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Jean Nouvel sues to stop €170.6 million fine for late delivery of Paris Philharmonie

2019-10-23T19:35:00-04:00

French architect Jean Nouvel is moving to sue the Paris Philharmonie following a 2017 ruling against the architect that levied a €170.6 million fine on him for delivering the the group's new €386 million performance hall project late and extremely over budget.

View of the building's distinctive stainless steel metal panel-wrapped entry. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Ninaras.

The project, which opened in 2015, was originally budgeted to come in at €173 million, but was delivered more than two years late due to construction delays and on-site design changes that Nouvel says "martyred" and "sabotaged" the project.

According to a report in The Guardian, Nouvel's lawyers explained that the fines are "'unprecedented in the world of architecture' and amounted to a death sentence for Nouvel’s studio."

View of the Philharmonie's performance hall. Image courtesy of Flickr user Forgemind Archimedia.

Nouvel's studio, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, according to the report, added that the claim being ...

Winners, Whiners and Wine Boxes: Paul Revere Williams' posthumous Gold Medal, Jean Nouvel's legal woes and BIG's LA River project, on Archinect Sessions #92

2016-12-15T18:16:00-05:00

On this episode, we discuss the biggest news items of the past week, covering: the political bent to the AIA's Gold Medal being awarded posthumously to Paul Revere Williams; Jean Nouvel's legal battle over his "defiled" Paris Philharmonie; and BIG's new proposal for a giant, riverside mixed-user in LA's Arts District.

Listen to episode 92 of Archinect Sessions, "Winners, Whiners and Wine Boxes":

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Download: this episode

The news stories we discussed this week:

Jean Nouvel's court battle over the Philharmonie continues

2017 AIA Gold Medal posthumously awarded to Paul Revere Williams — the first African-American recipient

BIG proposes massive, gridded development for the LA Arts Distri...

Jean Nouvel loses court case over 'sabotaged' Philharmonie de Paris

2015-04-17T17:19:00-04:00

Jean Nouvel, the famed French architect, on Thursday lost a court battle against a £280 million Paris concert hall he designed but whose architecture he claimed had been "martyred" and "sabotaged". Mr Nouvel boycotted the January opening of the Philharmonie de Paris, an ultra-modern building in the French capital's eastern Parc de La Vilette, accusing project managers of cutting corners to save money during its completion.

Previously:

Jean Nouvel files for court order against Philharmonie de Paris dispute

2015-03-04T18:32:00-05:00

Jean Nouvel applied for a court mandate ordering that his name and image be completely removed from all references to the "sabotaged" Philharmonie de Paris at the Parc de La Vilette. Nouvel boycotted the grand opening of the unfinished 2,400-seat concert venue in January. In a column for Le Monde, Nouvel claimed he was used as a scapegoat for cost overruns and delays and he also wrote about how the venue's premature opening didn't "allow [the] architectural and technical requirements to be respected" (English translation here).

According to recent reports, Nouvel's lawyers state that the architect is not seeking compensation but for modifications to remedy 26 parts of the building that did not comply to his original design. This includes the promenade, foyers, parapets, facades, and acoustic elements of the approximately $427.4 million (£280 million) project.

The court hearing is currently scheduled for April 16.

The sky is falling! Weekly News Round-Up for January 12, 2015

2015-01-19T18:05:00-05:00

Friday, January 16:

Architecture for Humanity to shut down: The San Francisco HQ has laid off all employees and will file for bankruptcy, however it's unclear how this will affect operations of the many national/international AfH outposts that function through volunteers.
Work at Manhattan's 432 Park Ave tower ordered to stop after pipe falls from 81st floor: The latest in a recent series of similar incidents, including a bolt falling from London's cheesegrater, falling art in Mons, the 2015 European Capital of Culture, and concrete panels dropping from Zaha Hadid's library in Vienna.

Thursday, January 15:

Norm's Coffee Shop, an LA Googie icon, is temporarily saved from demolition: Along with the first Taco Bell being in peril of demolition, part of southern California's architectural heritage is being considered.

Wednesday, January 14:

Jean Nouvel boycotts opening of his Philharmonie de Paris: Despite the restaurant and exhibition space not being fully complete, Nouvel's Philharmonie hel...

Jean Nouvel boycotts opening of his Philharmonie de Paris

2015-01-14T20:03:00-05:00

Hours before the official inauguration of the Philharmonie de Paris concert hall on Wednesday, its architect, Jean Nouvel, declared his intention to boycott the gala because he said the towering, 386 million euro (about $455 million) building is not ready to open. [...] Mr. Nouvel wrote a column that appeared on the website of the French daily Le Monde denouncing the “contempt” of the concert hall managers for “the architecture, the work of the architect and the architect.”

Construction escalated in the days preceding the opening but large parts of the Philharmonie are still not complete, including the restaurant and exhibition space. The inaugural concert will feature the Orchestre de Paris, with dignitaries and French president François Hollande among the attendees, and "will be dedicated to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack and related killings."