Modernist Sofa by Pierre Guariche, 1920s

Born in Paris in 1926, Pierre Guariche attended École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs and, following World War II, aligned himself with a group of young French designers who sought a modern alternative to the traditional decorative arts in France. Between 1953 and 1957, he collaborated with Joseph-André Motte and Michel Mortier under the acronym ARP (Atelier des Recherches Plastiques), designing furniture with innovative materials and forms. At the same time, he began working with important design firms, including Airborne, Meubles TV, Huchers-Minvielle, Disderot, and Steiner. In the late 50s Guariche became chief designer for the Belgian company Meurop, where he concentrated on developing elegant but low-cost furniture.

At the height of his career, Guariche worked mostly as an architect, designing many private residences as well as commercial and public spaces, including several ski stations. Overall, his designs reflect a commitment to simplicity, exploiting the potential of industrial production without sacrificing quality.

Born in Paris in 1901, Jean Prouvé came from an artistic home. His father, Victor Prouvé, a painter and sculptor, was a founding member of the Art Nouveau School of Nancy. Prouvé himself was trained as a metal artisan in Paris before attending engineering school in Nancy.

After opening his workshop in 1924, Prouvé designed and produced modern metal and wood furniture, and collaborated with major designers of the day, including Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand. Inspired by the aesthetics of aircraft design, he embraced bold, reduced forms, and championed steel and aluminum’s social and economic applications. He believed in the power of design to make the world a better place, and is credited with major developments in the prefabricated design arena, including refugee housing, his own home (a 1954 prototype), and the famed flat-packed Maison Tropicale.

In 1947, Prouvé started a factory at Maxéville specializing in furniture and prefabricated constructions; here he established a range of construction possibilities using folded or stamped sheet metal. From 1957-68, he served as head of the construction office of the Compagnie Industrielle de Matériel de Transport in Paris, before shifting gears to focus on his own architectural consulting firm in Paris between 1968 and 1984. In the last four years of his life, Prouvé focused his attention again on furniture design. He died in Nancy in 1984.

Born in Paris in 1902, Jean Royère initially established himself professionally in the import-export trade. In 1931, however, at the age of 29, he set up shop as an interior designer, learning his new trade at the cabinetmaking workshops of Paris’s Faubourg Saint-Antoine.

His first professional design commission, in 1934, was the highly celebrated fitting-out of the café Brasserie Carlton on the Champs Elysées. Thanks to this initial success and to his innovative, signature style—a combination of vivid colors, sinuous forms, and precious materials—Royère quickly established himself as a highly coveted international interior designer, fashioning lively, playful, and sophisticated rooms across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Notable patrons included King Hussein of Jordan, the Shah of Iran, and King Farouk. Royère retired in 1972, and divided his time between France and the United States until 1980, when he definitively moved to the U.S. He lived there until his death in 1981.