About the designer

Jean Prouvé (b. 1901–1984) was a designer, engineer, and builder whose pioneering use of sheet steel transformed the language of furniture and architecture. Trained as a metalworker, he brought industrial methods of stamping, bending, and welding to modern design.

Working alongside leading figures of the modern movement, Prouvé developed a philosophy based on the principles of construction, believing that ‘there is no difference between the construction of a house and that of a piece of furniture’. His work exposed the load-bearing structure through visible joints, folded metal forms, and engineered components, making the systems at work integral to the aesthetic.

The Standard Chair, Antony Chair as well as the prefabricated houses or landmark projects such as the Maison du Peuple in Clichy, exemplify how Prouvé's designs became defining works of modernism. Today, his work continues to be a landmark in twentieth-century design, uniting technical precision with functional clarity.