Attempting to pin down Jean-Yves Barrier and classify his work is a tricky, and perhaps not altogether useful, business, for his whole career has been conducted outside of established doctrines and architectural fashions. Painting and theatre were his first loves, and although he long flirted with architecture and urbanism, his finally going professional happened almost by accident. The unanticipated success of his first two buildings launched a career that has since proved rich and prolific.