Key facts

Product:
Table from Air France Unité d'habitation
Manufacturer:
Phillips
Architonic ID:
4104240
Country:
United States
Category:
Furnishings

Product description

An important Table from the Air France Unité d'habitation, Brazzaville, Congo
African wood and bordeaux-lacquered steel
28 3/4 x 76 3/4 x 35 in.
(73 x 195 x 88.9 cm)

In 1949 and the early 1950s, JEAN PROUVE worked on various projects in Africa based on prefabricated parts made in Nancy, France, and then shipped to their final destination. Using this method, a prototype house was built in Niamey in five months. Two small buildings followed shortly thereafter in Brazzaville to house French business interests. By far the largest undertaking of this kind was the Unité d'Habitation, completed in 1952, for Air France's personnel stationed in Brazzaville. The fassade featured Prouvé's aluminum panels and his innovative system of vertical and horizontal metal blinds used for ventilation. The interior comprised sixty-three rooms of six different types and sizes. Charlotte Perriand was in charge of the decoration, and she used many pieces designed and produced by JEAN PROUVE, such as the table offered here. This table model and drawings detailing construction and measurements were published as early as 1946 in Le Décor d'Aujourd'hui, and the model also appears in Ateliers JEAN PROUVE ads that same year.

Literature:
Michel Dufet, " Techniques Francais pour la Reconstruction: Le Systeme
Jean Prouve," Le Decor d'Aujourd'hui,
no. 37, 1946, p. 24 (for the table model and drawings)
Galeries Jousse Seguin and Enrico Navarra, JEAN PROUVE, Paris, 1998, pp. 66 (for a drawing of the model) and 140