Installation view of Ateliers Jean Prouvé at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008. Photo: Jason Mandella.

NEW YORK.-With all the excitement surrounding today’s digital manufacturing technologies, it is interesting to look again at an earlier historical moment of workshop mass-production as practiced by the great French architect and designer Jean Prouvé (1901-1984). This exhibition examines Prouvé’s collaborations within his Ateliers Jean Prouvé from idea to finished product. Equipped with a skilled creative team and the most advanced manufacturing technologies available, the Ateliers were laboratories where ideas were continuously refined and adapted to produce furnishings and prefabricated buildings on an industrial scale. The exhibit focuses on the evolution of the “Standard” Chair and includes other examples of furniture and buildings that demonstrate Prouvé’s approach to construction and his sensitive handling of materials, particularly his inventive applications of sheet metal. Ateliers Jean Prouvé is organized by Christian Larsen, Curatorial Assistant, Research and Collections, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art, with Max Risselada, Professor, Technical University Delft, the Netherlands. In addition to this exhibition, a selection of models, drawings, and building fragments related to Prouvé’s prefabricated housing will be on display on the sixth floor in the exhibition Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling from July 20 to October 20, 2008.