Prouvé, Jean

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Prouvé, Jean (1901–84). French pioneer of prefabrication and industrialized building, he worked with Le Corbusier, Tony Garnier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand, among others. He developed the concept of the curtain-wall, metal cladding systems, and infill panels for walls (e.g. Roland Garros Aero-Club, Buc (1936–7—destroyed). His adaptable Maison du Peuple, Clichy (1937–9—with Beaudouin and Lods), and aluminium houses at Meudon (1949–50) were very advanced for their time. He constructed the pump-room at Évian Spa (1956–7—Maurice Novarina (1907–2002), architect), and evolved the ‘Sahara’ prefabricated housing-units (1958). It is revealing that he referred to himself as a constructeur, emphasizing his role as inventor, master-builder, engineer, and designer, rather than architect.

Bibliography

Clayssen (1983);
Coley (1983);
Kalman (1994);
Huber & Steinegger (eds.) (1971);
Jervis (1984);
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
Prouvé (1988);
Sulzer et al. (1993, 1995, 2000,2002);

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