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The renowned French architect Jean Nouvel begins his ambitious projects with small, sparse sketches that capture the essence of his ideas. When he finishes, he has generally created some of the most thoughtful and celebrated works of modern architecture in the world. While Nouvel’s portfolio – which includes such iconic buildings as the Arab World Institute (Institut du monde arabe) in Paris and the Doha Tower in Qatar – is diverse, his work is characterised by an interplay of light, geometry and symbolism that reflects both the culture of a building’s surroundings and its interior life. As premiered at the 54th New York Film Festival, Jean Nouvel: Reflections is both a visually stunning career retrospective, and an argument for how successful architecture should, in Nouvel’s words, ‘reflect a culture in a said instant’. (Meanwhile, critics of the projects in Doha and Abu Dhabi have pointed out reports of abuse of the migrant workers doing much of the construction work.)
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Wellbeing
Through a poetic account of childhood trauma, one woman reclaims her past
28 minutes
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Politics and government
‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai
20 minutes
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Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
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Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
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Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
5 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result
4 minutes
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Quantum theory
Why aren’t our everyday lives as ‘spooky’ as the quantum world?
7 minutes
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Global history
The strange journey of the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum
10 minutes
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Animals and humans
Laura fights to protect the magnificence of wild horses running free
6 minutes