The Louvre

(Newser) - The French designer of the Arab World Institute in Paris and Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater has won architecture's top award, the Pritzker Prize, reports the New York Times. Jean Nouvel’s projects "greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture,” the Pritzker jury noted. “His inquisitive and agile mind...

(Newser) - Wandering leisurely through one French museum after another—priceless, right? Exactly, as of January 1, when the French culture ministry opens 14 of the country's museums to visitors free of charge. The pilot program, a campaign plank for Nicolas Sarkozy, is being greeted skeptically as columnists debate whether the policy...