Cafétéria no. 300 chair, 1950
During 1950 the Prouvé research team worked on a new “semi-metal” chair—metal frame, wooden seat—that combined the principle of the prewar, metal-framed chair no. 4 with the mounting systems of the wooden models. The frame comprised two “uniform strength” bent steel rear uprights, to which were welded the curved tubes of the front legs, with braces holding them together. Development of a knockdown version of this semi-metal chair was speeded up in response to a call for tenders for an university restaurant: the Cafétéria des Arts et Métiers at the Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris. Like its wooden counterpart the CB 22, this model—available for export in June 1950—made no secret of being a kit chair. It comprised two metal lateral frames joined at the front by a tubular brace under the seat and at the back by a tapped brace fastened visibly on the outside of the upright with nuts and washers. This brace was protected by a profiled steel crosspiece to which were welded the seat attachment brackets. The rear sections were notched to receive the back. Variants involved details of mounting or the curving of the tubing, which in some cases—mainly on the export version—showed more or less tight creasing. The features were the same as for the fully assembled model: the metal parts were enameled or oven lacquered, the molded oak ply seat and back were varnished and the legs had rubber protector tips. Delivered in kit form with assembly instructions, this model was especially intended for export (for which it was given the name Tropique). Variants were developed in which the wood was replaced with materials more suited to a hot climate: in 1951 a prototype with straps was produced, together with a sailcloth version of the stretched-leather model proposed for the Air France headquarters in Brazzaville, Congo (ultimately equipped with the no. 300 knockdown model). This substantial market, together with that of the Cafétéria des Arts et Métiers, explains the large number (550) made in 1951.1 In addition to the university and export market, the model was also offered for home use—it featured in the Coque house presented by the Ateliers Jean Prouvé at the Salon des arts ménagers early in 1951—but was soon abandoned in favor of the fully assembled, more economical Métropole no. 305 chair. In 1953, when aluminum was being tested for furniture,2 a variant of the chair no. 300 was planned, using a cast frame whose assembly system had been meticulously developed by Jean Prouvé. This was the model he would return to in the late 1970s for a project with Formes nouvelles.3
1. “List of standard furniture series made in 1951”, Ateliers Jean Prouvé.
2. From 1950 onwards, Jean Prouvé, influenced by the company Aluminium Français as much as by the inherent constructive qualities of aluminum, studied the possibility of substituting this metal for other types of metal used in already existing furniture models, thus conceiving of hybrid processes of construction that included, for example, structural elements in both poured aluminum and in sheet aluminum. In 1953, these experimentations take concrete form in the fabrication of prototypes and limited edition series, but the cost of the production in aluminum limits the realistic possibilities of mass production, especially in terms of school furniture.
3. At M. Hazan’s, from Formes nouvelles, asking Jean Prouvé revisits certain studies at the end of the 1970s. Several studies are developed in collaboration with Jean Cini, one of Prouvé’s colleagues, but this project never came to fruition. Prouvé speaks of the difficulties associated with this project in Jean Prouvé par lui-même, p. 38-39.