Institut du Monde Arabe

The Arab World Institute is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by 18 Arab countries with France to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. The strikingly modern building was designed by French architect John Nouvel in coordination with Architecture-Studio, and is an award-winning and globally recognized structure, having won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. It features a distinctive glass wall façade on the southwest side: a metallic screen visible behind it reveals slowly moving geometric forms recalling Moroccan, Turkish, or Ottoman designs. The broad effect is to create interiors with subtle infiltration of filtered light from the outside: a design principle common in Islamic architecture.