PROUVÉ Jean

Jean Prouvé is born in 1901. His training begins as a goldsmith with Émile Robert, Enghien and Szabo in Paris, and he initiates his career making entrance gates, stair railings and glass roofs. Meanwhile, as an autodidact, he focuses on construction and design.

Jean Prouvé is trained in the tradition of the School of Nancy, of which his father, Victor Prouvé, painter and sculptor, is the second president. In 1924, he opens his first workshop in Nancy and the following year his first bent steel furniture is created. He co-founds the "Union des artistes" (U.A.M) in 1929 with Pierre Charreau and Le Corbusier among others. In 1931, he creates the “Ateliers Jean Prouvé”; his creations are distinguished by their organic form and the moderate use of expensive material. As a metal craftsman, his favourite material is sheet steel which he uses in many forms.

A few years later, in 1944, following a decree from the Minister of Reconstruction Raoul Dautry, Jean Prouvé's workshops begin to design and create “temporary houses” intended to relocate people left homeless because of the bombardments, their contribution helped significantly to the reconstruction and urbanisation of France’s post-war.

In 1947, the architect moves his workshops to Maxéville, which becomes a centre for the renewal of constructive thought in France. Subsequently, he collaborates with several architects including Eugene Beaudouin and Marcel Lods on building projects. He also collaborates with Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret on furniture and design.

The construction philosophy of Jean Prouvé is based on functionality as well as rational manufacturing. Throughout his career, his creations combine art and industrialisation, his belief is that everything should be portable. As a result, he creates objects and buildings covering all aspects of the life of his time. Jean Prouvé dies in March 1984 in Nancy.