect developments; that is, buildings designed by jet-setting, Pritzker-prize winning  architectural wizards, typically of the old guard variety. While some have suggested that the starchitect craze is the result of pure unadulterated vanity, it turns out that buildings have made a pretty penny since they began to sprout up a decade ago, Crain's reports. Read More

10 By Matt Chaban 8/15/11 6:12pm

Dizzying Designs

Amanda approves.

Amanda Burden: Shorter MoMA Tower ‘Is Glorious’

It was Amanda Burden who stopped the MoMA Tower, giving Jean Nouvel's 1,250-foot spire a haircut, and it is up to her if the project will ever snake its way onto the skyline. As The Observer revealed last month, developer Hines Interests has resubmitted plans for the shorter, stockier Torre Verre, and they await Ms. Burden's approval. Where the head of the City Planning Department once thought the top of the tower was undignified, unworthy of sharing space with the Empire State Building, she now loves it. Read More

9 By Matt Chaban 8/08/11 6:09pm

Starchitects

14 Photos

MoMA_Tower_Point

MoMeh: Nouvel’s New Museum Tower Looks Very Familiar [Pics]

When Amanda Burden and the City Planning Commission cut Jean Nouvel's Torre Verre down to size, the architectural cogniscenti were dismayed. Hines, the project's developer, had sworn the project would be financially infeasible 200 feet shorter. At only 1,050 feet, it would no longer rival the Empire State Building on the skyline but instead share a midtown profile with the likes of the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the MetLife Building. Still, even in a downturn brought on by bombastic overbuilding, real estate has a way of persevering in New York. As The Observer revealed two weeks ago, Hines is currently pursuing a new set of plans for the oft-called MoMA Tower. And here they are.

Hines declined to release new plans, and initially suggested there were none. Through a public information request, The Observer has obtained copies of architectural drawings from the City Planning Commission. While they may not be as sexy as the kind of full-color renderings architects usually prepare to wow the media , they shed plenty of light on the new shape of the project. Read More

By Matt Chaban 2/09/11 1:37am

Manhattan Transfers

Nouvel College Bound: Publisher Buys at 100 11th

Another day, another sale at Jean Nouvel's spectacular 100 11th Avenue.

Self-made man Luciano Rammairone went from studying at Pace to having college kids write about it for high school kids at College Bound magazine. Now, his CollegeBound Network rivals the likes of Kaplan and Princeton Review, and the proceeds have helped finance a move from Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/18/10 8:07pm

Starchitects

Architect Jean Nouvel’s Sexual Obsessions [Video]

In some ways, it is surprising that French architect Jean Nouvel has seen any of his otherworldly designs built, never mind him starring in news segment on CBS Sunday Morning, the show beloved by retirees and still-rolling club kids, which is about as Middle America a platform as a foreign architect could hope for.

Nouvel is Read More