Éric Touchaleaume is a Paris-based antique collector with a profound attachment to Marseille and to Jean Prouvé. In 2011, he bought la Friche l'Escalette, a disused lead mine in the National Parc des Calanques south of Marseille. This unique industrial heritage site was the perfect backdrop to Touchaleaume's project: to create a private cultural park to share his passion for contemporary sculpture and Jean Prouvé's lightweight architecture. The park opens this summer with its key exhibit, Prouvé's 1958 steel-frame prototype of the 'Tropical Habitat for Cameroun'; the first time it's ever been exhibited.
Touchaleaume discovered the prototype by pure chance. He was travelling through Cameroon in search of one of the architect's tropical school buildings, where he crisscrossed the country for two months, only to find most of the structures derelict or demolished. Despondent, he was driving through the Yaoundé suburbs to see the German missions when he chanced upon some school buildings with their aluminium roofs still intact. One was slightly taller than the rest.
'I instantly recognised Prouvé's famous prototype with eight wave panels instead of the usual seven of the standard models. After some intense negotiation with the village chiefs, I was told it was all or nothing,' he recalls. 'I then became the proud owner of five Prouvé houses including the original prototype.'
Some were dismantled to provide parts to reconstruct the prototype following the archival blueprint. Posts, girders and purlins are made in Prouvé’s signature technique of folded sheet steel. For economy, the metal frame was replaced by locally sourced okan, an insect-repellant African teak so dense it has to be cut with a metal chainsaw.
The overhang of the parasol roof ensured protection from harsh sun and monsoon rains, while the space between the roof and the dropped ceiling combined with the perforated 'airplane wing' wall vents provide amazingly effective natural air conditioning, with the inside temperature up to 18°C cooler than outside – equally appreciated in the Mediterranean's summer heat.
The installation's location is an industrial heritage site, called La Friche de l’Escalette; a disused lead-extracting plant that operated from 1851 to 1926 on Marseille's Route des Goudes
Touchaleaume discovered one of Prouvé’s original 'Tropical Habitat for Cameroun' houses during a trip to the African country
The architect's reconstructed prototype is now furnished with armchairs and a square table by Pierre Jeanneret, and a low table by Charlotte Perriand
The furniture is drawn from Éric Touchaleaume's private collection
Artist Marjolaine Dégremont’s Touching the Sky is an installation created for the 'Tropical Habitat' installation's inauguration. The piece is situated in what was once the industrial site's crushing pit
Dégremont also created the Cat's Eye sculpture in bronze, also on site
INFORMATION
Guided visits are available until 30 September, by reservation only. For more information, visit the Friche l’Escalette website
Photography: Michael DePasquale / Martina Maffini
ADDRESS
La Friche l'Escalette
Route des Goudes
Impasse de l'Escalette
13008 Marseille
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Gingerbread City: architects sculpt London out of the season's favourite treatUntil December 29 in Chelsea, see London brought to life in a seasonal-appropriate medium by leading architects and designers
-
New Revox B77 MK III reel-to-reel tape recorder, and more cassette tape-based trickeryThe new Revox B77 MK III might be the ultimate analogue flex. In response, we’ve explored the outer reaches of cassette tape design
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Soviet brutalist architecture: beyond the genre's striking imageSoviet brutalist architecture offers eye-catching imagery; we delve into the genre’s daring concepts and look beyond its buildings’ photogenic richness
-
Tour a warm and welcoming modernist sanctuary set on the edge of a Los Angeles canyonThe Rustic Canyon Residence by Assembledge and Jamie Bush brings together the very best of mid-century influences, with an added slice of contemporary Californian craft and style
-
Tour this Bel Vista house by Albert Frey, restored to its former glory in Palm SpringsAn Albert Frey Bel Vista house has been restored and praised for its revival - just in time for the 2025 Palm Springs Modernism Week Preview
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreatThis overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior
-
A new exhibition marks Chandigarh’s modernist legacy‘Celebrating the Capitol’, an exhibition of photographic work by architect Noor Dasmesh Singh, opens just in time for the famed modernist Indian city’s anniversary
-
Join our tour of London Zoo, its modernist architecture and moreLondon Zoo is a well-established magnet for younger visitors, but there's plenty for the architecture enthusiast to admire too; our tour explores its modernist treasures for guests of all ages
