Jean Prouvé was a French industrialist and furniture designer who aspired to revolutionize society with mass production of housing that would lower costs and reach the maximum possible number of people. In the mid-20th century, this approach did not quite take hold, and this creator, ahead of his time, could not see his visionary ideas realized, ideas that have fascinated generations of architects and inspired their works.
The CaixaForum hosts from this Thursday until October 31st The Universe of Jean Prouvé. Architecture / Industry / Furniture, a retrospective of his figure, with an exhibition consisting of 235 pieces, including models, plans, photographs, drawings, furniture, and documents. The exhibition, which has already been in Madrid, chronologically reviews his career, which began as a blacksmith apprentice during the First World War. Prouvé's works are simple and elegant, as well as functional, economical, and resistant, a style marked by the historical context of conflicts he had to live through, where the economy of materials and the durability of objects were essential.
His commitment to optimizing resources and a simple and reproducible manufacturing process fit perfectly with France's needs during the Second World War, when construction had to be rapid, and in the post-war period, when there was much to rebuild. Precisely, during the conflict, Prouvé partnered with Le Corbusier for the construction of demountable pavilions for workers.
These ideas of buildings that could be easily assembled and disassembled, with industrially manufactured parts, did not find the necessary consensus to spread more generally and go beyond small tests, but they did succeed in the production of furniture, characterized by the use of folded sheet metal. Chairs, tables, desks, and stairs invade the CaixaForum exhibition, allowing visitors to grasp the general lines of this creator's vision of design.
Despite being recognized in life by experts, his figure is not widely known by the vast majority, not even in his native country. Bringing him closer to the Barcelona public is possible thanks to the agreement between the La Caixa Foundation and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, an alliance through which the French museum designs exhibitions for the CaixaForum.
And he could not do it with another creator than Prouvé, who had a close relationship with the center. He was in charge of presiding over the international competition for its future building. Prouvé's choice was criticized because he did not have an architect's title, but it allowed the emblematic project by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers to be chosen.