Jean Prouv\u00e9<\/strong> (1901\u20131984) was a twentieth-century pioneer in the innovative production of furniture and architecture.<\/p>\n\nDetermined to be a man of his time, Prouv\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n
\nBeginning with the construction of wrought-iron gateways, railings and windows, from 1924 onwards Jean Prouv\u00e9 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 \u201chollow-body\u201d 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 Prouv\u00e9 frequently employed aluminum in the form of corrugated sheet metal and molded elements.<\/p>\n
\nIn 1945, Prouv\u00e9 built his factory in Maxeville, where he stayed until 1954. Thereafter, he continued his activities as a consultingengineer for large architectural projects. Of the opinion that \u2018\u2018in their construction there is no difference between a piece of furniture and a house\u2019\u2019, he developed a \u2018\u2018constructional philosophy\u2019\u2019 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 Prouv\u00e9 \u2014 with Le Corbusier<\/strong>, Pierre Jeanneret<\/strong> and Charlotte Perriand<\/strong> \u2014 was a founder member.<\/p>\n\nThe same principles were applied to the making of furniture \u2014 often intended for the public sector \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\nAside from educational furniture, Jean Prouv\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n
\nHis furniture was widely distributed by Galerie Steph Simon from 1956 onwards. Jean Prouv\u00e9 contributed to post-war reconstruction and urban planning; a true entrepreneur, he broke with traditional building methods by favoring experience over profitability. This avant-garde spirit, coupled with humanist concerns, is as relevant today as it was then: we are constantly rediscovering the innovative qualities of each episode in Jean Prouv\u00e9’s work, from the first equipment for the Nancy university campus in 1932 to that created for the Antony campus in 1954, not forgetting the furniture created for Africa, or the dismountable houses of the post-war period, right up to the “petites machines d’architecture” designed in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
\nWorking with the best architects, Jean Prouv\u00e9 left his stamp on many famous examples of twentieth-century building, most of which are now classified historic monuments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jean Prouv\u00e9 (1901\u20131984) was a twentieth-century pioneer in the innovative production of furniture and architecture. Determined to be a man of his time, Prouv\u00e9 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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-36574","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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