Une école de Jean Prouvé transformée en galerie d'art
Rachel SabléPhotographs: Studio Rémi Villaggi
The article
On the website of L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, on 8 August 2024, Rachel Sablé looks back at Jean and Henri Prouvé's demountable school in Vantoux, listed as a historic monument since 2001, into which Galerie Nathan Chiche moved in May 2024.
The article traces the genesis of the building: winners of the competition launched in 1949 by the Ministry of National Education, the two brothers received in May 1950 the commission for two prototypes, intended for Bouqueval (Val-d'Oise) and Vantoux (Moselle), the former having been shown in 2016 in the Jardin des Tuileries in an adaptation by the Ateliers Jean Nouvel. The author describes the metal structure of axial portal frames supporting aluminium façade panels and draws on the magazine's archives: in the “Constructions scolaires” section of issue no. 34 (February-March 1951), the architect stressed series production, ease of assembly and adaptability to any terrain, and praised the slope, the orientation and the trees of the Vantoux site.
In the building, renovated in 2018, Nathan Chicheportiche plans four exhibitions a year devoted to pairs of artists, educational programmes with neighbouring schools, talks, performances and readings, as well as a bookshop. The inaugural exhibition in summer 2024, Alphabet pour adultes, placed Jean-Pierre Raynaud's Vanités on the original desks, around collective and personal history, the search for meaning and the link between education and creation.
« C'est entre ces murs démontables, jamais démodés, classés Monument Historique en 2001, que s'est installée en mai 2024 la galerie Nathan Chiche »
Read the article on the A'A' — L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui website ↗
The article as published
Online edition, 8 August 2024
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