June 2014 – The Galerie Patrick Seguin, specializing in furniture and architecture of the 20th century, is pleased to announce a new publication: Le Corbusier – Pierre Jeanneret, Chandigarh, India. This comprehensive work is dedicated to the massive Chandigarh project, of which the architecture and furniture are considered today as essential in the history of 20th century architecture and design. Illustrated with photographs dating from the time period to the present, this book documents both the architectural project and the importance of the production of furniture.
Jean Prouvé
Jean Prouvé (1901–1984) was a twentieth-century pioneer in the innovative production of furniture and architecture.
Determined to be a man of his time, Prouvé explored all the current technical resources in metalworking, soon abandoning wrought iron for bent sheet steel: in the thirties he produced metal joinery, his early furniture, architectural components and knockdown buildings, all in small series.
Beginning with the construction of wrought-iron gateways, railings and windows, from 1924 onwards Jean Prouvé created his first items of furniture. Having discovered electric welding and the application of diverse techniques of construction, he resorted to sheet-steel (particularly used in the automobile industry) of an extreme thinness permitting him to obtain a “hollow-body” which allowed for a structure of exceptional resistance: the reclining chair of 1929 is a typical example. The use of this metal is found in most of the furniture that marked his development. Jean Prouvé frequently employed aluminium in the form of corrugated sheet metal and molded elements.
In 1945, Prouvé built his factory in Maxeville, where he stayed until 1954. Thereafter, he continued his activities as a consulting-engineer for large architectural projects. Of the opinion that “in their construction there is no difference between a piece of furniture and a house”, he developed a “constructional philosophy” based on functionality and rational fabrication. Free of all artifice, the resultant aesthetic chimed with the doctrine of the Union of Modern Artists, of which Prouvé – with Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand – was a founder member.
The same principles were applied to the making of furniture – often intended for the public sector – and to the architecture of the postwar boom. Astute assembly systems for hard-wearing structures meant that furniture and buildings alike could be readily dismantled, moved about and adapted.
Aside from educational furniture, Jean Prouvé furnished offices and created chairs, tables, shelves, bookshelves and cabinets, all following the same construction principles: based on a sketch, a prototype was realized in order for its details to be assessed through a very strict evaluation process.
From 1956 onwards, the gallery Steph Simon distributed his furniture. Jean Prouvé contributed considerably to the reconstruction and urbanization of France after the war. Always being a true entrepreneur, he was able to break away from traditional means of construction while giving priority to experience over profit.
The Prouvé blend of avant-garde spirit and humanist concerns has lost none of its relevance.
The originality of his different periods is repeatedly rediscovered, from the first items for the University dormitory in Nancy in 1932 through those for a similar facility in Antony in 1954; the furniture for Africa; and the knockdown postwar schools and “little architecture machines” of the sixties.
He filled numerous orders such as the University of Nancy in 1932 and the furniture for the cafeteria des Arts et Métiers, Cité Internationale Universitaire Paris in 1950. Working with the best architects, Jean Prouvé left his stamp on many famous examples of twentieth-century building, most of which are now classified historic monuments.
Jean Nouvel
Jean Nouvel was born in Fumel in 1945 and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. A key protagonist of intellectual debate in France regarding architecture, he was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l’Architecture. The Musée du Quai Branly, and the Fondation Cartier in Paris, the congress center in Luzern, The Agbar tower in Barcelona, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis more recently the Sofitel hotel in Vienna and in a next future the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and the Philarmonia in Paris are part of his many buildings. His distinctions include the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Institut du Monde Arabe (1989), the Wolf Prize in Arts (2005) and the Pritzker Prize (2008). Many exhibitions of his work have been held all over the word from NY to Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, apart from the restrospective in Centre Pompidou in 2001.
Charlotte Perriand
Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999) is deemed to be one of the most important female furniture designers of the mid 20th century.
As early as 1927, at the age of 24, Perriand produced a number of critically acclaimed innovative pieces of metal furniture, which drew the attention of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. The result was the beginning of a work relationship that lasted many years. At Le Corbusier’s studio Perriand developed a series of tubular steel chairs, among them the famous adaptable chaise longue, a first edition of which was marketed by Thonet two years later.
Perriand’s work continued to evolve and in the mid 1930s, she started to experiment with natural materials such as wood and cane. She traveled to Japan in 1940 as an official advisor on industrial design to the Ministry for Trade and Industry to advise the government on how to raise standards of design in order to develop products for export to the West. Perriand adapted local techniques of woodwork and weaving – straw, bamboo and twigs becoming her materials of choice.
It was especially after World War II, when Charlotte Perriand developed a new concept for the way of living by increasingly integrating the human dimension into her productions. Through flexible use of materials she achieved recognition with her pure and powerful style – as exemplified in her free form massive wood table models.
Conscious of economic and social realities, she decided upon large-scale production, and finding a new synthesis between tradition and industry. “Always concerned with innovation rather than trying to affirm a formula for renovation”, she designed various housing developments such as the Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles, with Le Corbusier in 1949, as well as rooms at the International Students’ Residence in Paris in 1953. Included was a library built in collaboration with Jean Prouvé and commissioned by André Bloc, the founder of the “Groupe Espace”.
Throughout her career, Charlotte Perriand dedicated herself to maintaining a standard for the quality of life: whether working-class housing developments, urban or rural dwellings, mountain refuges and hotels, she always approached her projects with the interest of humankind and environment in mind, by creating furniture which is both comfortable and functional.
Jean Prouvé used to say that she was among the rare designers blessed with spontaneous harmonic contemporary thought.
BIOGRAPHIE
Parmi ses nombreuses réalisations, figurent le Musée du quai Branly et la Fondation Cartier à Paris, la tour Agbar à Barcelone, le congress center de Luzern, le Guthrie Theater de Minneapolis et récemment l’hotel Sofitel de Vienne,
en attendant dans un futur proche la Philarmonie à Paris et le Louvre Abu Dabhi. Jean Nouvel a reçu le Prix Aga Khan pour l’Institut du monde Arabe (1989), le Wolf Prize in Arts (2005) et le Pritzker Prize en 2008.
Son oeuvre a été exposée dans le monde entier, de New York à Tokyo, San Paolo, Copenhague, et a fait l’objet d’une rétrospective majeure à Paris au Centre Pompidou en 2001.
Biographie
Élève du ferronnier Emile Robert de 1916 à 1919, collaborateur des architectes Robert Mallet-Stevens, Le Corbusier, Albert Laprade et Tony Garnier, ce technicien avisé s’est toujours adapté aux problèmes de son époque en tenant compte du travail collectif. C’est ainsi qu’il ouvre, en 1923, son premier atelier (rue du Général Custine à Nancy) avant de s’installer, sept ans plus tard, rue des Jardiniers.
En 1945, il construit son usine à Maxéville. Il y restera jusqu’en 1954, date à laquelle il perd le contrôle de son affaire. Il poursuivra son activité en tant qu’ingénieur-conseil pour la réalisation de grands projets d’architecture contemporaine.
Si Jean Prouvé a commencé par la réalisation de grilles d’entrée, rampes d’escaliers, garde-corps et verrières, il conçoit à partir de 1924 ses premiers meubles.
Ayant découvert la soudure électrique et appliquant les diverses techniques de façonnage, il recourt à la tôle d’acier (particulièrement utilisée pour l’industrie automobile), d’une extrême finesse – moins de 1 mm d’épaisseur – ce matériau lui permet d’obtenir un « corps creux » ajoutant sa résistance à celle du châssis: la chaise à siège articulé de 1929 en constitue un exemple type.
L’emploi de ce métal se retrouve dans la plupart des meubles qui jalonnent son parcours ; Jean Prouvé emploiera fréquemment aussi l’aluminium (tant dans le domaine de l’habitat que dans celui de l’aménagement intérieur) qu’il utilisera sous forme de tôle pliée ou de pièces moulées – comme la transposition du piétement arrière de la chaise de bureau de 1934.
Exposant en 1930 à l’Union des Artistes Modernes, dont il est membre depuis sa fondation en 1929, Jean Prouvé affirme d’emblée la particularité de sa démarche : fabriquer, à l’aide d’éléments inoxydables, des meubles en série sur des machines industrielles. Il répondra à de nombreuses commandes dont celles de l’Université de Nancy en 1932, plus tard de l’usine Férembal en 1946 et du CREPS d’Aix-en-Provence en 1952.
Outre le mobilier scolaire, Jean Prouvé aménage des bureaux et conçoit des sièges, tables, étagères, bibliothèques et bahuts, qui découlent tous d’un même principe de fabrication : à partir d’une esquisse, un prototype est réalisé afin d’en apprécier les détails par une étude très stricte. Cette discipline lui permettra de s’associer à des architectes de grande renommée, Charlotte Perriand et Pierre Jeanneret ; il lui en restera un goût prononcé pour le bois – naturel ou contreplaqué – qui, en période de pénurie, remplacera les structures métalliques (voir les chaises en bois de 1942). Son mobilier sera largement diffusé par la Galerie Steph Simon à partir de 1956.
Jean Prouvé a largement contribué à la reconstruction et à l’urbanisme de l’après-guerre ; véritable entrepreneur, il a su rompre avec les traditions de construire en privilégiant l’expérience à la rentabilité.