Into Africa: A Comparison of the Metal, Prefabricated Structures Proposed by Auguste Choisy (1893) and Jean Prouvé (1949) for the French Colonies

In 1949, French engineer and industrial designer Jean Prouvé (1901-1984)developed a housing prototype for the French colonies in West Africa. Threestructures were produced and erected: one in Niamey, Niger in 1949 and twoin Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo in 1951. The aluminum, prefabricated,modular structures were designed to be easily transported, assembled, anddisassembled.These Maisons Tropicales have been much discussed, exhibited, and curatedsince their rediscovery and salvage from ruin in 2000. The portrayals inevitablylaud Prouvé’s innovative and modern approach, yet the record of the typologyextends beyond Prouvé’s proposal; there is at least one French precedent toProuvé’s design that dates back to the late 19th century.In 1890, French engineer and architectural historian Auguste Choisy (1841-1909) developed a system of building construction for colonies in tropicalclimates: prefabricated, raised above the ground, framed with a light metalskeleton, and easily dis-assembled. The striking similarities between Choisy’splans and Prouvé’s prototypes do not end in the descriptions detailed here.The paper compares Prouvé’s Maisons Tropicales with Choisy’s colonial constructionsproposed more than fifty years earlier, examining in detail the fabricationtechniques, constructive systems, and formal compositions of each.

Volume Editors
John Quale, Rashida Ng & Ryan E. Smith

ISBN
978-0-935502-85-5