In celebration of the big prize (actually the 2008 Pritzker Prize) being recently awarded to the irrepressible Jean Nouvel, here’s a selection of projects from the amazing portfolio of Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

(Click-through to reveal high resolution versions)

The New York Times also has a slideshow with some excellent photos. Or, if you’re looking for some critical commentary (there isn’t much) on why the Pritzker Prize shouldn’t be awarded to an individual try “Architecture Is a Team Sport“ in Slate by Witold Rybczynski.

Related Article: 3 Degrees of Jean Nouvel

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Exactly one year ago today, I sat down and wrote my first “proper” article (oddly not on the subject of architecture) for Arkhitekton. Since then, the posts have not necessary arrived thick and fast - intermittent would be an apt description - but they have all been well considered and, hopefully, worth reading.

Apart from the feeling that after 10 years of rampant Internet consumption it was time to give something back, the main reason to write here was actually to accrue Continuing Professional Development (CPD, aka Continuing Education in the US) points as part of my requirement as a registered architect.

Anyway, here are some highlights of the past 12 months at Arkhitekton:

• The most popular post was 3 Degrees of Jean Nouvel.
  Which was “a thinly-veiled attempt at a thematic post set out in three parts; The Architect, The Botanist and The Photographer.” and proved to be a successful attempt. Now Nouvel has (deservedly) won the prestigious 2008 Pritzker Prize, I have another excuse to run a few photos from his portfolio (see http://arkhitekton.net/2008/04/15/jean-nouvel-big-prize/).

• The least popular post was Holiday Reading (Part 2): Michael Arad.
  Although the link was to an absolutely fascinating article about Michael Arad’s struggle with his design for the World Trade Centre memorial, it seems that either (a) everyone’s read it already, or (b) everyone’s over 9/11 architecture sagas.
• The most valuable linkage was with John Hill’s Archidose. Always something of interest there, definitely worth visiting and, unlike Arkhitekton, he maintains a regular publishing schedule.
  
  
• Over 5,000 unique visitors dropped by in the past year. Not bad for a new architecture blog. Thanks for visiting… and reading! Subscribe to the RSS feed (more info). That way you’ll never miss anything - no matter how slack I am at posting something new.

You’ve heard of “convergence” in gadgets, now we have the humble toilet (uncomfortably) converging with the hand basin! All in the spirit of saving precious water. A good thing, I hear you say. Well, it definitely is a good thing unless the environmental objective conflicts with a basic functional requirement.

Witness the “Profile™ 5″ toilet suite from Caroma.

Let’s check the specs:

• Saves water, tick
• Affordable, tick
• Proven performance, tick
• Ergonomic design, umm… no.

This is where all Caroma’s claims come unstuck. Really, who wants to straddle a toilet bowl to wash their hands in something that ugly?

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