Robert Mallet-Stevens (24 March 1886 – 8 February 1945) was a French architect and designer.

Early life

Mallet-Stevens was born in Paris. His father and his grandfather were art collectors in Paris and Brussels. His great-uncles were the Belgian painters Joseph Stevens and Alfred Stevens. He received his formal training at the

École spéciale d'Architecture The École spéciale d'architecture (ÉSA; formerly École centrale d'architecture) is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France. The diploma from the École spéciale d'architecture (DESA), recognized by the St ...

in Paris between 1903 and 1906. He was primarily interested in collaboration between different art forms according to the precepts established by Viollet le Duc who had created the school with Émile Trélat in 1865. At the school he wrote ''Guerande'' about relationships between the different forms of art.

Career

In 1924, Mallet-Stevens published a magazine called ''La Gazette Des 7 Arts'' and at the same time with the help of

Ricciotto Canudo Ricciotto Canudo (; 2 January 1877, Gioia del Colle – 10 November 1923, Paris) was an early Italian film theoretician who lived primarily in France. In 1913, he published a bimonthly avant-garde magazine entitled ''Montjoie!'', promoting Cubism ...

founded the ''Club des amis du 7ème art''. A Paris street in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

, Rue Mallet-Stevens, was built by him in the 1920s and has on it six houses designed by him. A portfolio of 32 of Mallet-Stevens' designs was published under the title ''Une Cité Moderne'' in 1922. In addition to designing shops, factories, a fire station in Paris, apartment buildings, private homes, and interiors, he was one of the first architects to show an interest in cinema. He designed film sets and his design for

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

's silent film '' L'Inhumaine'' (1924) is considered a masterpiece. In 1923 he was commissioned by Charles de Noailles to build the Villa Noailles located on the hill of the Château d'Hyères, the first core of which was completed in 1925 and whose extensions followed one another until 1933. "''It is part of the rationalist movement, favored at the time of Viollet le Duc. Modern in style, it is totally in line with the spirit of rationality and functionality. In this architecture, we celebrate a new art of living where the body and nature are privileged. It meets a simple objective: to let light in and make it the central element of the building''". In 1929, surrealist photographer and filmmaker

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

made a film inspired by his design for the buildings named " Villa Noailles" entitled '' The Mysteries of the Château de Dé''. During his career he assembled a team of artisans and craftspeople who worked with him: interior designers, sculptors, master glaziers, lighting specialists, and ironsmiths. An example of his collaborative nature is provided by the Union des Artistes Moderne (UAM), formed in 1929 by a group of 25 dissidents of the Société des Artistes-Décorateurs (SAD). Mallet-Stevens was the UAM's first president.

Legacy

Mallet-Stevens ordered that his archives be destroyed upon his death. His wishes were honored and his memory fell into obscurity. A French exhibit of his drawings, models, and actual works at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in 2005 sparked public interest in his contributions.

Buildings and projects

* Villa Paul Poiret (1921–1923), in Mézy-sur-Seine completed in 1932 * Villa Noailles (1923–1928), in

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

Villa Cavrois Villa Cavrois in Croix, Nord, Croix is a large modernism, modernist mansion built in 1932 in architecture, 1932 by French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for Paul Cavrois, an industrialist from Roubaix active in the textile industry. Context an ...

(1929–1932), in

Croix Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

*Rue Mallet-Stevens (1927), Paris: **Villa Allatini, Rue Mallet-Stevens 5 **Villa de Daniel Dreyfuss, Rue Mallet-Stevens 7 **Villa Reifenberg, Rue Mallet-Stevens 8 **Villa des Frères Martel, Rue Mallet-Stevens 10 **Villa Mallet-Stevens, Rue Mallet-Stevens 12 *Garage Alfa Romeo, Rue Marbeuf, Paris *House of Louis Barillet, Square Vergennes 15, Paris *Caserne des Pompiers (firestation, 1935), rue Mesnil 8, Paris *Immeuble de rapport de la rue Méchain (1928-1929), in Paris where

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (; 16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), known outside Poland as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocr ...

used to live until World War II.

References

External links

Fondation des amis de Mallet Stevens
*
Studio International – Robert Mallet-Stevens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet-Stevens, Robert 20th-century French architects Architects from Paris 1886 births 1945 deaths Burials at Passy Cemetery École Spéciale d'Architecture alumni Modernist architects from France Art Deco architects