The biggest temptation is to jump right in. There are solutions that come to you. There are images that spontaneously appear. My method is rather to hold back as long as possible, to really imagine it spatially, so to be sure I have something to say.

Award winning documentarian and critic Matt Tyrnauer (director of Valentino: The Last Emperor, Citizen Jane: Battle For The City) has released a new documentary taking a look into the mind of world-renowned architect Jean Nouvel and his design process.

The film, titled Jean Nouvel: Reflections, follows the French architect around the world to visit his most recent works, including the Philharmonie de Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, Fondation Cartier, Musée du Quai Branly, and Doha Tower and future projects, notably the National Museum of Qatar, his New York skyscraper, 53W53, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The footage captures Nouvel working through problems at all scales and in all stages of his process: from conceptualizing, to sketching, to deciding the hue of the stones to be used in the galleries of the forthcoming Louvre Abu Dhabi, as he explains the inspiration behind his landmark works.

Jean Nouvel: Reflections recently premiered at the 2016 New York Film Festival, and is also an official selection at Milano Design Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival and the Chicago Film Festival.

More information about the documentary can be found here.

News via Altimeter Films.