Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building located at 126 rue de Provence in the 8th arrondissement of Paris was built between 1911 and 1913 by architects Henri Sauvage and Charles Sarazin. Designed to accommodate the offices, shops and workshops of the furniture manufacturer and ironmaker Louis Majorelle, he embodies the spirit of the School of Nancy, major current of Art Nouveau. Its innovative structure combines reinforced concrete and metal frame, dividing the spaces between professional activities on the lower floors and housing on the upper floors.

The façade of the building, the only part protected by a registration order in 1986, reflects the aesthetic Art Nouveau while integrating modern techniques for the era. The ground floor, now occupied by a bank, lost its original metal marquise, partially altering the original appearance of the building. Private property, this building reflects the collaboration between art artisans and avant-garde architects in the early twentieth century.

Louis Majorelle, the central figure of the École de Nancy, developed his activity in the creation of furniture and art objects, marking the history of French design. The building also illustrates the adaptation of urban spaces to the mixed needs (commercial, artisanal and residential), characteristic of the architectural transformations in Paris at the turn of the century.

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