Jean-Paul Viguier

Founding director of VIGUIER architecture urbanisme paysage (Paris), architect DPLG, Hon. FAIA, MCP UD Harvard, Sachs Fellow, RIBA, Member of the Académie d’Architecture.

A graduate of the École des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1970, Jean-Paul Viguier received a Master in City Planning and Urban Design three years later from Harvard University. He was then engaged with several of his colleagues by the city of New York to reshape the urban fabric of Manhattan. After his return to France, he was awarded first prize by the jury for his design for the Paris Bastille Opera in 1983. His practice and its many achievements have found international recognition : the French Pavilion at the Universal Exposition in Seville, the André Citroën Park, the headquarters of France Television and the Coeur Défense towers in Paris, the Sofitel Water Tower in Chicago, the McNay museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas, the first American museum of modern art to be built by a French architect. Recent contracts including the design of 130 000m² for SFR, the Majunga Tower, the Maroc Telecom tower in Rabat and the Oncopole (cancer research and treatment centre) in Toulouse amongst others continue this significant work. His designs include a reflection on the relationship with historical buildings as demonstrated by the library of Reims situated
on the cathedral concourse and the construction of the archeological museum on the site of the Pont du Gard for which he was also responsible for directing the development.

Distinctions:

  • Knight of the French National Order of Merit
  • Officer in the French National Order of the Legion of Honor
  • Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters
  • Honorary Fellow of the A.I.A. (American Institute of Architecture)
  • Member of the French National High Commission for Historic Monuments
  • Ministry of Culture and Communication (1998—2005)
  • President of AFEX (French architects overseas) (1997—1999)
  • President of the Academy of Architecture (1999—2002)
  • Honorary Professor of the University of Tongji, Shanghai, China
  • Professor of the International Academy of Architecture, Sofia, Bulgaria

Books:

  • INVITATION AU VOYAGE, Edizioni Carte Segrete, 1992
  • VIGUIER, Editions du Regard, 1998
  • JEAN-PAUL VIGUIER 1992—2002, Editions Birkhäuser, 2002
  • ARCHITECTE ÉCRIT PAR JEAN-PAUL VIGUIER, Editions Odile Jacob, retraçant 7 projets majeurs sur le thème de la modernité et du patrimoine
  • JEAN-PAUL VIGUIER ARCHITECTURE 2002 – 2010, Editions Anteprima / AAM, 2010
  • JEAN PAUL VIGUIER, ARCHITECTURE, Editions Tallandier, Octobre 2013