Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Guggenbuhl House is a private hotel built between 1926 and 1927 in the 14th arrondissement of Paris by architect André Lurçat. The building, commissioned by Walter Guggenbühl, a painter from Zurich, is distinguished by its pioneering use of reinforced concrete and its integration of spaces dedicated to artistic creation, including a large workshop and a fitness room on the second floor terrace. Its location in front of Montsouris Park is a remarkable testimony to the modernist architecture of the 1920s.

The facade on Nansouty Street, although classified as part of the elements protected by decree of 15 January 1975 (with roofs), was already very altered in 1997. The building illustrates the influence of European avant-gardes on the Parisian architecture of the interwar period, while reflecting the specific needs of an expatriate artist. Its historic address, 14 rue Nansouty, and its former number (2 rue du Douanier) underline its anchoring in the Montparnasse district, then a major artistic foyer.

Classified as a Historic Monument, Guggenbuhl House embodies a pivotal period in which domestic architecture frees itself from traditional cannons to embrace functional and innovative forms. The choice of reinforced concrete, a material still innovative at the time, and the design of modular spaces dedicated to both everyday life and artistic practice, testify to the bold vision of André Lurçat, key figure of the modern movement in France.

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