The bed… This object has always been essential in the daily life of Man, we spend a third of our lives in it, we wake up there to start our day and we fall asleep in it thinking of what this day has brought to us. But beyond being a crucial object for our physical and mental health, the bed has become a real place of intimacy and passion, where sometimes betrayal, adultery and even bloody crime happen. It is also a place of departure to the dream world, as well as a place where one feels safe to regain strength.

From ancient Egypt to the present day, the bed has been omnipresent in history. In the 14th century BC, Tutankhamun had five beds built to accompany him in the anteroom of his tomb for an eternal rest. In Greek and Roman civilizations, the bed becomes a mark of social importance and wealth, we pay a lot of attention to its decor, it becomes larger to accommodate several people, and higher to be able to spend more time in it, extending meals and organizing large feasts. In oriental culture and representations, the bed is also the central part of the harem.

In the Middle Ages, the bed became used by the more popular social classes. It was then, in the 15th century, that we saw the appearance of « closed beds », curious boxes built to ensure a quieter sleep and privacy within large families.

Before the French Revolution, the bed becomes a truly sumptuous object full of extravagance, featuring canopies and large tapestries, ornate bedside tables, vases at the four corners of the bed and feather bouquets. The bed becomes a place of reception and lengthy hearings where heads of state announce the key decisions for the future of the monarchy. The privacy of the bedroom is respected so much that during the Revolution it is forbidden to carry out any searches in it between sunset and sunrise!

The importance given to this piece of furniture is also evident in the painting of the time.

In the famous painting “La maladie d’Antiochus” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingrès (1780-1867), the monumental bed inspired by the architecture of a Greek temple is the center of composition and action, the bed here is a symbol of Antiochus’ illness and impending death caused by his love and guilty passion to his stepmother Stratonice.

The reign of the bed as an object of luxury and ceremonial furniture ended in the nineteenth century due to industrialization. It gives place to function and comfort. We are starting to distinguish different types of beds according to our desires and needs: daybed, chaise longue, twin beds allowing a couple to sleep cool in summer, metal beds to avoid pests.

At the same time in China, we are even witnessing the creation of special beds for opium smokers!

Desouches camp bed, patented in 1812 for officers of the Napoleon Army. What appealed to Napoleon was the practicality and the speed with which the bed could be raised, offering comfort to the officers of the Emperor, former General of the Armies. Little did he know that he would spend his last night on the same bed before dying on the island of Saint Helena.

But it was during the 20th century that the bed underwent a real transformation of its function and appearance.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlman’s « Soleil » bed designed in the 1920s, an extravagant creation composed of neoclassical elements presented in a modernist style using precious Macassar ebony wood.

The famous creator of the “Less is More” concept, Mies van der Rohe designed in 1929 a series of iconic furniture designs for the German pavilion of the international exhibition in Barcelona in minimalist style with chromed steel structure, namely the single or double bed freed of any ornament.

Gerrit Reitvield’s bed from the artistic movement « De Stijl » with its radical geometry and minimal use of details which also places great importance on chromaticism!

Another emblematic arrangement of the early modernist era is Maharaja d’Indore’s bedroom for his palace in Manik Bagh. We observe this spectacular bed designed by Louis Sognot and Charlotte Alix, a very refined set using glass and metal, very innovative materials for the time.

During the Salon d’Automne in 1929, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand presented Interior equipment of the house, a modern apartment with minimalist and functional furniture in tubular metal and glass, including a bedroom opening onto the room where the headboard also serves as a room partition. Another bold idea from Charlotte Perriand, responsible for the interior design of the project, which breaks the sacred and closed intimacy of a room by creating an open and functional space.

Depending on the context and the location, the appearance and function of the bed have evolved.

In 1933, the Paimio sanatorium was built by Alvaar Alto for the treatment of tuberculosis before the vaccine was invented. At the time, the best remedy for the disease was fresh air and the sun. Interior spaces have therefore been designed with this in mind and to meet this need.

Each piece of furniture was also designed taking into account the specific needs of the patients. Comfortable and hygienic beds that were unlike usual hospital furniture, cold, austere and sterile.

Echoing the technological development of medical establishments, Jean Prouvé and Jules Leleu designed in 1936 a set of furniture for the Martel de Janville sanatorium at the Plateau d’Assy in Haute-Savoie commissioned by the Air Force. Designed entirely in bent, welded and red lacquered steel in harmony with the colors of the exterior architecture, these pieces of furniture are both modern and adapted to the needs of patients for a peaceful healing. Martel de Janville’s bed has a side drawer.

During recovery time, the bed can also become a place of work, Marcel Proust having entirely written « In search of lost time » in bed, or Henri Matisse drawing on the walls of his room with pieces of charcoal glued to a cane.

In the extract from the film « It’s a gift » (1923) featuring the star of silent movies Snub Pollard who plays here a great eccentric inventor, we observe this curious bed full of mechanisms, notably the feather alarm clock, a poetic invention for a sweet wake up !

The bed also becomes the main and central piece of furniture inlarge university construction sites.

The « Cité » bed, designed by Jean Prouvé for the first time in ca. 1933 for the university city of Nancy and then commercialized in the 1950s by the Ateliers Jean Prouvé. Modern, functional and ergonomic, this bed also met the need to find economical solutions for interior design.

In 1954, Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand and Serge Mouille won the competition for the arrangement of the student rooms at the Jean-Zay university campus in Antony. Prouvé integrates in the project the existing model of « S.C.A.L. » bed. », firstly designed for engineers of the Central Society of Light Alloys in 1938. In single or double size, with or without swiveling tablette, this bed has been very successful and will continue to be sold by the Steph Simon gallery after the war.

In university commissions, we shouldn’t forget the interior imagined by Charlotte Perriand for the Maison du Brésil at the Cité Universitaire de Paris, designed in collaboration with Le Corbusier in 1959. By highlighting the warmth and simplicity of the wood as material, Charlotte Perriand designs a minimalist and neutral bed to complete a simple but functional interior of the student bedroom.

But like many things essential to everyday life, the appearance of the bed changes across different cultures and climates.

Inspired by Japanese culture, the position of the bed in relation to the ground and the use of bamboo, Charlotte Perriand created in 1941 these beds made of bamboo slats, a true blend of Japanese tradition and modern design.

She is also inspired by the use of hammocks for a nap time in North African culture, which she integrates into the resting area of the demountable house of the Sahara, architecture imagined by Jean Prouvé and the interior carried out by Charlotte Perriand for the Salon des Arts Ménagers in 1958 in Paris.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the bed regains its decorative elements and a sophisticated design, while nevertheless retaining its functionality and prioritizing comfort, as seen in the interiors of Jean Royère (1902-1981).

During the 1960s and 1970s, designers began to question the principles of modernism by trying to reverse the role and connotation of the object. In 1969, Ettore Sottsass asked the Archizoom Group for a project to introduce the group in the architectural review Domus.

Archizoom imagines a project of 4 bedroom « Dream Bedrooms » as a manifesto of Radical Architecture.

In line with the new generation of designers that appeared in the 1970s in Italy, Joe Colombo presented in 1969 in his open space apartment the « Cabriolet Bed » which integrated the interior of the studio while taking inspiration from the multifunctionality of an automobile and the famous Italian red convertible.

In 1970, Ettore Sottsass designed for Poltronova his series of furniture « Mobili Grigi » in fiberglass, where the bed becomes the center of the installation in the form of a pedestal and where the headboard is replaced by neon light fixtures!

Here, the bed allows you to convey a political message, initiated by John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono by being photographed in their beds in Montreal in order to protest against the Vietnam War.

In 1972, Marc Held designed for the Prisunic company a set of modular elements making up both a double bed and a living room when the elements separate, an intelligent solution for small apartments!

The bed could have been used as the flagship object of the cover of the magazine « Rolling Stones » in 1977 with the iconic rock group Fleetwood Mac. It is by lying on a bed together that the group sends a message of freedom and well-being that we also read on their faces.

In 1981 appears the iconic creation of the “Memphis” movement, the “Ring” bed by Masanori Umeda. Realized only in 5 copies, this bed plays on the shift of the functions of an object and on the use of unexpected materials such as the tatami, concept very characteristic of this artistic movement.

The bed can also become a work of art, as in Gunter Sachs’ spectacular New York loft bedroom with Allen Jones tables and the bed by Roy Lichtenstein.

Or this fantastic piece of furniture that served as a bed for Salvador Dali, the most famous painter of the Surrealist movement, which is now in the Theater-Museum in Figueres.

During the exhibition « Italy: the New Domestic Landscape », Mario Bellini presents his mobile installation « Kar-a-Sutra », an « erotic minivan » with which we can travel, where we live, we sleep, we make love.

The round bed becomes a true extension of the architecture and the organic and spherical decor of the Bubble Palace by Antti Lovag, designed in 1975.

As for Donald Judd’s house and studio in New York, the bed placed in the center of the room surrounded by the works of Flavin and Oldenburg, is reduced to its bare essentials and its primary function: to be comfortable to rest.

The artistic and emblematic duo of 80s design, Garouste and Bonetti opposes themselves to functionalism, minimalism and technological innovation by creating extravagant furniture in the Baroque spirit, like this spectacular bed « Beaux Rêves « , edition of 8 pieces.

Last but not least, the bed « Laputa » by Shiro Kuramata, his last work made in 1991, drawn from the writings of Jonathan Swift and inspired by an eponymous floating island.

This object oscillates between humor and poetry, between the real and the imaginary, fascinating us and making us want to … dream! 

Since the dawn of time and throughout history, men have invented and conceived their seat according to customs, styles, eras and of course the creators! Very quickly, seats started to play an important role in the societies. For certain, they have become symbols accompanying power, in many different forms, and for others, symbols of contestation. Great cabinetmakers and craftsmen, sometimes families of creators quickly positioned themselves to create essential pieces, or their own unique style. For some of them, seats have become pieces at the frontier between a work of art and a piece of furniture. To develop better on the subject, all these points need to be presented in pictures.

However, the reversals of the concept of « beautiful » in furniture have led some creators to move towards a more functional research for seating. Isn’t it important to have dinner sitting on comfortable chairs, to read comfortably on a good sofa, or to work sitting in a position that suits us?

Like many designers, Jean Prouvé, when creating his seats, said: « I have always had this concern for well-made construction ». So let’s set off to discover the evolution of this essential and iconic piece of furniture!

The exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris: « Les Assises du siège contemporain », during the demonstrations of May 68 … This retrospective thus made it possible to discover and understand the important place that the seat has always had in different societies, during the XXth century.

Since forever, the seat needed above all to be comfortable for all of us. But everyone has its own perception of comfort !

… Jean Royère understood it really well in his creations – with, among others, the ‘Polar Bear’ sofa.
The sinusoidal shape, so dear to the decorator, is deployed here to achieve a certain ideal of comfort, essential for its creator!

In history, Queens and Kings have always sought to position themselves higher than the Court, and even between different Courts, by having royal furniture that is different from the others, in order to reinforce their legitimacy.

For some, the ascent, power and success, require to be represented sitting on a throne of gilded wood and ivory, as illustrated by this famous painting by Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Napoleon seated in majesty on a throne from Jacob!

While notable or wealthy traders show their social superiority by being transported in sedan chairs: ancestral Chinese tradition!

At the end of the 1930s, Jacques Adnet designed his furniture by moving towards a more classic but revisited style, which takes the form of XVIIth century furniture: French tradition, but with his own modernity.

But Kings, princes, the bourgeois, as well as art lovers have also sought luxury in contemporary creation of each era.
As in Jean Royère’s « Ambassador » armchairs, made for the Shah of Iran cinema theater around 1958.

Furniture can also be sculpture… Throughout the XXth and XXIth century, designers have created furniture, seats, objects related to culture and intellectual revolutions of the moment, as with this incredible armchair: seat / work of art from the Monolith Group, 1986.

In the XIXth century, in Germany, it was the Thonet Family who invented new, sculptural forms, especially with the use of bent wood.

At the start of the 20th century, a new style was invented with one of the undeniable masters of that time: Antoni Gaudi! With Gaudi, the main representative of what is called Catalan modernism, the furniture is integrated into an already specific interior design. At Casa Batllo, the seats take up an organic form. His creations, based on the observation of nature, are always undulating and don’t have any right angle.

Others, such as Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, designed luxury lounge chairs in the 1920s, including this one, known as the « ski lounge chair » in 1929, for the Maharajah of Indore.

In the post-war years, in France, some of the 60s and 70s designers believed in total utopia, wanting to transform the world… like this interior project for an airport hall by Bernard Govin!

But the Italians are also very strong !

They create serial furniture like this “Pratone” chair by Pietro Derossi and Giorgo Ceretti (1966).

{%CAPTION%}

Or Superstudio, an architect agency from Florence, that create “Bazaar” sofa around 1969.

… “Cova” sofa by Gianni Ruffi (1973).

‘Dalila’ chairs by Gaetano Pesce, designed in the beginning of the 80s.

Or the ‘Animali Domestici’ (1985) series by Andrea Branzi, with it radicality.

The Japanese, for their part, by using materials, such as paper or plastic, have a more poetic approach, as for these two seats by Yoshioka Tokujin (2001).
As usual, they combine technological innovation and centuries-old tradition, for an ever more innovative design.

Let’s also not forget Ron Arad’s style, unique in his kind, which marked the entry into the Design of the 21st century in the early 90s!

… As well as Wendell Caste and his truly sculptural forms !

But sitting must first of all be functional and it especially starts at school!

In the United States, Functionalism appeared at the beginning of the XIXth century, within the Shaker community. One of the sources of reflection for this New England community is that the furniture must be a useful, vital, stripped of any decoration or ornamentation, because otherwise it would impose an unwanted social positioning!

In the 1920s, French modernism already had its masters who would mark the XXth century. For Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, it is about designing minimal, functional furniture created from metal tubes. The lounge chair follows the position of the body at rest. For better comfort, it can be positioned depending on whether you want to read or sleep!

In this spirit, this tube armchair was produced at the same time, by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand and presented at the Salon d’Automne in 1929, in ‘a modern interior’. It marks the mutual attachment to modernity, characterized among other things by the founding of UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes), the same year.

… Another essential figure of the French design, from the 1930s to the 1950s: Jean Prouvé. He seeks above all the development of mass production. His so-called “Standard” chair, as well as aluminum stool, were to become iconic pieces.

At the same time, Pierre Jeanneret moved to India, to follow the construction of the city of Chandigarh, carried out by his cousin, Le Corbusier… He was also entrusted with the interior of the buildings, for which he will create a functional, simple and refined furniture, with the use of local materials, such as teak or cane.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mexican architect Luis Barragan also created furniture custom-made for his commissioners. His architecture is very minimal as is his furniture, inherited from the German Bauhaus, the geometric architecture of Le Corbusier and traditional Mexican architecture, of course…

The 80s mark the continuity of the French tradition which is to create by following its time but with a new rhythm, like that of Philippe Starck.

In conclusion, being …

President of the Republic, like the Pompidou and the contemporary rearrangement of the Élysée Palace, realized by Pierre Paulin

Intellectual and collector, like the couturier Jacques Doucet and the interior design of his hôtel particulier, with the seats by Pierre Legrain, among others.

With some friends, at home

Or all alone, in the midst of others,

or all alone, at home

Or by two, in a public garden

Finally, the seat is important – or even essential – in everyday life because, as the philosopher Alain emphasized: « Everyone thinks according to the nature of the seat they are sitting on ».

Architects and designers were passionate about it.
Because naturally, the light creates the decor, it illuminates it, allows it to express itself. What a wonderful adventure, the original flame becoming a light! The adventure of this flame of the past, golden, protective, which one day, with a simple finger movement playing with the switch, delivers the desired clarity to a workplace, or a resting place…
From the Antiquity oil lamp, to candles from the Middle Age, until the first Swan and Edison incandescent bulb, technical innovations have allowed the lamp to evolve over the centuries … From the wonderful lampshades in Tiffany glass to the provocative models of the 1960s and 1970s, a lamp is a testimony of a changing society, in a perpetual artistic and technological research. Lighting is a privileged witness of the whole world evolution. The great diversity of lamps, in terms of shape and materials, can also be explained by the multiplicity of uses. The Romans celebrated public celebrations with illuminations. Lamps were hung on windows the day a Prince was born. Thus, over the centuries, the lamp has continued to transform, and modify its services.

From the beginning of humanity, the fire was the only source of light, the first way to fight against darkness. Fire intervenes as a psychic progress before being technical!

As many forms as lamps !

From the beginning of time, the evolution of the design follows human needs: to heat, to protect themselves, to light up, and finally to decorate the habitat!

Le Souffleur à la lampe, Georges de la Tour, 1640… Light inspires painters from the Caravaggesque school! It is a crucial element of the composition.

Interior design of the Orrouer hotel belonging to Hubert de Givenchy. The lamps serve the overall decor, complement it and highlight it.

Innovation and aesthetics! Above, the Lépine and Bourdon lamp with triple air flow and glass vase.

Throughout the 20th century, the lamp continued to free itself from its primary function, it became a sculpture, it became a work of art on its own, it surprised the eye and often aroused curiosity through its forms and materials. At the very beginning of the century, its aesthetics followed the free spirit of the Belle Époque, and the forms were part of the floral style, particularly intense with the Art Nouveau style. The lamp is adorned with curves, colors, arabesques.

This Lotus glass table lamp, in molten glass, ca 1900-1906, designed by Tiffany Studios, was one of the most prestigious pieces of the time. The choice of Lotus reveals not only the oriental and Islamic influence that reigned over Art Nouveau, but also the fascination of this time for forms borrowed from nature. Like this Mushroom lamp by Emile Gallé (on the right)…

Louis Comfort Tiffany house, Oster Bay, Long Island

In the vast European Art Nouveau movement, the ephemeral Jugendstil movement seeks a break with the past! Peter Berens turns his back on the aesthetics of the late 90s and joined a totally different movement.

The following decade the Art Deco style imposes rigor and an almost total ornamental denudation. Straight lines are essential, and curves are prohibited. The late 1920s dictate a strict structure on the furniture, especially with the lamps.

This model of table lamp by Edouard-Wilfrid Buquet, ca 1927, in chromed metal, shows these technological innovations put to service of Design. He filed a pendulum lamp patent in 1927, this revolutionary lamp remaining stable thanks to a clever adjustable counterweight system, with a base also weighted down. This system will also be used by Marcel Breuer, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann…

Created in 1924, the “Religieuse” lamp by Pierre Chareau is one of the 20th century masterpieces! A true sculpture, where the artist dears to make a solid wooden barrel, round and sensual, coexist with a very incisive alabaster, only weakened by its translucency! While evoking the famous religious “cornette”…

The parallel is inevitable! Carlo Mollino designed this model of lamp in brass, marble and parchment in 1947, which he called « Standard ».

The famous and timeless WG25 lamp, created in 1924, by Wilhem Wagenfeld, German industrial designer and member of the Bauhaus.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, French decorator of the 1920s, set about creating light fixtures with clean lines, “enamored of slender forms, finely rhythmic, he tasted lovingly, almost sensually these precious materials which he harmonized as well outside or inside his furniture »

This lamp from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York was designed by Rulhmann in 1926.

He participated in the decorating of the Ile-de-France ocean liner, with the help of Jules-Emile Leleu, André Mare and Louis Süe, and even the painter Mathurin Méheut. Here, the First Class lounge.

Jean Prouvé asserted « that there are no differences between the construction of a piece of furniture or a house ». This octagonal chandelier by the French architect, ca. 1927, in hammered wrought iron and frosted glass, also draws its inspiration from very rigorous, architectural forms. We are on the border between Art Nouveau and Art Deco, we feel the approach of modernity!

In the same idea, Robert Mallet Stevens, a French architect and designer, produced his masterpiece and true architectural manifesto: the Villa Cavroix, at Croix. The table lamp in the Hall-lounge, ca. 1929, is above all a functional light. Almost minimal.

Light is no more than a simple bulb, it becomes the playground for the Union des Artistes Modernes artists, especially in this hall of their first exhibition in 1930.

Jean Royère, iconic self-taught decorator of the 20th century, thinks of furniture with a fanciful, uninhibited design, breaking free from the codes. He devotes himself above all to the notion of decor and imagines real “ensembles” with a unique aesthetic. This Liane Lamp, ca. 1950, puts ornament at the service of functionality. Jean Royère deforms the metal tube which becomes a wavy line, like a climbing plant. It goes beyond the primary function of lighting.

And as for our great 1950s designers, they play simplicity with the creation of potence lamps!

Lamp becomes lamp again, in its simplest device, with Jean Prouvé, according to the state of mind and the aesthetic movement of the time, among French post-war architects. This potence lamp, ca. 1947, in black lacquered tubular metal, combines elegance and minimalism of means.

House in Meudon, ca. 1952

Charlotte Perriand also designs swiveling potence lamps. This rare model (1938) comes from her own apartment in rue Las Cases in Paris.

Her lightings are intended to be functional, like all of her furniture. She imagines the wall sconce « CP1 », ca. 1965, lamp with pivoting shutter, an ingenious system allowing to move the orientation of the light. Her vast construction site in Les Arcs in Savoie is an opportunity for her to apply her ideas in mass production.

Here, the lamp is part of a specific urban project. This concrete light was designed by Le Corbusier in 1954. The model was first produced for Cité Radieuse garden in Marseille, and then will be also used in the public spaces of the city of Chandigarh and the Sarabhai villa in Amhedabad in India.

In the 1950s, the lamp became sculpture!

Isamu Noguchi, in order to save his native village in difficulty after the war, designs a series of lights inspired by the Japanese lantern tradition. The aesthetic is modern, the artist calls it « light sculpture« . The lamps are made of Mino paper, made from the mulberry tree, and the shapes are reminiscent of traditional fishermen’s baskets.

Exhibition at Steph Simon gallery, on boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris

Serge Mouille, originally a goldsmith and brassware graduate, also decides to devote his entire creation to lighting, after being an apprentice of the decorator Jacques Adnet. Throughout the 1950s, Mouille designed lamps with angular load-bearing structures but with curved reflectors evoking plants with a soft and sensual form of the female breast, thus mixing inventiveness and delicacy. He developed a unique brass ball joint system to allow the reflectors to rotate to the desired light.

He created in the 60s this series of so called totems and signals evoking New York buildings.

The work of artist Dan Flavin is highlighted here. « Light is an industrial and familiar object » writes Donald Judd in 1964 when he looks at Flavin’s work, « it is a new form of art; henceforth art could be composed of all kinds of objects, materials and new techniques.”

Mouille says that « his lights are a reaction to contemporary Italian models », which he said were « too complicated » …

Let’s talk about !

At the same time, Italian post-war design was marked by a significant change compare to inter-war period. A whole generation of creators would perceive furniture in a completely different, often entertaining way, where it will be a question of reinventing forms and function. The colors, the shapes, the primary aspect of the object, are re-imagined and sometimes, made fun of!

The Fontana Arte company, founded by the architects Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana, benefits from the economic prosperity of the 1950s. The highly qualified craftsmen at its service are constantly looking for innovative techniques and new models, like this glass suspension, ca. 1955, below.

Gino Sarfatti, known for his incredible passion for lighting, creates models full of fantasy, which reflect the climate of lightness and exuberance that prevailed in post-war Italy.

The constant search for innovation in terms of shape and materials brings Gino Sarfatti to the design of this « Moon » suspension, ca. 1969, one of the singular creations that will make his reputation!

Above, another model of floor lamp illustrating the extremely diversified production of the designer, combining rigor and minimalism, the model « 1063 », ca. 1954. He uses neon as a structural and decorative element.

In the mid-1960s, a dissenting group of Italian architects and designers – including Ettore Sottsass – followed the Antidesign movement in reaction to the consumer society. He will be as much an industrial designer, confronted with ergonomics and productivity, as a creator free to invent all the furniture and objects from his imagination! Asteroid lamp, designed in 1968, illustrates the creative richness of the designer.

The « Ultrafragola » mirror, now a true icon, combines the two functions, to be seen, certainely, but in an « enlightened » way. It was designed in the early 1970s and will be produced by Poltronova. Its sinuous silhouette evokes a wavy woman’s hair …

« In what concerns the lights that come out from « grey furniture », don’t the tombs always have sparkling lights which illuminate the sadness of the wandering spaces in the dusty valley? And the submarines don’t they have green lights flashing in their belly? The lights are supposed to come out of the fiberglass body, like the bright white light of the skin of white breasts, or the bright red tip of the penis in porn nights, something like that, I mean something like the Japanese fireflies that transform the nights of May into solid matter. Can there be something more ridiculous? « 

(Ettore Sottsass, « Could something be more ridiculous? », In « Design », London, 262, October 1970)

“Ettore Sottsass” exhibition, 2017, Galerie Downtown, Paris

Superstudio archives: the light in the decor is reduced to a simple bulb, in opposition to the eccentricity of the rest of the decor.

Gaetano Pesce and his “Aiport” lamp, designed in 1986, in urethane and metal. He said, « I like useful things, like furniture or light fixtures, which I turn into militant elements. » As a visionary designer, he always used the materials of his time, as a way to better understand his era.

And above, the Moloch lamp, ca. 1970. Masterpiece by the artist, this lamp is probably one of the last euphoric creations of the artist, which will also be one of the icons of the exhibition consecrating Italy and the artist:  » Italy, the New Domestic Landscape «  at MoMA in New York in 1972.

Below, Golden Gate floor lamp designed in 1970 by artist Nanda Vigo, who was particularly interested in light and its dynamics, and who built space using light elements and materials from industrial production, namely glass, mirror and neon.

During her career, she met Lucio Fontana, who also worked with light, notably creating neon structures, entitled “Luce Spaziale”, for the IX Triennale in Milan in 1951, but also for the Italian pavilion at Turin exhibition in 1961…

The Greek artist Vassilakis Takis, who disappeared recently, has never stopped, throughout his prolific career, creating magnetic and sound works, powerful, veritable hymns to energy and the universe. One day, while waiting for the train to London, he was fascinated by the incessant ballet of signals and flashes that surrounded him. The monumental La Defense sculptures (above) are imagined as a forest of light that Man artificially creates to find his way and avoid death.

Above, Takis Light Signal in a private collection.

Back in France at the end of the 1970s, Philippe Starck designed « Easy Light ». He thus conceives the total disappearance of the lamp as an object, to keep only a stick of light, a simple beam that can be in permanent movement, according to the needs of its owner.

Here, Philippe Starck and his Easy Light walk around Bains Douches!

Above, a pair of bright nightstands designed by Ron Arad, from his One-off era. The work is a doubly functional object, but it is also a real sculpture, following an almost punk aesthetic.

In 1980, he also designed this remote-controlled telescopic arm lamp, called « Aerial Light ».

Change of a scenery !

Ingo Maurer, recently disappeared, a German designer trained in graphic arts, specializes in lighting and devotes himself to the creation of lighting sets. The latter are characterized by a poetic, enchanting style, always with a touch of humor and playfulness.

Below, the pendant light « Cuore Aperto » designed in 1996 specially for the « Sagra », an annual Italian party that Ingo Maurer particularly liked.

Here, this 2.80m diameter aluminum prototype which was produced for the Hudson Hotel in New York in 2000.

Today, a contemporary sculptor can also see in the functional object a way of putting his work into “Light”, like Richard Texier whose lightings take up a terrestrial and aquatic bestiary from the Trees of Life, which he created in the 2000s.

Olafur Eliasson, a contemporary artist, explores the different facets of what he calls « materiality », in particular the notion of light. His works are monumental and sensory. Above, the Weather Project, designed in 2003 for the Tate Modern in London. This powerful light installation takes the visitor to another world: a work between poetry and surrealism.

James Turell, American contemporary artist, designs a series called « skyspaces », which consist of bright, self-contained rooms, providing an immersive experience. Each room has an opening in the ceiling that opens up to the sky, to bring light to the viewer by making it oscillate between sky and earth.

And there was Light !

From the simple concept of superimposed shelfs for storing books, the bookcase appears above all in the Middle Ages, mainly in the monasteries, where parchments copying the scriptures were stored! From this essential place, the bookcase was designed, in different forms, which was used to classify these writings. During the Renaissance, the bookcase presented rare, collectable objects, thus becoming the Cabinet of curiosities. The place is very special so the furniture becomes refined and must be beautiful. This tradition evolves and continues for four centuries until the 20th century where, in each decade and according to the countries, styles, eras, this furniture occupies an important place in daily space; it becomes sculptural!

.. So let’s go through eras and styles in order to know if we should continue to love bookcases!

From the origin of men, It seems that the question of libraries quickly arose!!

But libraries are above all for storing books !!

1. What space, at home, in the office should it occupy?

.. Where to place the bookcase at home? A question that turns out to be essential from the 19th century, when publishing is in full swing. However, the library does not yet occupy a large space, or even is almost nonexistent.

In the Middle Ages, the books only concern a small circle of intellectuals, so the bookcase occupies only a small amount of space! In the monasteries where the monks take care of the transcription of old writings on new parchments, the library spaces will develop but in a simplified aesthetic research.

.. Very soon it will change! From confined space, we will move on to new projects, sometimes pharaonic architectures like this one designed in the style of Ledoux. The libraries become temples of intellectualism, of Thought, Art and Science. Furniture must therefore be linked to architecture!

In the 19th century, the library became a place of intellectual refinement that gathered other treasures! It is therefore a large piece of furniture with more or less decorated woodwork.

Before the First World War, certain architects and interior decorators like Francis Jourdain thought about a piece of furniture with multiple uses, to make up for the lack of space in small living spaces. He will talk later about this change which he designs in “a purification, in a revision of the forms, in their strict adaptation to function”.

In some interior spaces, the library is reflected by some designers as a simple form, a minimal piece of furniture that occupies very little space..

Marc Held, who seeks lightness, created in 1962 a piece of furniture which suspended in space, in its greatest simplicity. It can therefore be easily placed in different places!

In different form and just after the war, Jean Prouvé also designed very minimal bookcases which added to its original storage function a practical one by integrating the desk. The bookcase can therefore be in an office space, as well as a space at home!

Let’s not forget that at home, the library is also and often a place to rest: reading books, looking at catalogs: relaxing !

For others, the bookcase is a social, intellectual framework that ends up becoming almost an integral part of whoever uses it. This was the case with Ernest Renan in the 19th century.

2. What forms do designers think of?

It’s about adapting to the space, while remaining very creative!

From the renaissance to the end of the Third Republic, the library remains fairly classic and, in some places, it is sometimes miles of shelving that bring all of these writings together!

But with the evolutions of the XXth century, everything changes! Some bookcases are now round and sober. Joe Colombo wanted the bookcase to be an aesthetic and modular element that can be positioned and moved, in different places, in the interior space.

For others, they are minimal and modernist. Le Corbusier’s Esprit Nouveau integrated this piece of furniture hidden in a very sober architectural space. The library is therefore the continuation of the architecture of the place!

.. But also Jean Prouvé, at the same period, who is a very young constructor who has just created his Ateliers in Nancy. Member of the UAM (Union of Modern Artists) since the early 1930s, he designed some pieces of furniture with a very simplified geometry, without looking for interior design. Its primary purpose is to create standardized elements that can be reused and adapted to different projects. This is the case for these drawers, which we will find a few years later on the desks of the student rooms at the Cité universitaire de Nancy!

They can also be « theoretical »! Indeed, the libraries created by Donald Judd for the Marfa Foundation in Texas are designed as real sculptures that transform space, by its simple and minimal form.

For others, they are rectangular and colorful! Ettore Sottsass created in the mid-60s, his first colored furniture produced by Poltronova who quickly understood this new line of contemporary design at the time !!

But they can also be rectangular and offset, It’s the aesthetic invention of Charlotte Perriand who in the 1950s designed her ‘Nuage’ bookcases, derived from traditional Japanese bookcases! Charlotte Perriand draws, among other things, her aesthetic research from Japanese minimalism of the 17th century.

For others, finally, they are infinite curves! In the course of the 1960s, Pierre Paulin designed this project – which will remain at the prototype stage – for Herman Miller. The library determines the interior lines of the place!

3. The bookcases become sometimes a work of art ?

The XXth century, through all these eras, is rich in furniture creation so the designers will integrate a part of creative inventiveness to this piece of furniture which must above all keep its storage function !!

With the discovery of Art style called “Noodle”, around 1890, architects like Hector Guimard designed furniture that followed his Art Nouveau architecture!

In 1925, sobriety was the rule for interior designers-decorators like Pierre Chareau who gave this library an architectural sense for the lounge of an Ambassador.

In the post-war period, new and varied forms were invented. Some were minimal,

.. Let’s start with the very large ‘Brazil’ bookcase that Charlotte Perriand created specially in jacaranda for her apartment in Rio de Janeiro in 1962: minimal and sober but above all oversized!

.. Roger Fatus who makes float, in space, his bookcase made up of independent wooden blocks; we can therefore compose its shape!

.. Michel Boyer gives it an architectural aspect with its regular lockers which recall the curtain walls of buildings from the 50s and 60s.

Ugo de La Pietra breaks it down into geometric modules!

Others are mostly colorful,

Ettore Sottsass completely deconstructs the storage unit which takes on multiple functions!

Charlotte Perriand works from standard colors which were used by Le Corbusier in his architecture. We will find his colors among many of his other furniture projects!

Mathieu Matégot and his ‘labyrinths’ which are small stylized shelves, made of colors that can create a universe of colors.

Designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec innovate on this bookcase which also becomes a separation unit!

Finally, those last ones, more sculptural become real sculptural furniture…

From the universe of Gaetano Pesce to that of Pucci de Rossi, passing by the wall bookcases of Valentine Schlégel, the radicalism of Martin Székély or even the ‘Mortal Coil’ of Ron Arad, we are only at the beginning of a long endless list.

Gaetano Pesce and his multiple universes with playful forms which furnished, among others, some Dujardin stores in Belgium.

.. or even the one he made for Marc-André Hubain’s apartment, in the early 80s! The shapes of this library, within this universe, was designed to create surprise in this Parisian apartment!

Valentine Schlégel includes the bookcase in the architectural space of the house. From the independent furniture that we usually see, it blends into the interior architecture of the apartment. She will make several different models!

Martin Székély and his bookcase with radical forms from the 80s!

.. Ron Arad with his industrial libraries made of cut sheets; the ‘Mortal Coil’ bookcases become real sculptures!

Finally, Pucci de Rossi’s bronze universe with this library from his latest series: Bronze nuptials!

… In the conclusion,

1 .. First of all, when you move in, it is a question of thinking how the bookcase will integrate into the furniture of the house

2 .. Then take the time to choose where to position it, in the space of the house in relation to the existing décor!

3_ Finally, you have to know how to appreciate it and live with it.

Undeniably, this period of quarantine offers us a great thing, which has become rare in our fast-paced daily world, the time! Let’s thus plunge back without any guilt into the Seventh Art. New Wave films, comedy or satire from the 70s, futuristic epic from the 2000s or contemporary blockbusters, all have one thing in common: a setting that allows you to see beyond the four walls of our house, and to escape .

Cinema is a crazy land of freedom, we invent, we experiment, we compose! It is also a field of creativity. From the 1920s to today, the decor has the mission to captivate us, to inspire us! The furniture then plays a leading role. Objects can produce action themselves; they can add meaning to the plot, becoming a real character in their own right. Relations are therefore a two-way street, cinema needing design for the decor, and design sometimes drawing inspiration from cinema to tell a story. And when the two disciplines combine perfectly, it creates masterpieces of cinema and design.

« L’inhumaine », Marcel L’Herbier, 1924

Stage furniture, Robert Mallet Stevens

He is a key figure in French cinema, and yet a large part of his work remains unknown. In the 1920s, Marcel L’Herbier shot L’inhumaine, a drama with an innovative style, both in its narration and in its form! Better than a film, it is the embodiment of the avant-garde which characterizes these years, a mirror of modernism which agitates society. Dazzling symmetry and cubist decorations signed by big names of the time such as Robert Mallets-Stevens – militant of modernity and first permanent decorator of cinema – or Pierre Chareau.

« I prefer to show my inventions to the crowds of cinema than to the only friends and mistresses of the club who would use my offices ». (Robert Mallets-Stevens)

« Mélodie en sous-sol », Henri Verneuil, 1963

« Femme aux Nichons » ceramic, Georges Jouve

This masterful thriller combines two generations, by staging an old crook played by Jean Gabin, and a young man with an almost insolent physique, embodied by Alain Delon. Genius script, as the story is breathless, and the staging is done to the last detail. This film also gives us to see – through its precisely thought-out decor – a certain conception of life and society, putting in parallel wealthy people evolving in a very chic sixties, and bandits having only one desire, rob them.

« Mon Oncle », Jacques Tati, 1958

« Scoubidous » armchairs, Pierre Guariche, Michel Mortier and Joseph Motte (Atelier de Recherche Plastique); set of furniture, Jacques Lagrange

This major film was in a way the « manifesto » of the film-design, since the furniture was invented for the film, by the filmmaker Jacques Tati himself, in collaboration with Jacques Lagrange. Having become cult objects since, then were even edited in 2005 by Domeau & Pérès, We should note, however, the appearance of a few important guests in the decor, such as the Scoubidous armchairs by Pierre Guariche, Michel Mortier and Joseph Motte (Plastic Research Workshop), the sconces by Serge Mouille and the ceramics by Pol Chambost. « How original! Can we sit?  » exclaims the neighbor who came to admire the heroine’s residence.

« La Piscine », Jacques Deray, 1969

Set of garden furniture, Gae Aulenti

The casting of this film is already a promise in itself: Maurice Ronet, Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin, staged in a summer setting. The synopsis is simple: The vacation of a couple in a superb villa in the heights of Saint Tropez is disrupted by the arrival of friends, causing confusion on the nature of their past relationship … The Swimming Pool is one of the films that you can see countless times, for the magnetic beauty of its actors, but also its aesthetic sensuality that emerges from the image. Everything invites to relaxation: a huge deckchair signed Roger Tallon, or a yellow Locus Solus garden furniture by Gae Aulenti, but the decor also takes part in the action, the swimming pool becoming « fatal »!

« A decor is a great dramatic emotion ! » (Louis Jouvet, director)

« Oscar », Edouard Molinaro, 1967

« Mushroom » armchair and its ottoman, Pierre Paulin

Between the New wave and Pop culture, the 60s will offer viewers a prolific film-design scenery. In Oscar, Pierre Paulin’s Mushroom armchairs perfectly illustrate the public’s idea of a “modern” existence, and of the notion of originality and novelty among the wealthier classes. Louis de Funès’ apartment becomes the perfect showroom of the best of the sixties! Staged in 1967 by Georges Wakhevitch and Jean Forestier, Oscar‘s decors are a mine of contemporary design.

« 2001: A Space Odyssey », Stanley Kubrick, 1968

Set of « Djinn » armchairs and sofas, Olivier Mourgue

Stanley Kubrick understood the importance of decor early on, and paid particular attention to the choice of pieces of furniture. He draws on avant-garde and futuristic collections from the 1960s to present design pieces by the great names of the time. For the 2001: A Space Odyssey film, he brings together no less than 35 decorators! The famous white lounge of the spacecraft V is furnished with undulating red seats, from the « Djinn » series, designed by the French designer Olivier Mourgue and produced by the company Airborne International. The clear red impeccably contrasts with the stellar white of the decor. In the middle, one-legged tables, now iconic: the famous Tulip created by Eero Saarinen in 1956 and produced by Knoll. A year earlier, in Casino Royale, Peter Sellers was doing gym exercises on the same model’s lounge chair, dressed in pink for the occasion, according to the wishes of Ursula Undress.

« Space 1999 », G. & A. Anderson, 1975-1977

“Elda” armchair, Joe Colombo

Emblematic creation of Joe Colombo, the Elda armchair (named in homage to his wife) presents a revolutionary silhouette, both comfortable and innovative in terms of materials. Its surprising avant-garde form earned it definite cinematic success, notably in the Space 1999 series, or in the film Hibernatus by Edouard Molinaro (1969), below. More recently, he will also be the star of the Hunger Games saga (2012), proof of his timelessness.

« Surviving Picasso », James Ivory, 1996

« Standard » chair and slatted “Visitor” armchair by Jean Prouvé
Standing lamp, Serge Mouille
Lounge chair « B 306 », Le Corbusier, Jeanneret, Perriand

This legendary film tells the fused and passionate story between Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, from 1944 to 1953. It all begins shortly before the Second World War, under the roofs of Paris, when Picasso receives the visit of two young and pretty art students. One of them lets herself be seduced by the great genius. There are many biopics dedicated to the painter, but this one will has the merit of devoting a great deal of space to interior decor. There are many design quotes from this post-war era: Standard chairs and Visitors armchairs by Jean Prouvé, lighting by Serge Mouille and other major pieces from this period. It is interesting to mention that the family refused to lend originals of the artist for the shooting, because of the too free interpretation of the decor of the artist, the director was therefore forced to order many copies for the film.

« American Psycho », Mary Harron (2000)

« Barcelona » armchair and ottoman, Mies Van der Rohe
Chair, Charles Rennie Makintosh
Coffee table, Paola Piva

The Oscars of screen presence undoubtedly goes to the Barcelona model by Mies Van der Rohe. Staged in the freezing apartment of the golden boy and hero embodied by a demonic Christian Bale in American Psycho, the set strongly contributes to the anxiety-provoking atmosphere of the film, the already very minimalist space transforming into a real operating theater for the scenes of crime. This model will then be used in many office decorations, seeming to establish the legitimacy of its owner, since, furniture is also a means of confirming social status. It will also be visible in the film Casino Royale by Martin Campbell in 2006 (below).

« A Single Man », Tom Ford, 2009

Demountable « Standard » chair, Jean Prouvé
Desk lamp, Serge Mouille

The villas designed by American architect John Lautner (1911-1994) are a cinema classic, a fantasy on the big screen. They are much more than just film sets. They accompany the intrigue, giving meaning and depth to the everyday life of the protagonists. The Shaffer House, built in 1949, is no exception. In the heart of the mountain, under a majestic oak tree essential to the intrigue, it accompanies the tragedy experienced by the main character. Called “glass house” by its fictitious occupants, it is very simply furnished with creations from the 1960s, such as removable Standard chairs by Jean Prouvé or lighting by Serge Mouille. For the occasion, Tom Ford even received expert advice on post-war furniture.

« Le Loup de Wall Street », Martin Scorsese, 2013

« Wassily » armchair, Marcel Breuer

Adapted from the book by Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street is about the rise and then the descent into hell of one of the largest stockbrokers of the late 80s. The plot takes us through a succession of delirious scenes of the protagonists addicted to money and sex. The spectator then enters a little-known universe, and the decor is essential: between New York penthouse, villas and yacht, everything is done to accentuate the splendor and the absurd of the lives that unfold there. A memorable scene, between the main character and a Swiss banker (Jean Dujardin) highlights a flagship set of design from 1925-1926: the Wassily armchairs by Marcel Breuer.

« Alien : Covenant », Ridley Scott, 2017

Armchair, Carlo Bugatti

Ridley Scott, contemporary American director, is – among other things – renowned for the quality of his sets and his incredible application in enveloping the spectator in a « global » cinematography experience. Here, in a house set in the middle of a lake, Michel Fassenberg sits on a seat by Carlo Bugatti (designed by the Italian artist in 1905), placed next to an E1027 coffee table by Eileen Gray. This juxtaposition of two styles so different pushes the limits of classic codes and demonstrates the creativity of the director, anxious to create a blatant aesthetic contrast.

« Once upon a time in Hollywood », Quentin Tarantino, 2019

Library table, Pierre Jeanneret

How can we talk about contemporary cinematography without mentioning Hollywood’s enfant terrible Quentin Tarantino! The famous director of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, he releases in 2019 Once upon a time in Hollywood, his ninth film dedicated to the American film industry which takes place in Hollywood in the 70s. With lots of references to Western and the impressive actor play of two protagonists Leo Di Caprio and Brad Pitt, this film oscillates between violence and comedy, action film and melodrama, with a Tarantinesque sauce. In the scene making a hint at his other cinematographic masterpiece Inglorious Bastards, Di Caprio ignites the Nazis during their meeting on the illuminating table of … Pierre Jeanneret!
The choice of furniture quite unexpected, knowing that this table was designed in the 1950s for the University of Chandigarh in India long after the Second World War. But as in all Tarantino’s films, humor, caricature and fiction mix, we let ourselves be carried away by the unique universe created by the director.

Beyond a narrative enriched by Design, some films are a real visual treat. With or without the emblematic pieces of design, these films occupy us, inspire us and make us dream. As the cult phrase by André Barzin claims during the opening of the narrative of Jean Luc Godard’s Contempt (1963) « Cinema replaces our world with a world that matches our desires ».

Cinema or design lovers, we wish you a nice film session!

At a time when the megalopolises are developing more and more, when the cities, formerly smaller, become large agglomerations, where the close suburbs end up merging in the big cities, what becomes of our houses?

In the city, each house can sometimes have a specific function and through its architecture it will then be possible to differentiate it from other buildings.

But what is a house? How to build it? How to design it? Over the ages and depending on the country, an architectural style, a proper construction method has developed. Can we classify everything, can we easily recognize them?

Many questions arise!

Through this journey through architecture, let’s first discover what a house is, and then how was designed over time « the house of tomorrow »!

1.What is a House?

It has always been important, for architects (Lutyens, Wright, Le Corbusier …), constructers (such as Jean Prouvé) to think about a perfect house, depending on the location, a specific order and the epoch … How should this house be?

Sometimes the houses look the same, but are they really the same? Can we say that there is a regional, local style where nothing would derogate from the ancestral rule? This research on houses – as on other architectural elements – was carried out by the spouses Hilla and Bernd Becher, founders of the Düsseldorf School.

Nevertheless the houses seem so different, between those designed in stone…

… Or those made of wood and straw!

The house can also be made of ICE. Through the centuries, but also from country to country, the house has taken different forms because the climates change, the developments in the countries are different. This famous icehouse, the Igloo, has only been made with one material and has kept this circular shape since the dawn of time!

The house can be made of GLASS! It is transparent, minimal, simple but very architectural. From the modernist architecture of Pierre Charreau to the architectural minimalism of Philip Johnson and Mies van Der Rohe, the house is designed to enhance its lightness! Let’s not forget the rare house of Jean Prouvé, built in 1958 with the CIMT.

The house can also be made in STONE… The stone means resistance, strength but also attachment to nature and in this case precisely, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright had created this house on the waterfall, for the Kaufmanns, as an architecture that would arise from nature …

But it is better not built the house in STRAW, it is too risky!

The house made of WOOD! Designed by Le Corbusier for its shed by the sea, the wooden house is an ancestral architecture that dates back to the mists of time! Le Corbusier who, all his life, put forward the use of concrete in architecture, used wood for this house. By this simplified construction, it recalls a principle stated in the 1920s:

What is a house for?
We enter,
We carry out methodical functions
(..) Functional elements can be aligned in one circuit (..)

It is sometimes better that the house is made of BRICKS!

The house is CONCRETE. Material used since antiquity, it is a symbol of resistance in construction! Reappearing essentially in the 19th century, Le Corbusier put it forward in 1933 in his Athens Charter, indicating that concrete is a material that does not cheat. Concrete mainly generates geometric shapes, often in light colors.

However, concrete is sometimes COLORED! The Mexican architect Luis Barragan quickly understood the power of colorful appearance! In Mexico, color has always been the rule in crafts. From this stems the use of color by Luis Barragan for more rhythm in the spaces! But let’s not forget Ettore Sottsass too.

The house can be GEOMETRIC and MINIMAL, with perfect geometry, even! The modern world of the 20s and 30s sees the development in Europe of different schools of architecture which have this common point of purifying architecture of any decor which would appear superfluous!

The origin of this principle could be written by Adolf Loos in Crimes and Ornaments in 1908 … The architecture therefore becomes a succession of cubes, squares, perfect rectangles which intelligently fit together and form this modern vision of the world! From Robert Mallet-Stevens to Walter Gropius, via Théo van Doesburg, we discover this change over a too short period of 20 years.

The house may have a FREE SHAPE plan. This architecture will be developed in different ways, by architects like Lautner, Niemeyer … In the case of Casa Arango, designed in 1972 by John Lautner, in Acapulco (Mexico), the house is detached from the rock to offer a breathtaking view of the Acapulco bay! The shape therefore adapts to the natural space of the place.

The house plan can be DECONSTRUCTED! The traditional way of building a house is to put your plan on a flat surface, on the ground! Some architects will think, during the years 60-70, to transform, even adapt the angle of construction of a house. Claude Parent developed in France the idea of an oblique construction which he would use for a new contemporary architecture. This will be the case for certain private houses, such as Maison Drusch in 1963, and then for certain hypermarkets!

The house can also be – or partially – PREFABRICATED. With the development of the economy throughout the XIXth century, the construction needs to simplify the process with the production of elements in series; these elements become standard.
During the 20th century, prefabrication has developed…

After the First World War, and due to necessity of reconstruction, one of the first models of demountable houses is imported from the US. It will be exhibited in 1926 at the first Salon des Arts Ménagers. It is a question of developing a new economy of production of standardized elements and of rapidly rebuilding housing groups in disaster zones.

In the 1920s, architects close to the modern movements in Europe – France (Union of Modern Artists), Germany (Bauhaus) etc. – think about the standardization of construction elements to make metal houses in series! Architects like Urbain Cassan are developing these ideas in an innovative group: the Technical Office for the Use of Steel (OTUA) which works on the concept of metal houses, presented by the journal ACIER.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the USA again brought its various techniques and methods for the development of prefabrication. These elements have existed for some since the Chicago School!



One of the masters of prefabrication in France, during the 20th century, was Jean Prouvé.
He worked all his life on the development of « manufactured homes ». From the BLPS holiday home, presented in 1939 at the Salon des Arts Ménagers, to the construction of “la Maison de Jours Meilleurs”, in 1956, Jean Prouvé developed different construction models based on a self-supporting structure, composed of standard elements made serial!

… Let’s not forget the many essays, books, exhibitions and writings on the houses!

Stay tuned for Part II…

Over the centuries, some architects took interest in imagining architectures that don’t follow any particular style or tradition. In Antiquity, Daedalus – inventor and architect of Greek mythology – had already created an architecture with perfect geometry, but with a very specific interior arrangement. Today, other architects like Junya Ishigami create unique universes and invent spaces that appear as a new model for living. We are therefore moving towards a more utopian architecture.

This research has been carried out before, it is not a 20th century invention! In France, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (architect, urban planner and French utopian) was a real precursor in the 18th century. He draws on ancient architecture, which he then adapts to the 18th century one, thus leading to the appearance of the famous neoclassical style.

At the beginning of the 20th century, other new forms for houses appeared. This is the case of the Einstein Tower built by the architect Erich Mendelsohn, in Potsdam in 1914. Its unique design refers to the dynamism and the avant-garde of German expressionism at the time!

In the very prolific post-war period, the cinema puts ahead this dreamy “house of tomorrow” … Jacques Tati in his film « My Uncle » describes a wealthy uncle, the business owner who ordered a modern house, different from the others and with elaborate gadgets that impress the neighborhood!

But this kind of modern house also exists at this time, outside the cinema! This is particularly the case for André Bloc’s house in Meudon, which is almost completely open from the outside. He founded and directed the « Espace » movement which aimed to combine Art with new architectural and urban techniques of the time!

… Let’s continue with André Bloc, one of the key figures in the “utopian” architecture, with his Habitacles projects which he designed from the early 60s. The outdoor space is sculptural, and the interior space is usable. From this concept will appear an “Habitacle” house built in 1964 on the Spanish coast.

This new architecture, which developed in France during the 60s and 70s, also appeared in the form of so-called organic houses. We then meet architects like Jacques Couëlle, Pascal Haüsermann, Pierre Székély, Daniel Grataloup…

At the same time, another model of architectural research appeared which was nothing like the classical model. Advocated by the collaboration between Claude Parent and Paul Virilio, founders of the Architecture Principe group, the volumes take a specific form which stem from Paul Virilio’s interest in the specific architecture of blockhouses!

… Let’s not forget the children who thought very quickly about the house of their dreams!

With the 1960s and 1970s, groups of international architects, such as Archizoom in Italy and Archigram in England, worked on a completely new concept of « capsule » houses. Within this revolting society, the urban world needs to be completely rethought!

From the Sputnik space capsule a whole body of research on the house as a housing capsule was born in the 1960s, which would then be reduced to minimum habitat. From the “Maison tout en plastique” by Ionel Schein, presented in 1956 at the Salon des Arts Ménagers to the “Capsule Home” by Warren Chalk (from the Archigram group), in 1964, without forgetting the “Bulles” houses by Jean-Benjamin Maneval, the concept of house is revolutionized! Hans Walter Müller’s inflatable capsule houses are also very innovative in this same spirit. In this movement of very revolutionary architecture, Ionel Schein did not fail to recall: « we were illegals (…)« .

… And to end this long list, here is a contemporary architecture, the Lemoine house, an experimental architecture built by Rem Koolhass in 1998, in Floirac (France). With its internal platform adjustable on 3 levels, the owner can modulate the space as he wishes, according to his desires …

Pour conclure !

… Whether a house is in the middle of nowhere,

… whether it is in the midst of a town,

… whether it’s experimental,

…Or it is perfect,

… finally, they always impress us!