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Secretary by Marcel Gascoin edited by Arhec

About the Item

This oak desk from 1949 is an emblematic piece of Marcel Gascoin's work and of the housing Reconstruction period. Marcel Gascoin, born August 24, 1907 in Le Havre and died October 27, 1986 in Paris 13e1, was a decorator specializing in "serial furniture", who played a major role in the emergence of French design after the Second World War. Although Marcel Gascoin's first professional experience was fitting out shop windows in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, he remained a man of accessible, pragmatic modernism. His first creations followed the evolution of the Salon des arts ménagers, which focused on modern, economical, high-quality mass-produced furniture. At the 1938 show, he proposed a range of storage units, already showing the beginnings of organic design, but this story was interrupted in France and only continued in Northern Europe. In the aftermath of the war, Marcel Gascoin found a second chance thanks to his friendly ties with Raoul Dautry and Eugène Claudius-Petit - ministers in charge of reconstruction - which enabled him to establish himself at the forefront. In 1947, he coordinated the Exposition Internationale de l'Urbanisme et de l'Habitation: in charge of numerous stands (kitchen, lighting, AFNOR, etc.), he designed a model apartment for the reconstruction of Sotteville-lès-Rouen (Marcel Lods architecte). This idea of simple, modular furniture first appeared with Francis Jourdain at the beginning of the 20th century (les meubles interchangeables, 1912-1913); subsequently, decorators such as René Gabriel, Louis Sognot and Étienne-Henri Martin turned their attention to this question of a style combining quality and lower costs through prefabrication of modular elements. After René Gabriel's untimely death (1950), Marcel Gascoin became the leader of this research at the Salon des arts ménagers, overseeing the "Foyer d'aujourd'hui" section and the René-Gabriel prize - awarded for innovative mass-produced furniture. When the Reconstruction projects were completed, model apartments (Appartement témoin Perret in Le Havre) spread the ideas and objects promulgated at the Salon des arts ménagers throughout France. By presenting model layouts, Marcel Gascoin and his close associates imposed furniture that seemed as well adapted to the needs of the average household as the rest of the household equipment.
  • Creator:
    Marcel Gascoin (Designer)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 28.35 in (72 cm)Width: 30.32 in (77 cm)Depth: 10.63 in (27 cm)
  • Style:
    Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1949
  • Condition:
    Refinished.
  • Seller Location:
    PARIS, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU7846244348192

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Secretary by Marcel Gascoin edited by Arhec
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two-drawer shelving unit by Marcel Gascoin edited by Arhec
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Two-Drawer Shelves by Marcel Gascoin, Arhec, 1947
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Two-drawer shelf by Marcel Gascoin, ARHEC, 1947 Two-drawer Shelf created by Marcel Gascoin edited by ARHEC in 1947. This shelf is made from Oak wood. Presented in the UAM pavilion during the 1937 International Exhibition, the wall shelves on racks were used extensively by Marcel Gascoin. Playing on their freedom of arrangement, he invented modular storage walls where single, double or drawer shelves could be placed, as well as glass elements or a wall desk. The combination on racks allows for height adjustment; it gives the possibility (before consumer loans were commonplace) to equip themselves with successive purchases. (extract from "Marcel Gascoin, design utile" 2011) Marcel Gascoin was born in Le Havre, in the Perrey district, on 27 August 1907. Born into a family of sailors - his father was the head of a workshop in a practical school, in the carpentry section - he followed in his father's footsteps and became a carpenter and cabinetmaker by attending the applied arts section at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, and then the Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs in Paris. There he met Henri Sauvage, who encouraged him to focus on modern furniture. From then on, as he put it, he would adapt the container to the content. Recommended by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1930, he participated in the exhibition of the Union des artistes modernes. Four years later, he participated in a competition to design a boat cabin, which led to his meeting with Jean Prouvé, with whom he would work. From 1938 onwards, he took part in the Salon des Arts Ménagers and created a line of storage units with a particular design, which the war was to bring to a standstill in France, but which found an echo in Scandinavian countries. In the aftermath of the war, his links with Raoul Dautry and Claudius Petit, the ministers in charge of reconstruction, enabled him to play an important role in the production of space-saving furniture, adapting techniques tried and tested in boat cabins to save even more space and in social production. In 1947, he became curator of the International Exhibition of Urbanism and Housing. He coordinated the development of model flats (Sotteville-Lès-Rouen) and met the architect, Marcel Lods...
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