Sensuous and elegant - architecture of the highest standard Manuelle Gautrand {* 1961) set up her own architectural office in Paris in 1991. Not only is she one of France's most interesting young architects, but she is also; one of the few women who have made a name for themselves in international architecture. Her buildings and projects fascinate through their elegance and lightness,- the playful effects created by space, colour and light are masterful, sometime unconventional. Amongst her most signficant projects are the Centre dramatique national du Nord in Béthune the cultural centre La Coupole in Saint-Louis, the Solaris complex with 100 appartments in Rennes, the Citroen showroom
on the Champs-Elysées, the extension of the Museum for Modern Art in Lille and the Gaité Lyrique the new centre for electronic art and contemporary music in Paris.