AS THE NEW FONDATION CARTIER OPENS IN PARIS, WE LOOK AT JEAN NOUVEL'S TRANSFORMATION OF A FORMER DEPARTMENT STORE INTO A SHOWCASE FOR ART.

Like its predecessor, the new Fondation Cartier Pour L'Art Contemporain in Paris, which opened to the public in October, has been designed by Jean Nouvel, the architect of modern landmarks like the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the National Museum of Qatar in Doha.

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When the French Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, now 80, first met with foundation president Alain Dominique Perrin to discuss the project, he recalls, "I knew what Monsieur Perrin wanted: a monument for Paris." It was a long time coming. Twelve years ago, Perrin zeroed in on the cavernous building, a 19th-century hotel turned department store on the Rue de Rivoli, which, for the last four decades, had served as a mall for antiques dealers.

Once he determined it would be the perfect spot for the foundation's future, larger home, Perrin took Nouvel for a site visit. Immediately, the architect understood that the strength of the building, known as Grands Magasins du Louvre, was its length. "The same as the Centre Pompidou," he pointed out during a recent tour. But Nouvel also saw the key challenge: "It was so dark inside.