jean prouve' maison tropicale
hippoblog
The Maison Tropicale was designed to withstand most of the ravages of colonial life: still humidity, overpowering heat, relentless sunshine. The only thing its designer neglected to add was bullet-proofing. Now, a few Kalashnikov holes in the aluminium slatted sun-shades provide a discreet reminder of this building's extraordinary past.
Le Corbusier once said that Prouve "combines the soul of an engineer with that of an architect." But he was trained as neither. He was a builder-fabricator with a poetic understanding of humble materials like pressed tin, aluminum and plywood. In 1949, Prouve and his brother, Henri, won a competition staged by the government under de Gaulle to design inexpensive housing and administrative buildings for France's African colonies.
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hippoblog
- bill 7-04-2004 6:22 pm
The Maison Tropicale was designed to withstand most of the ravages of colonial life: still humidity, overpowering heat, relentless sunshine. The only thing its designer neglected to add was bullet-proofing. Now, a few Kalashnikov holes in the aluminium slatted sun-shades provide a discreet reminder of this building's extraordinary past.
- bill 8-31-2004 9:25 pm [add a comment]
Le Corbusier once said that Prouve "combines the soul of an engineer with that of an architect." But he was trained as neither. He was a builder-fabricator with a poetic understanding of humble materials like pressed tin, aluminum and plywood. In 1949, Prouve and his brother, Henri, won a competition staged by the government under de Gaulle to design inexpensive housing and administrative buildings for France's African colonies.
- bill 8-31-2004 9:29 pm [add a comment]