Jean Prouvé's 80-year-old prefab house receives a permanent exhibition | Architectural Digest India
In May, the Ladbroke Hall Garden in London became the epicentre of an architectural resurgence that explored the history of prefab housing—a revolutionary concept that is considered the blueprint to building sustainably. Carpenters Workshop Gallery restored the famous Jean Prouvé 6x6 prefab house from 1944 that was originally built as an inexpensive solution to avert the housing crisis during the Second World War. This house, now a permanent installation, is situated in the heart of the 1,150-square-metre garden, a lush landscape of hydrangeas, maple trees and bamboo, created by Tuscan-born designer Luciano Giubbilei. In fact, the idea of this green space was suggested to him by Loïc Le Gaillard of Carpenters Workshop Gallery, as a place where he could play hide-and-seek with his children.
The structure is 388 square feet with a floor and wall panels featuring a built-in door And windows.
The house is a case study on melding craftsmanship with clever mechanized systems. Surrounded by tall trees, the structure is based on a one-metre maquette and the design is a modular system—with a floor, wall panels with a built-in door and windows, and a roof. It has three rooms and a two-by-six-metre porch, as well as airtight windows that increase the insulation. “We also added underfloor heating to the restored original parquet floors. All this has been done to elevate the level of comfort but without changing the overall design, appearance or structural integrity. Th aim was to faithfully represent how the structure would have existed when Prouvé designed it,” says Julien Lombrail, cofounder of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
Inside is a Charlotte Perriand “Maison du Mexique” Forme Libre coffee table and a pair of Jean Prouvé–designed “Visiteur (model 350)” armchairs.
For the uninitiated, French designer Jean Prouvé is, to date, considered one of the 20th century’s most important and influential creatives, who pioneered the production of furniture and architecture using the liberating force of machinery for universal prosperity. He wore many hats—he was a blacksmith, manufacturer, architect, teacher, and engineer—and his long study in modular building systems became the outline for demountable and moveable houses in the post-war modernist period. Interestingly, he was a key collaborator with some of the most prominent names of the time: Pierre Jeanneret, Robert Mallet Stevens, Le Corbusier, and Charlotte Perriand to name a few. Back in 1924, his studio, Ateliers Jean Prouvé invented a wide range of prefabricated products using aluminium, steel framing, and wooden panelling. His lamps, chandeliers, hand-rails, cabinets, chairs and chaises all made in industrial materials still retaineda handcrafted look. And during the war, he was commissioned by the French government to design prefabricated barracks for the army, which later inspired his signature structural system that became the blueprint for his, and the world’s, way to mass produce homes.
The Jean Prouvé structure has a porch with airtight windows that increase insulation.
The wood is partly painted fir, and the statue is Flesh of the Spirit 3228 by Kendell Geers. The vase is Untitled 160 by Roger Herman.
“Designers like Prouvé proposed new models for structures based on low-cost, mass-produced designs and led by a humanist, socially conscious approach: The functionality, adaptability and rapid assembly of his demountable houses, made from easily accessible materials, addressedthe needs of people displaced by war, marking a pivotal moment in the history of modern design,” concludes Julien.