The legacy of Jean Prouvé lives on in Vitra’s re-editions

French designer Jean Prouvé was a multi-talented pioneer whose significance has only been realized in recent decades. Design Stories traveled to Prouvé's hometown of Nancy to meet his daughter Catherine, who is passionate about preserving her father's design legacy.

Jean Prouvé Standard chair in bleu Marcoule
Jean Prouvé is best known for his furniture. The Standard chair, which was reissued by Vitra in 2002, got some new color options in 2022, including the blue ‘Bleu Marcoule’. Photo: Florian Böhm

BREATHTAKING VIEWS over the city of Nancy, located in northeastern France, open from the top of the hill. The same views were once admired by the French designer Jean Prouvé (1901–1984), whose home we have arrived to see at the invitation of the Swiss design brand Vitra.

'Designer', though, is quite a simplification: Jean Prouvé was also a metal artisan, an engineer, and a self-taught architect – Prouvé himself used the name constructeur, which combines all of these. During his career, Prouvé designed basically anything that could be manufactured using industrial methods, from paper knives to armchairs, from hinges to prefabricated houses, from windows to entire industrial buildings.

His youngest daughter, Catherine Prouvé, has joined us to tell us more about Prouvé's work and influence. Over the past twenty years, she has worked tirelessly to preserve her father's legacy and bring it to people's attention. A good example of this is the collaboration with Vitra: since the early 2000s, the brand has reissued some of Prouvé's most iconic works, allowing more and more people to discover them. 

The façade of the Prouvé House
The Prouvé House, built in 1954, still stands in the town of Nancy, northeastern France. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
Catherine Prouvé
Prouvé's daughter Catherine has worked tirelessly to preserve her father's design legacy. She has cooperated with Vitra since 2000. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
The living room of the Prouvé House
Today, the Prouvé House is owned by the city of Nancy, and is rented by a family whose father is an architect and a Prouvé fan himself. However, the house is open to visitors on summer Saturdays. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
Jean Prouvé
Only in the last few decades has Jean Prouvé's importance in both architecture and industrial mass production been understood, and his fame has properly spread beyond the borders of France, as well. Photo: SCE Jean Prouvé

Standing on a steep hill, the Prouvé House, or Maison de Jean Prouvé in French, was built in 1954.

“The house was built during one summer by our family and a few friends,” says Catherine.

Jean Prouvé is best known as a pioneer of mass production and designer of metal furniture, but also for developing prefabricated architecture. The home, too, was built from prefabricated elements: wood panels, metal beams, and perforated aluminum sheets – the latter a very typical feature in Prouvé’s designs. Many of the components are said to be leftovers from Prouvé’s previous projects.

Jean Prouvé’s handprint is still visible all over the house – both in the architecture and in the details.

The architecture and interior of the home perfectly capture Prouvé’s design principles of availability, strict functionality, and economical use of materials.

“My father’s handprint is visible all over the house,” says Catherine. “All our furniture also consisted of my father’s prototypes. Even the fireplace, which is still in place, was designed and made by my father!”

Le Bureau des Ateliers de Jean Prouvé in Nancy, France
Prouvé is known as a pioneer of prefabricated architecture, and even his own home and the accompanying office (pictured) were built from various ready-made elements and waste materials. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
Entrance to the Prouvé House
At the entrance, you can admire not only the view of the living room but also the small portholes, typical of Prouvé's architecture, in the metal wall and door panels. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
Portholes in aluminum panels typical of Jean Prouvé
Prouvé was a self-taught architect – he was a metal artisan by training. Metal remained Prouvé's favorite material throughout his career. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
The living room of the Prouvé House
The pole in the middle of the living room supports the metal ceiling beam. In the background is Prouvé's EM Table, the lounge chair model is called Antony. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
The bookcase in the living room of the Prouvé House
The back wall of the house is completely windowless. In the living room, it is covered by a fixed bookshelf. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
The partition doors of the Prouvé House
The partition doors resemble cabin doors. They also show Prouvé's effort to work efficiently and avoid material waste: the doors were made from the doorways cut into the wooden wall. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic

The layout of the single-story house is unusually linear: at the other end are the shared spaces like the kitchen and living room, and at the other, the bedrooms. The back wall does not have a single window but is all storage space; the corridor leading to the bedrooms is filled with large cabinets, while the living room wall is covered with a bookshelf. But on the façade, the entire living room wall is glass, offering a handsome view of the city.

“My father was a very attentive and friendly person.”

Speaking of the living room, Catherine recounts a lovely anecdote about her father:

“He was a very attentive and friendly person. He worked in Paris but came home for the weekends, and when we woke up on Saturday morning and went to greet him, we would often encounter hitchhikers in the living room, snoozing on my father’s lounge chairs.”

• Read also: Jean Prouvé was a design experimenter whose imprint is visible both in furniture design and architecture >

Jean Prouvé and Catherine Prouvé in 1967
Catherine is the youngest of Jean Prouvé's children. Jean and Catherine are pictured at Ermont's MJC cultural center in 1967. Photo: SCE Jean Prouvé
Living room views from the Prouvé House
The large windows of the living room offer wonderful views over the city of Nancy. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
The fireplace of the Prouvé House
Jean Prouvé used his training as a metal artisan in the living room fireplace, which is not only designed but also made by him. © 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Dejan Jovanovic
Vitra Tabouret Métallique in Japanese red
With Vitra's reissues, Prouvé's creations can be enjoyed by all design lovers. The Tabouret Métallique stool is one of Vitra's new launches for autumn 2022. Photo: Florian Böhm

TODAY, PROUVÉ’s chairs and other furniture are beloved by collectors, but Catherine is unsure of what his father would make of it.

“I think he would be surprised to see the price of his furniture at auctions,” Catherine says. “My father created furniture and homes for those in need – soldiers coming back from the war, for example. But, of course, it just shows that his work is valued!”

Jean Prouvé’s work is nowadays accessible through re-editions by Vitra.

In addition to vintage pieces, Prouvé’s work is nowadays accessible through re-editions by Vitra.

Prouvé used to be the manufacturer of his own designs, but after his factory Ateliers Jean Prouvé was closed, it took several decades before his creations were brought back into production. According to Catherine, the collaboration with Vitra feels particularly special as it allows her father’s designs to be enjoyed by a wider public instead of just collectors and connoisseurs.

“All reissues are developed in close co-operation with our family,” she says. “The details, materials, and colors are examined and debated in intense and conscientious discussions. The collaboration fills us with deep satisfaction – it helps maintain the legacy of my father.”

Jean Prouvé’s designs

Vitra
Standard chair
Vitra
Lampe de Bureau table lamp
Vitra
Tabouret Métallique stool
Vitra
Tabouret 307 stool
Vitra
Standard SP chair
Vitra
Petite Potence wall lamp
Vitra
EM Table
Vitra
Tabouret Haut bar stool

See also:

Jean Prouvé's designs >
All products from Vitra >

Text: Emmi Ratilainen Images: Vitra

Previous story
Next story




Dive into Finnish Design Shop’s amazing Black Friday deals – up to 50% off!

Make it yours

For the love of design

Design Stories is Finnish Design Shop's own online magazine, that takes you to beautiful Nordic homes, introduces new products and beloved icons – and much more!

Go to the Design Stories front page

Shop Nordic design

Design Stories is provided by Finnish Design Shop, the world’s largest online store specialized in Nordic design.

Discover our selection

Buy & sell authentic vintage

Franckly.com is a curated online marketplace for pre-owned design maintained by Finnish Design Shop.

Find treasures at Franckly