Jean Nouvel (born 1945 in Fumel, France) studied at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, earning his degree in 1972.  He worked with Francois Seigneur and Gilbert Lezenes for nearly a decade and co-founded the French Architectural Movement “Mars 1976.”  The following year he co-founded the Syndicat de l'architecture, a French labor union created for architects.  Nouvel continued to be active in the French design community in the '80s and '90s, establishing Ateliers Jean Nouvel in 1994 and designing a number of objects for manufacturers like Alessi and Wittmann.  Among the most famous buildings designed by Jean Nouvel include the Institut du Monde Arabe, Fondation Cartier, and Musee du quai Branly in Paris; the Opera de Lyon; Dentsu Tower in Tokyo; and Torre Agbar, Barcelona.  In 2008, Nouvel won the Pritzker Prize, one of the world's most respected architectural honors.