Dezeen Magazine

Richard Rogers updates Jean Prouvé's 6x6 Demountable House for Design Miami/Basel

Design Miami/Basel 2015: architect Richard Rogers has redesigned a flatpack home originally created by Jean Prouvé as a housing solution for victims of the second world war (+ slideshow).

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Richard Rogers and Ivan Harbour

The architects' London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners was asked to adapt French architect Jean Prouvé's 1944 design for use as a holiday home with modern additions. The new version is due to go on display at this year's edition of Design Miami/Basel, opening next week.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

The original 6x6 design was developed by Prouvé specifically for rehousing civilians in Lorraine, France, following the second world war. It was one of a series of prefabricated steel, wood and aluminium houses Prouvé created to tackle similar problems around the country.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

The designs feature a single room with the dimensions reflected in their names, and were created to be easy to transport, assemble and dismantle.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

Another original example, one of two surviving versions of the Maison Démontable 8x8, was put up for sale by Galerie Patrick Seguin at Design Miami in 2013 for $2.3 million.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

Roger's adaptation was also commissioned by Galerie Patrick Seguin, a French art dealer specialising in 20th-century furniture and architecture. The design is based on Prouvé's original plans but has cylindrical pods containing a modern kitchen and bathroom, a hot water system, and solar panels to generate its own electricity.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

Rogers aimed to "preserve the integrity of the original as a single living space," so the new additions are housed in satellite structures and a series of "service trolleys". These modules can be added in various arrangements around the central structure.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

According to the gallery, the aim was to create a potential blueprint for further adaptations of Prouvé's other Demountable House designs.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
6x6 Demountable House, France, 1944

The adaptation of the 6x6 Demountable House will be displayed alongside the architect's Total Filling Station from 1969 – a prefabricated petrol station with an almost cylindrical plan and glazed walls.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Interior of 6x6 Demountable House, Seoul, Korea, 1944

The two buildings will be part of the Design At Large section of the Design Miami/Basel fair in Switzerland from 15 - 21 June.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel

The gallery, which specialises in architect-designers like Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier, is also releasing five monographs dedicated to Prouvé's Demountable House designs. The books are the first in a series of 15 that will be released as three boxed sets between 2015 and 2016.

All pictures provided by Galerie Patrick Seguin.

Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Site plan – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Plan one – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Plan two – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Plan three – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Section – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Kitchen pod
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Bathroom pod
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Services distribution diagram – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Installation diagram one – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Installation diagram two – click for larger image
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Ateliers Jean Prouvé presentation drawing, May 1945
Demountable House by Jean Prouvé and Richard Rogers at Miami/Basel
Advertising brochure for the Ateliers Jean Prouvé, circa 1950-1951 – click for larger image