HOUSE OF THE WEEK: Maison de Verre, by Pierre Chareau

Maison de Verre was constructed between 1928 and 1932 and was designed by French furniture and interior designer Pierre Chareau in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The house is an early modernist house and was designed for a doctor and his family as well as his gynecology practice on the ground floor with three principles in mind. Firstly, honesty of materials, variable transparency of forms and the juxtaposition of traditionally industrial elements with traditionally domestic elements. The result is a building largely constructed out of steel, glass, glass blocks, rubberized floor tiles, mechanical devices and perforated metal sheeting. Perhaps most interestingly, the house was made way for by the demolition of a previous building on the site and a stubborn tenant on the top floor refuse to move out, hence the house was fitted into the space below, keeping the top floor and its tenant’s home intact. The house has been of continuous interest by academics and architects since its completion.

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