.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
C’est en 1939, que Jean Prouvé, répondant à l’effort de guerre, conçoit dans ses ateliers de Maxéville un de ses premiers bâtiments préfabriqués : un baraquement militaire destiné à abriter 4 à 12 hommes. Il en réalise près de 450 sur commande du général Dumontier, qui accompagneront les déplacements de ses hommes durant les premiers mois de combat. Ce premier prototype pose les fondements des principes constructifs développés depuis plusieurs années par l’auto-proclamé ‘ouvrier-constructeur’. Le système du portique central en ‘compas’ permet de soutenir à lui seul la charge du toit. Par ailleurs, l’utilisation du bois et de la tôle pliée, des matériaux locaux et abondants, permettent des structures légères et bon marché construites en sept heures. Une solution rapide, économique et modulable faisant de Jean Prouvé, le spécialiste du logement d’urgence et provisoire dans un contexte de croissance démographique et urbaine inédite.
En effet, au sortir de la guerre, en 1946, le ministère de la Reconstruction et de l’Urbanisme, saluant l’engagement de Jean Prouvé dans la Résistance ainsi que ses recherches industrielles, lui commande près de 500 maisons démontables ‘6x6’ de 36 mètres carrés pour reloger les sinistrés lorrains et francs-comtois. Ces habitats cloisonnés de trois pièces et habitables le jour même permettent aux populations rurales de rester sur place durant la reconstruction. Cette commande inaugure l’important travail de recherche autour des ‘petites machines d’architecture’ qui mène en 1956 à la ‘Maison des Jours Meilleurs’, réponse de Jean Prouvé à l’appel à l’aide de l’Abbé Pierre, afin de loger les sans-abris de Paris en situation d’urgence. Bien qu’abandonné par manque de financement, ce projet matérialise à lui seul, l’œuvre et le combat de Jean Prouvé : répondre aux besoins d’urgence avec un esprit d’avant-garde et des préoccupations humanistes. La maison démontable ‘6x6’, au cœur des premières réflexions sur l’habitat d’urgence fait partie d’un héritage visionnaire encore aujourd’hui riche d’enseignements.
In 1939, Jean Prouvé, responding to the war effort, designed one of his first prefabricated buildings in his Maxéville workshops: a military barracks designed to house 4 to 12 men. He made nearly 450 of them on order from General Dumontier, which were used to support the movements of his men during the first months of combat. This first prototype laid the foundations of the construction principles developed over several years by the self-proclaimed 'worker-builder'. The central 'compass' gantry system could support the weight of the roof on its own. Furthermore, the use of wood and folded sheet metal, materials that could be found locally and in abundance, allowed for light and inexpensive structures that could be built in seven hours. They were a quick, economical and flexible solution that confirmed Jean Prouvé as the specialist in emergency and temporary housing in a context of unprecedented demographic and urban growth.
Indeed, at the end of the war, in 1946, the Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Planning, acknowledging Jean Prouvé's commitment to the Resistance as well as his industrial research, commissioned him to build nearly 500 '6x6' demountable houses of 36 square meters each to rehouse those affected by the war in Lorraine and Franche-Comté. These partitioned, three-room, same-day dwellings allowed rural populations to remain in situ during the reconstruction work. This commission also inaugurated the important research work on 'small architectural machines' that led, in 1956, to the 'Maison des Jours Meilleurs', Jean Prouvé's response to Abbé Pierre's call for help to house the homeless in Paris in an emergency situation. Although this project was abandoned due to lack of funding, it was in itself the embodiment of Jean Prouvé's work and struggle: to respond to emergency needs with an avant-garde spirit and humanistic values. The '6x6' demountable house was at the heart of the early thinking on emergency housing and is part of a visionary legacy that is still rich in lessons today.
En effet, au sortir de la guerre, en 1946, le ministère de la Reconstruction et de l’Urbanisme, saluant l’engagement de Jean Prouvé dans la Résistance ainsi que ses recherches industrielles, lui commande près de 500 maisons démontables ‘6x6’ de 36 mètres carrés pour reloger les sinistrés lorrains et francs-comtois. Ces habitats cloisonnés de trois pièces et habitables le jour même permettent aux populations rurales de rester sur place durant la reconstruction. Cette commande inaugure l’important travail de recherche autour des ‘petites machines d’architecture’ qui mène en 1956 à la ‘Maison des Jours Meilleurs’, réponse de Jean Prouvé à l’appel à l’aide de l’Abbé Pierre, afin de loger les sans-abris de Paris en situation d’urgence. Bien qu’abandonné par manque de financement, ce projet matérialise à lui seul, l’œuvre et le combat de Jean Prouvé : répondre aux besoins d’urgence avec un esprit d’avant-garde et des préoccupations humanistes. La maison démontable ‘6x6’, au cœur des premières réflexions sur l’habitat d’urgence fait partie d’un héritage visionnaire encore aujourd’hui riche d’enseignements.
In 1939, Jean Prouvé, responding to the war effort, designed one of his first prefabricated buildings in his Maxéville workshops: a military barracks designed to house 4 to 12 men. He made nearly 450 of them on order from General Dumontier, which were used to support the movements of his men during the first months of combat. This first prototype laid the foundations of the construction principles developed over several years by the self-proclaimed 'worker-builder'. The central 'compass' gantry system could support the weight of the roof on its own. Furthermore, the use of wood and folded sheet metal, materials that could be found locally and in abundance, allowed for light and inexpensive structures that could be built in seven hours. They were a quick, economical and flexible solution that confirmed Jean Prouvé as the specialist in emergency and temporary housing in a context of unprecedented demographic and urban growth.
Indeed, at the end of the war, in 1946, the Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Planning, acknowledging Jean Prouvé's commitment to the Resistance as well as his industrial research, commissioned him to build nearly 500 '6x6' demountable houses of 36 square meters each to rehouse those affected by the war in Lorraine and Franche-Comté. These partitioned, three-room, same-day dwellings allowed rural populations to remain in situ during the reconstruction work. This commission also inaugurated the important research work on 'small architectural machines' that led, in 1956, to the 'Maison des Jours Meilleurs', Jean Prouvé's response to Abbé Pierre's call for help to house the homeless in Paris in an emergency situation. Although this project was abandoned due to lack of funding, it was in itself the embodiment of Jean Prouvé's work and struggle: to respond to emergency needs with an avant-garde spirit and humanistic values. The '6x6' demountable house was at the heart of the early thinking on emergency housing and is part of a visionary legacy that is still rich in lessons today.