Rudy Ricciotti

Rudy Ricciotti is an architect, engineer and designer often described as "rebel" and "revolutionary" because of his design. Born in 1952 at Kouba, Algeri, he moved with the family in France when he was 3 years old. After studying engineering in Geneva, he came back to Marseilles in 1974, where he graduated at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture in 1980. In 2006 he received the Grand Prix National d'Architecture, the award that made him famous in this field. In the same year, he founded his first studio. Despite he is renowned worldwide, the artist is described and describes himself as "Mediterranean" since his most important projects are in the Mediterranean area, which he is particularly attached to. His controvert personality makes him different and original. That is why Philippe Starck describes him as "a clairvoyant, untamed wild animal", the one who invented the "explosive concrete". According to Starck, Ricciotti is able with his hands to transform this material into a "political weapon and a poetic pen".