For over 30 years, Jacques Rougerie has based his work on biomimetic, bio-inspired, resilient and sustainable architecture. In this spirit, he has built underwater habitats and laboratories, sea centers, transparent-hulled vessels, underwater museums, floating village projects, and a lunar base and village.
A visionary architect born in 1945, Jacques Rougerie lived in Côte d'Ivoire until the age of 11. He attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1964 in the former Auguste Perret studio run by André Remondet and Paul Maymont.
Fascinated by Cousteau's adventure and the first underwater houses, he began a course of study at the Institut Océanographique of Paris in 1970, at the same time as enrolling at the Université d'Urbanisme de Vincennes and the Ecole des Arts et Métiers under the direction of Jean Prouvé.
Combining his two passions, he travelled the world following in the footsteps of the peoples of the sea, studying their ethno-sociological traditions and visiting the countries with the most advanced offshore technologies.
He became a qualified architect in 1972, and from the outset devoted himself to the development of specifically marine projects. He set up the Centre d'architecture de la mer et de l'espace in 1974 before founding Jacques Rougerie Architectes associés. Jacques Rougerie devotes a great deal of time to his teaching activities in France and abroad.
"Whatever one man can imagine, other men are capable of realizing".
Jules Verne
| 2022 | Gold Medal from the Society for the Encouragement of Progress |
| 2022 | FIABCI World Pioneer Award for Building Better Lives Under Water |
| 2022 | Ambassador One Ocean |
| 2011 | Officer of the Order of Saint Charles and Grimaldi |
| 2009 | Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour |
| 2008 | Member of the Institute of France - Académie des Beaux-Arts |
| 2005 | Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters |
| 2002 | Member of the Explorer Club - United States |
| 1999 | Member of the French Academy of Architecture |
| 1997 | Officer of the Order of Maritime Merit |
| 1984 | Knight of the Order of Maritime Merit |
| 1981 | International Union of Architects (U. I. A.) Prize |
| 1979 | Prize of the Academy of Architecture |
From Physalie to SeaOrbiter, via Pulmo, Aquaspace and Galathée, enter the world of Jacques Rougerie and his dream of inhabiting the sea and space through his flagship projects.
Nature, with its 3.8 billion years of evolution, allows us to explore new avenues of innovation. An infinite source of inspiration, it designs and manufactures sustainably, creating the most beautiful…
Exploring life underwater is our future. In this talk, Jacques Rougerie invites us to consider the importance of the oceans for our future, for the development of society and the blue economy, a…
On May 21,2022, Jacques Rougerie was invited by CHANGE NOW, the global event for solutions for the planet, to take part in a conference on the theme of "Preserving the Big Blue".
Child of Cousteau, Gagarin and Jules Verne, oceanographer Jacques Rougerie has already lived a thousand lives. His major project for a ship to explore the seas has just been relaunched. And the ideas…
Jacques Rougerie has been an oceanographer-architect since the 1970s, when he pioneered his first underwater habitats. A life of passion and research that is now reflected in the SeaOrbiter project, a…