The Jean Nouvel Louisiana Manifesto

Wang Shu (b. 1963) is a Chinese architect and professor, widely regarded as one of the most significant architects of his generation. He is head of the School of Architecture of the China Academy of Art and has received numerous honors, including the 2012 Pritzker Prize. In 1997, he co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou with his wife, Lu Wenyu. The studio is known for breaking architectural boundaries by weaving together ancient Chinese building tradition and an almost hypermodern formal language. Among their most acclaimed works are the Wencun Village renovation, the Ningbo Historic Museum, and the Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art. Lu Wenyu (b. 1966) is a Chinese architect and educator. In 2007, she co-established the School of Architecture at the China Academy of Art, where she directs the Sustainable Construction Center, emphasizing hands-on material experimentation and construction-based learning. 

Dominique Perrault (b. 1953) is a French architect and urban planner who gained international prominence in 1989 with the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. Since then, he has realized major cultural, civic, and infrastructural projects worldwide, including the velodrome and Olympic swimming pool in Berlin, the Campus Center of Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, the extensions to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, and the Suzanne Lenglen tennis court roof in Paris. He is currently transforming the former Air France terminal into the Musée & École Giacometti.

Bernard Khoury (b. 1968) is a Lebanese architect based in Beirut. He studied architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA 1990, B.Arch 1991) and Harvard University (M.Arch 1993). Over the past decades, he has developed an internationally recognized body of work spanning more than fifteen countries. Khoury co-founded the Arab Center for Architecture in 2008 and was a visiting professor at  several universities, including the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and L’Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Aedes in Berlin, MAXXI in Rome, and the Seoul Architecture Biennale. He served as architect and co-curator of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. His honors include the Borromini Prize honorable mention (2001), the Architecture + Award (2004), and the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (2020).

Junya Ishigami (b. 1974) is a Japanese architect and founder of junya.ishigami+associates, established in 2004 following his work with Kazuyo Sejima & Associates. His practice explores lightness, material experimentation, and the dissolution of boundaries between architecture and landscape. Notable works include the Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) Workshop and Plaza, the Park Groot Vijversburg Visitor Center, the Serpentine Pavilion 2019, and the Zaishui Art Museum. Junya Ishigami has been honored with prestigious awards, including the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (2009), the Golden Lion award for the best project at the Venice Biennale 12th International Architecture Exhibition, the Mainichi Design Award (2010), the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (of fine arts), the OBEL AWARD by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation (2019), the Frederick Kiesler-Prize of Architecture and the Arts (2024) and the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (2024). He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (2025).

Tatiana Bilbao (b. 1972) is a Mexican architect and founder of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, established in 2004. Her work is characterized by a strong engagement with landscape and social context, operating across scales from rural territory to urban infrastructure and housing. Her projects include architectural interventions along a Mexican pilgrimage route, a botanical garden, and social housing prototypes developed to address Mexico’s housing shortage. At the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015, she presented a flexible, modular housing prototype commissioned by the Mexican government. Bilbao has received numerous awards, including the UNESCO Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize in 2014.

Dorte Mandrup (b. 1961) is a Danish architect and founder of the Copenhagen-based studio Dorte Mandrup, established in 1999, where she serves as Principal and Creative Director. The studio is internationally recognized for architecture that engages deeply with landscape, climate, and cultural context through an artistic, humanistic, and scientific approach. Dorte Mandrup has received numerous national and international awards and recognition for her work. She headlined the curated international exhibition at La Biennale de Venezia in 2018, chaired the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019, is Vice Chairman of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, member of Akademi der Künste in Berlin, Honorary Professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Adjunct Professor at Accademia de Architettura de Mendrisio in Switzerland and Kenzo Tange Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard GSD in 2025.

Jean Nouvel (b.1945) graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1971. Initially an assistant to architect Claude Parent, and inspired by urban planner and essayist Paul Virilio, he opened his first agency in 1970. He co-founded the Architecture Union (Syndicat de l’architecture) and the "Mars 1976" movement,  which aimed to combat corporatism among architects. His committed stances on the integration of architecture into the urban context and the constantly renewed  originality of his projects worldwide have contributed to forging his international image. His approach, which defies stylistic considerations, is guided solely by the moment, the site, its history, and its environment.