5Highly visible projects in the Middle East by renowned architects are not new. However, it is difficult to find examples that reflect a sensitivity to climate and culture Projects such as Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi and Valerio Olgiati's Pearling Path Visitors Center represent modern buildings that are sustainable and appropriate to the Arab world a+u 19:08 features prominent new projects by renowned architects including, Jean Nouvel, Valerio Olgiati, Bjarke Ingels, Peter Zumthor, Smiljan Radic, Peter M rkli, Frank Gehry, and Eduardo Souto de Moura. In the National Museum of Qatar and Louvre Abu Dhabi, Nouvel has displayed a rare sensitivity to climate and culture, creating modern buildings that are sustainable and appropriate in the Arab world. As Ibrahim Jaidar observes, Nouvel's buildings mark a transition from historicism and mimicry of Western models, to a brand of modernism that is rooted in the cultural traditions of the Gulf States. Olgiati's geometric forms and spaces are seen in the Pearling Path Visitors Center and C line Flagship Store. The Vatican participated for the first time in the Venice Biennale with ten chapels, including one by Souto de Moura on San Giorgio Maggiore. Finally, Radic covers the Teatro Regional del B ob o with a translucent wrapping around the black theater volume inside. Text in English and Japanese.