Jean Prouvé (1901 – 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. In 1947, Prouvé conceived his first demountable house, a 10-by-12 meter steel and wood unit. With no foundations, the dwelling was assembled by hand and supported by a two-legged structure he called the “axial portal frame”, which he patented and used in all his subsequent modular housing.
