Andreu's design was air industry's most innovative

Paul Andreu, who led the design for Charles de Gaulle's terminal 2E, is one of France's most renowned architects and one of the world's leading airport specialists.

Paul Andreu, who led the design for Charles de Gaulle's terminal 2E, is one of France's most renowned architects and one of the world's leading airport specialists.

His design for the first terminal at Charles de Gaulle in 1974 was the most innovative the aviation industry had seen and came from a team that included interior designers, colour specialists, musicians and a philosopher.

Andreu, 65, has been involved with more than 40 airports, including terminals in Abu Dhabi, Jakarta, Cairo, Brunei, Nice, Bordeaux, Manila, Osaka and Santiago.

Other projects include the 1989 Grande Arche de La Défense, a Paris office building in the shape of a huge hollow cube ordered by President François Mitterand as a 20th century Arc de Triomphe, as well as the French terminal of the Channel Tunnel.

His most recent project is a 2,500-seat opera house next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing.Andreu's plan for a £300m titanium and glass dome in the centre of an artificial lake has been called "the alien's egg" and has been repeatedly delayed.