Members’ exhibitions

Seventy years after Abbé Pierre’s memorable plea, GALERIE PATRICK SEGUIN is pleased to present “Jean Prouvé, Maison Les Jours Meilleurs, 1956”: an immersive exhibition dedicated to the pavilion designed by Jean Prouvé at the request of Abbé Pierre.

Optimistically named “Better Days”, the 57m2 (610 sq ft) house was shown in Paris on Quai Alexandre-III in February 1956, as part of the very popular Salon des Arts Ménagers. Erected in seven hours, this demountable prefabricated architecture was based on the principle of a “central load-bearing core” process developed by Prouvé in the early 1950s.

For this exhibition, Galerie Patrick Seguin is showing the principals elements of this industrialized house: the load-bearing domestic block, fully equipped and rehabilitated to its original function, the almost 9  meters long ridge beam and the 4 kinds of façade panels (window, door and solid) while the visitor, equipped with a virtual reality headset, is invited to discover the entire pavilion as it was first presented to the public on the banks of the Seine in 1956.

A compilation of archives, photographs and documents from the period completes the experience of reliving a key moment in the history of architecture of the 20th century.