The Institute, whose purpose is to raise awareness regarding Arab civilisation, includes a museum, a library, a cinema, a documentation centre, a bookshop, restaurants and cafes. This nave of glass and aluminium by Jean Nouvel is divided by a fault that runs to an interior courtyard in translucent marble. The southern façade is covered in panels reminiscent of oriental screens (moucharabieh), which open and close depending on the intensity of the sun. Do not miss the view from the terrace of the east wall of Notre-Dame and St-Louis island.