Jean Prouvé (1901-1984)
Jean Prouvé was a revolutionary architect and furniture maker of the 21st century. He was the founder of the Union of Modern Artists, alongside Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand.
His designs were both avant- grade and humanist : using innovative materials like bent sheet metal or aluminium, he aimed at giving his clients more modern solution in post-war France.
« In their construction there is no difference between a piece of furniture and a house »: based on that principle, he imagined inovative assembly systems, that could be moved and adapted, from its famous furniture to buildings (University dormitory of Nancy in 1932, Cite Universitaire de Paris in 1950, temporary houses for l’Abbe Pierre in 1954…).
Since the 1990s, his work has entered the most important public and private collections and some of his temporary homes (for Africa, or Abbé Pierre) have reached multi-million dollar auctions on several occasions.