Jean Prouvé

Jean Prouvé completed his training as a metal artisan before opening his own workshop in Nancy in 1924. In the following years, he created numerous furniture designs, and in 1947, Prouvé established his own factory. Due to disagreements with the majority shareholders, he left the company in 1953. During the following decades, Prouvé was a consulting engineer on several important architectural projects in Paris.

He left his mark on architectural history again in 1971, playing a significant role in selecting the design of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers for the Centre Pompidou as chairman of the competition jury. Prouvé's work encompasses a wide range of objects, from a letter opener to lighting and furniture to façade elements and large exhibition structures – essentially, almost anything suited to industrial production methods.

In 2002, under close coöperation with the Prouvé family, Vitra began to issue re-editions of designs by this great French constructeur.