Photo: DomusChina06 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Dominique Perrault is the French architect I most associate with monumental restraint, and the National Library of France is exactly why. Designing four glass towers shaped like open books to anchor a national library is the kind of bold conceptual move that either lands or doesn't, and his clearly landed: the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 1996, the Praemium Imperiale in 2015, and France's gold medal for his body of work. Projects like Madrid's Caja Magica and the Berlin Velodrom show me a planner thinking at city scale, not just building scale. Born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1953, he's earned his place among the architects who shape how a country sees itself.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dominique Perrault
- Name (Japanese)
- ドミニク・ペロー
- Reading
- どみにく・ぺろー
- Born
- April 9, 1953 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Snake
- Origin
- Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France
- Occupation
- architect
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 1996 Knight of the Legion of Honour
- 1990 Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent
- 1996 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture
- 2015 Praemium Imperiale
- 2016 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
- 2012 Officer of the Legion of Honour
- 1993 Grand prix national de l'architecture
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Caja Mágica | — | |
| Notable work | Velodrom | — | |
| Notable work | Bibliothèque nationale de France | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Dominique Perrault born?
Born April 9, 1953 (age 73).
Where is Dominique Perrault from?
Dominique Perrault is from Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France.
What does Dominique Perrault do?
Dominique Perrault works as architect.
What is Dominique Perrault known for?
Notable works include Caja Mágica, Velodrom, Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Architect — see all → · More people from France →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.