This remarkable building stands as a valuable testimony to post-war research on prefabrication, here applied to a high-end apartment building. It features a refined design, highlighted by the dynamic sweep of a partially open triangular canopy marking the entrance. Structural concrete is combined with dressed stone and prefabricated aluminum façade panels, a technique rarely used for luxury buildings of the period.

For this project, builder Jean Prouvé developed prefabricated aluminum panels for the three curtain walls, using an innovative system for the time : each panel incorporates ventilation and slides vertically within the façade via counterweights, serving as a sunshade, shutter, or guardrail depending on its position – high, low, or inclined.

Perfectly preserved, the dynamic and colorful decoration of the building’s common areas, as well as the landscaped gardens, were designed by painter Noël Emile-Laurent, in a graphic style characteristic of the 1950s.

Architect Lionel Mirabaud (1916–1995) studied under Emmanuel Pontremoli, André Leconte, and Eugène Beaudouin at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, graduating in 1944. He partnered with Jean Chemineau and opened an architecture studio in Paris in 1949, later undertaking study missions on prefabrication and industrialized construction processes in England and the United States. He served on the editorial board of André Bloch’s journal L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui and was aligned with the post-war movement seeking a synthesis of the arts.

Mirabaud carried out numerous projects in France, Haiti, and Morocco. His notable works include the French Institute in Port-au-Prince, the French Pavilion at the 1950 International Exhibition in Haiti, residential buildings in Paris and the surrounding region, as well as individual houses. He also served as a delegate to the UN and UNESCO from 1949 to 1952.

In the 1960s, Lionel Mirabaud collaborated with architect Claude Parent, notably on the experimental megastructure housing project Villes Cônes.

Straddling the roles of architect, engineer, and designer, Jean Prouvé left a singular mark on the history of architecture and construction.

A master ironworker in Nancy during his early years, Jean Prouvé became a “builder” in 1930, quickly moving away from decorative ironwork toward industrial furniture suited to the technological advances of the 20th century. He used metal to execute secondary structures on construction sites in collaboration with the modern architects of his time : Eugène Beaudoin and Marcel Lods for the Maison du Peuple in Clichy-sur-Seine, and Pierre Jeanneret for a demountable pavilion model (8×8, 1941).

Through standardized construction using prefabricated components, Prouvé entered the field of domestic architecture. The devastation caused by World War II created an urgent need to rebuild housing on a large scale and at low cost. In this context, the French Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Planning commissioned Prouvé to design several pavilions to experiment with houses assembled from parts manufactured at his Maxéville workshop (Nancy), where he tested folded sheet metal, a hallmark of his technical genius.

In 1949, Prouvé developed the “Métropoles,” a series of 25 fully prefabricated homes. The central-frame structure was reused in industrialized houses in Meudon, built in the Paris suburbs in collaboration with his brother Henri and architect André Sive. The pilot development included ten Standard houses, known as the “Métropole” type, featuring stone walls and foundations. Throughout his career, Jean Prouvé built several villas that represent the pinnacle of his synthesis of industry, furniture, and construction systems, many of which are now protected as Historic Monuments.