The
architect and urbanist Christian de Portzamparc was born in Casablanca in 1944. He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1969 and created his own agency, the Atelier Christian de Portzamparc in 1980. In 1994, he was the first French architect to obtain the highest distinction in architecture, the Pritzker Prize—the equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Christian de Portzamparc builds all over the world, assisted by a team of over 100, organised in “studios”, working with partners on a wide variety of projects. He is responsible for numerous structures including the French Embassy in Berlin (1997-2003), the LVMH Tower in New York, the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve, the Marriott Renaissance Arc de Triomphe Hotel in Paris, the One57 tower in New York, the headquarters of Bouygues Immobilier in Issy-les-Moulineaux and more recently the “U Arena”, the largest modular indoor auditorium in France (Nanterre-La Défense). Passionate about music, Christian de Portzamparc also took part in a series of competitions involving music and dance, including the Paris Opera Ballet School in Nanterre, inaugurated in 1987 (winner of the 1988 Prix de l’Equerre d’Argent), the Cité de la Musique in Paris (winner of the 1995 Prix de l’Equerre d’Argent), the Luxembourg Philharmonie (International Architecture Award 2008) and the Cidade das Artes in Rio de Janeiro (2008 International Architecture Award and the 2014 AFEX
Grand Prix for French architecture in the world). In 1983, Christian de Portzamparc was one of the six prize-winners of the Opéra Bastille competition.