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Ptgti 140/141 Jean Nouvel Fondation Cartier Paris. France. 1991-94 Located on thc site of the former American Center on the Boulevard Raspail. Nouvel'$ Fondation Cartier confirms his reputation as one of the two leadmg contempo rary French architects The trans-parency and multiple layering of the structure tako Modermst tcnets one step further, although the cnormous glass volume on the ground floor may not be ideally suited to the display of works ofart.    $

large open space. "I place art in architecture, and architecture in the city." says Jean Nouvel, chosen by the GAN insurance company (owner of the land) and Cartier to build the new Fondation Cartier building at 261 Boulevard Raspail in Paris in 1991. The structure includes no fewer than sixteen levels, of which eight are belowgrade. There are 4,000 m² of off ices for Cartier France, 1,600 m² of exhibition space for the Foundation, 800 m² of technical space, and 4,000 m² of gardens. Most importantly, the Fondation Cartier is madę up of some 5,000 m² of glass facades. As Nouvel, says, "lt is an architecture whose gamę is to make the tangible limits of the structure disappear in a poetically evanescent manner. When the virtual and the real are no longer distinct, architecture must have the courage to assume such a contradic-tion." Nouvel, whose own striking black silhouette seems carefully calculated to contribute to his image as a living legend, certainly thinks highly of his own work, but his excellent opinion of himself does seem to be borne out by the Fondation Cartier, one of the most innovative and striking buildings erected in France in recent years.

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