Created in 2009 at the Institut de France, the Jacques Rougerie Space Sea Generation Foundation has been supported by the Académie des beaux-arts since 25 January 2023.
The mission of the Jacques Rougerie Space Sea Generation Foundation – Académie des beaux-arts Foundation is to promote the preservation of the marine environment and to imagine mankind's future relationship with the sea, freshwater and space.
To this end, the Foundation aims to support and finance educational, cultural, artistic, scientific and research projects in the following areas:
- preservation of the marine environment
- the world of water or space
- the analysis of human behaviour in extreme environments
- the development of human relations and technologies, particularly those that make possible the presence of man under the sea or in space.
The Foundation will be able to study the development of the SeaOrbiter project to finance the construction and operation of the shuttles, as well as other future initiatives. The aim of the SeaOrbiter project is to develop educational, scientific and exploratory programs in the field of sustainable development applied to the ocean and to establish new relationships between man and the marine environment.
The Foundation also promotes architectural and technical projects at national and international level related to the world of the sea and the world of space. Every year, the Foundation organises an international architectural competition, with an artistic dimension every two years:
- The annual international architecture competition supports and accompanies the development of 4 visionary and biomimetic architectural projects in the sea and space or responding to the challenges of rising sea levels.
- The biennial International Prizes for Art in Space and Art under the Sea, created in 2020 with the Académie des beaux-arts, reward artists exploring new forms of expression on the scale of the ocean and space. Each prize is worth €10,000.
Jacques Rougerie
Jacques Rougerie is passionate about the marine environment and space. Since childhood, he has been immersed in the adventure novels of Jules Verne, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", the stories of Arthur Clarke and the expeditions of Captain Cousteau. He is fascinated by the men and women involved in space adventures and the explorers of the underwater world.
Jacques Rougerie has dedicated his life to naval and space architecture. His research and creations are based on biomimetic, bio-inspired architecture, based on the work of Leonardo da Vinci. He has travelled the world to meet the peoples of the sea and water, to better understand the cultural and artistic identity born of marine and aquatic environments. Read more
The Governing Board
The Jacques Rougerie Space Sea Generation Foundation – Académie des beaux-arts Foundation is administered by a 14-member governing board.
The Académie des beaux-arts’ board
Laurent Petitgirard, secretaire perpétuel of the Académie des beaux-arts, president of the Foundation
Marc Barani, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Astrid de la Forest, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Anne Démians, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Emmanuel Guibert, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Dominique Perrault, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Sebastião Salgado, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
The Founder’s board
Jacques Rougerie, founder, member of the Académie des beaux-arts
Sophie Rougerie
Xavier Darcos, chancelier of the Institut de France
Jean-Luc Allavena
Etienne Ghys, secrétaire perpétuel of the Académie des sciences
Jean-Marie Job
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