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(Above: Sharaan Nature Reserve courtesy of Jean Nouvel)
1. Letting Nature Have Its Way
Inspired by Nabatean design, architect Jean Nouvel wants the new Sharaan Nature Reserve to be at one with its surroundings. Located in an area of Saudi Arabian desert just opening to tourists, the reserve will span over 1 million square feet and include 40 rooms, three villas, and 14 pavilions when it’s completed in 2024. The team at The Ateliers Jean Nouvel worked to create the resort around the area’s storied rock formations—without it being claustrophobic. One solution was to create a hollow sphere that serves a ceilingless grand patio flooded by natural light.
“We simply elevated the motifs we found: The rock is profound,” Jean Nouvel said in an interview with Architectural Digest.
