Located
across the street from one of Nimes’s most distinctive Roman
antiquities, the Roman Maison Carré, sits the Carré d’Art, a media
library which also houses an impressive art gallery. Designed by the
renowned architect Norman Foster, the Carré d’Art draws from the
antiquity of its namesake while ingeniously interacting with the
contemporary demands of an urban environment. The result is an urban
space, lined with cafés and thronged with people, that has breathed new
life into Nimes’s social and cultural atmosphere. Filled with
photographs, sketches, plans, and commentary on the building’s
conception and design, this book illustrates how a building project,
backed by an enlightened urban planning initiative, can provide a
catalyst for reinvigorating the fabric of a city.