Place Jean Prouvé

The Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein near Basel is home to buildings designed by leading architects and its streets are named after the designers of Vitra’s furniture classics: Charles-Eames-Strasse, Ray-Eames-Strasse, George-Nelson-Strasse, Verner-Panton-Weg, Alexander-Girard-Passage. Now the plaza near the Fire Station and Vitra Schaudepot, which has evolved into the centre of the south campus over the last years, is getting a name of its own: ‘Place Jean Prouvé’.

Vitra has been producing designs by the great French designer Jean Prouvé (1901-1984) since 2002. Over the ensuing years, the company’s understanding of his work has deepened as the relationship with the Prouvé family has developed into a friendship. To express the importance of Jean Prouvé and his oeuvre to Vitra, the central plaza on the south campus is now being inaugurated as ‘Place Jean Prouvé’.

Place Jean Prouvé is marked with a street sign and outfitted with furniture by Jean Prouvé. A wall mosaic formed from components of Prouvé designs separates it from the residential buildings opposite and a portrait of Jean Prouvé is mounted on the wall of the adjacent White House – home to the Wunderkammer exhibition – while on the wall of the building at the south campus entrance, a large reproduction of the ‘Ateliers Jean Prouvé’ colour chart has been brought. On the plaza itself, a Citroën Type H converted into a food truck offers on certain days refreshments to visitors, who can also choose to grab a bite at the Depot Deli.