For centuries Paris has been the laboratory where innovative architects and artists have come to test their ideas. And even on the present day, this is still true. The most visited city in the world has magnificent buildings, all designed in the most beautiful ways and with the best materials. Maybe that inspired some professionals to continue this legacy on their own projects. If you want to know the names of those who keep the practice of architecture very much alive in the City of Light, here is a list of the best architects in Paris.
See also: AN APARTMENT BAR IN PARIS DESIGNED BY MICHAEL MALAPERT
Jean Nouvel was born in 1945 and is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l’Architecture. He has obtained a number of prestigious distinctions over the course of his career, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (technically, the prize was awarded for the Institut du Monde Arabe which Nouvel designed), the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2005 and the Pritzker Prize in 2008. A number of museums and architectural centers have presented retrospectives of his work. He designed the Philharmonie de Paris, Doha Tower in Qatar and a project in 100 Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan, for example.
Based in Paris, RDAI is top architecure company, directed by the architect Denis Montel. Originally created with a focus on interior architecture projects, RDAI today is an agency practicing architecture, interior architecture and design. A sister company, RDAI-Architecture, was created on July 2007. RDAI privileges the essential avoids the superfluous and searches for the contours of beauty. The finished project aspires to go beyond the expectations of the client and to interpret what is left unsaid. The company has designed the store of Elie Saab in Paris, for example.
Joseph Dirand is one of the most sought-after architects and interior designers in fashion and the creative mastermind behind the brand-new Givenchy store in Paris, Rick Owens’ Mayfair boutique as well as Alexander Wang’s Beijing outpost. He has also designed luxury hotels in Mexico and the Monsieur Bleu restaurant at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo. The Parisian architect has made a name for himself by creating stark, linear, monochromatic spaces for luxury brands. Reasons more than enough to make him one of the most coveted architects in Paris.
Architect, city planner, and designer, Jean-Michel Wilmotte founded his own architecture firm in Paris in 1975. Over the years, the agency has diversified and operates primarily in five key areas: architecture, interior design, museology, urbanism, and design. Attention to details allows Jean-Michel Wilmotte and his team to work from the smallest to the largest scale: moving from a house to a skyscraper, from a shop to a corporate headquarters, from a gallery of art to a museum, and from street furniture to urban design.
Today, his business is structured around two companies – architecture firm Wilmotte & Associés and design studio Wilmotte & Industries SAS –, operating more than 150 projects at any one time. Renowned for the diversity of its output and the elegance and excellent finishing quality of its work, the Wilmotte firm operates in both the public and private sectors, across luxury, hospitality, residential, and the service industries.
Based in his hometown of Paris, Benny Benlolo approaches his work as an interior architect by giving his ideas free rein and combining his knowledge of the built environment with his artistic know-how. He allows his creative spirit to flow freely and find form in his projects. Through a combination of imaginative capacity and technical ability, he is capable of transforming his clients’ properties into unique spaces. The Pavillon Monceau Hotel is one of the public spaces Benlolo designed.
Friedrich Nietzsche, over a hundred years ago, wrote, “An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris“. It’s true that Paris takes its artists, like these architects, and gives them the inspiration to make the best of their art. Their projects go beyond this magnificent city, but for some reason, they choose to stay here. That makes them the top architects in Paris.
See also: TOP 10 FURNITURE STORES IN PARIS
