Jean Prouvé 4x4 Military Shelter, 1939. Jean Prouvé's architectural work with wood remains little known, in the shadow of his work with metal. Yet he often used it in his constructions. His work with wood began during the Second World War due to the shortage of steel, and continued steadily throughout his work. The 4x4 Military Shelter is a great example of it. In November 1939, Jean Prouvé responded to a call for tenders from France’s 5th Regiment of Engineers for light, movable campaign shelters for 4 to 12 men; the primary requirements were ease and rapidity of assembly. Opting for a 4-meter grid, he offered General Maurice Dumontier a semi-metallic prototype that matched the brief perfectly. Impressed by the efficiency of the system, Dumontier ordered some 300 units. As steel restrictions were already looming, the pressed steel components for the frame were turned out in a month by the workshop on Rue des Jardiniers in Nancy, while the wooden facade panels were subcontracted out to companies in Lorraine and the Alps. Here Prouvé demonstrated both his ability to produce a prefabrication program under pressure and his workshop’s capacity to implement it. With the War intensifying, manufacture of the army shelters was suspended, but Jean Prouvé and Pierre Jeanneret, convinced of the buildings’ potential for adaptation to civilian use, went ahead with numerous designs for permanent housing versions. #jeanprouve #jeanprouvé #prouve #prouvé #demountablearchitecture #architecture #demountablehouses