Paris, 2000

In every era, Paris had epitomized beauty and innovation in architecture―magnificent Gothic cathedrals, elegant hotels and chateaux of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the broad sweep of Haussmann in the 1870s, and most recently the Grand Projets of Francois Mitterand. Paris 2000+ focuses on the exceptional projects built in the French capital since 2000. Works by French masters like Jean Nouvel and Christian de Portzamparc and international building firms such as Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Herzog and de Meuron, and UN Studio are featured alongside projects by emerging French practices to create a lively presentation of the best contemporary projects. Author Sam Lubell has selected thirty buildings to convey the energy and creativity of architects working in Paris and its environs. Among them are the controversial Musee du Quai Branly, the glamorous Louis Vuitton flagship store on the Champs-Elysees, the restoration of the historic Publicis Drugstore, also on the Champs-Elysees, a graceful pedestrian bridge across the Seine, a new Metro strop, and an experimental house in the Parc de la Villette.

Sam Lubell is the editor of the California edition of the Architects Newspaper and has written for Architectural Record, the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.

Axel Sowa is the editor of L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui.