designboom joins VITRA for a jean prouvé-infused celebration at the vitra campus

AT THE VITRA CAMPUS FOR THE RELEASE OF JEAN PROUVÉ’S FAUTEUIL KANGOUROU CHAIR

On the occasion of Art Basel 2022, VITRA invited designboom to attend the release of Jean Prouvé’s Fauteuil Kangourou lounge chair re-issue at the Vitra Campus. Unveiled earlier this month, the Swiss furniture company staged an exhibition inside Zaha Hadid’s Fire Station for its release, where it celebrated the French architect and designer.

Limited to 150 pieces made in collaboration with Catherine Prouvé, the daughter of Jean Prouvé, the Fauteuil Kangourou lounge chair sold out shortly after its release.

all images © designboom unless otherwise stated

VITRA CONTINUES THE LEGACY OF JEAN PROUVÉ

One of the most significant designers of the twentieth century, Jean Prouvé was celebrated by influential contemporaries such as Le Corbusier, Fernand Léger and Alexander Calder. His oeuvre encompasses a wide range of objects that go from lighting to furniture, façade elements to prefabricated houses and modular building systems, as well as large exhibition structures.

VITRA HOLDS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST EXTENSIVE JEAN PROUVÉ COLLECTION

VITRA and Jean Prouvé’s history dates back to the 1980s, when Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of VITRA and an avid collector, bought a vintage Antony chair by the designer from 1954. The purchase initiated one of the world’s most extensive museum collection of furniture and objects by Jean Prouvé, which is now overseen by the Vitra Design Museum.

jean prouvé’s collection at the vitra design museum
image by florian böhm, © VITRA

Working in close cooperation with the Prouvé family, VITRA began producing several designs by the designer in 2002 with the aim of making these great products accessible again to a wider public. The portfolio has grown to include additional designs and special collaborations with G-Star and Virgil Abloh (see more on designboom here.)

‘To me, design has the inherent idea of being a bridge from the past, with an eye towards the future,’ Virgil Abloh explained when he launched his Prouvé chair. Abloh was also fascinated by the designs of Jean Prouvé and had an interest in exploring the Frenchman’s work from the outset of his collaboration with VITRA.

For its latest edition, VITRA referenced a historic version from the collection at the VITRA Design Museum. Like its name, the Fauteuil Kangourou features a structure that lets the seat carry the weight on the hind legs. The wooden side profiles also reflect this by being widest where the greatest stress is exerted. The latest version combines a natural oak base with metal legs in Prouvé Bleu Marcoule hue. The cushions are covered in a woven bouclé fabric featuring the same color.

‘It goes without saying that a lounge chair must be comfortable. Above and beyond comfort, the sculptural wooden side members of the Fauteuil Kangourou are among the most expressive elements in Jean Prouvé’s oeuvre — and yet are more than a formal exercise. Prouvé always adhered to the motto ‘form follows function’: the solid wooden structure supports the chair at the point where the greatest stress is exerted by the sitter. The front legs, on the other hand, are made of relatively thin steel tubes as they do not have to bear the primary load.’

It’s important to highlight that the name of the chair ‘Kangourou’, reveals Prouvé’s sense of humor: with some imagination, the silhouetted profile resembles the animal in a sitting position.

2022 also marks the year VITRA is adding several original Prouvé colors to the palette. Originally conceived by the designer himself, the colors drew from various sources of inspiration — his Bleu Vert describes the color of your green wheat, while the Gris Vermeer alludes to the grey tones in the work of painter Johannes Vermeer.