The gallery will present at Fondation CAB an exhibition devoted to Jean Prouvé, foregrounding his radical credo: to industrialize the act of building!

“A visionary craftsman of the 20th century, Jean Prouvé built far more than houses: he dreamed of light, mobile and humane shelters, designed for a world in motion. Trained as a blacksmith, he brought to architecture the rigor of metal and the elegance of functional forms.

Jean Prouvé (1901–1984) is one of the most influential French industrial designers and architects of the 20th century. While he is often known for his iconic furniture, his major contribution also lies in his modular and prefabricated houses, which revolutionized housing architecture and the building industry.

In the momentum of the post-war years, when everything had to be rebuilt, Prouvé imagined dwellings born from both machine and heart, designed to be assembled quickly and moved easily, yet always rooted in an idea of comfort and dignity. His houses seemed to settle on the earth like birds, ready to take flight again.

For Prouvé, the challenge was to respond to the housing crisis with constructions that were efficient, economical and durable. Inspired by industrial techniques, he employed steel, aluminium and innovative structural systems to create prefabricated modules manufactured in factories, easy to transport and assemble on site. Among his most famous achievements are the Maisons Tropicales, originally intended for French colonies, as well as the Maison Métropole and the Maisons des Jours Meilleurs, designed to produce social housing quickly.

Jean Prouvé’s houses are distinguished by their visible structure, their large glass openings, and the ingenious use of materials to maximize natural light and ventilation. Their modularity allows great flexibility: certain units can be combined or expanded according to needs. This approach foreshadowed what would later be called industrialized or prefabricated architecture, which would profoundly influence architectural practices of the 20th century.

Today, Prouvé’s houses are considered heritage works, sought after by collectors and preserved by cultural institutions. They testify to a unique know-how in which aesthetics and technical efficiency come together—an architectural ideal that remains relevant in the face of contemporary challenges of sustainability and accessible housing.

Prouvé’s architecture moves us with its intact modernity. These are not merely architectural objects but inhabited poems, silent manifestos advocating a sober, mobile and solitary way of living.”

© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn

© Fondation CAB Saint-Paul de Vence 2026, Thomas Cimino & Antoine Lippens