Jean Prouvé was born 1901 in France. His main achievement was in transferring manufacturing technology from industry to architecture, without losing aesthetic qualities. In 1947 he built the Maxéville factory where he produced furniture and undertook extensive architectural research on the uses of aluminium.

The metal furniture of Jean Prouvé is different from the typical Bauhaus by its rejection of the steel tube technique. Prouvé's preferences was for the durability and form of bent, pressed, compressed, and welded sheet metal. His dining chairs and the Potence wall lamp are his most famous objects.