A Passion for Jean Prouvé: From Furni­ture to Architecture

Centered on the work of Jean Prouvé, A Passion for Jean Prouvé offers a compre­hen­sive look at one of the most influ­en­tial figures of early modern design through the lens of collec­tors Laurence Seguin and Patrick Seguin. Having discov­ered Prouvé’s work in the late 1980s, the Seguines built a collec­tion that reflects his holis­tic approach — where furni­ture, archi­tec­ture, and engi­neer­ing are under­stood as part of a unified practice.

Beau­ti­fully produced, the volume presents their collec­tion in depth, ranging from rare proto­types to signif­i­cant archi­tec­tural works. High­lights include Prouvé’s Aluminum Métro­pole House and a survey of approx­i­mately forty key pieces, span­ning early designs from the 1930s through later works of the 1950s, along­side African furni­ture and exper­i­men­tal forms. Archival mate­ri­als — draw­ings, models, and photographs — provide further insight into his process and thinking.

The book also docu­ments the exhi­bi­tion held in Turin’s former Fiat build­ing, later reimag­ined by Renzo Piano, under­scor­ing Prouvé’s contin­ued rele­vance within contem­po­rary design discourse. Both schol­arly and visu­ally rich, this publi­ca­tion captures the breadth of Prouvé’s vision — where construc­tion, mate­r­ial, and form operate as a single, coherent language.