“The architects of tomorrow will no longer copy; routine and plagiarism will give way to a simple, sober, highly personal art, composed of strong lines and beautifully ordered masses. In this century of steam and activity, art will be serene and calm—and that will be its beauty.”

Robert Mallet-Stevens was born in Paris in 1886. He was the son of a modern art dealer and the grandson of an art critic.

His aunt married the financier and collector Adolphe Stoclet, who commissioned a palace in Brussels (1905-1911), designed by Josef Hoffmann with the collaboration of Gustav Klimt. This architecture deeply influenced the young Robert, who had just graduated from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris.

Alongside his work as an architect, he produced numerous writings on architecture, gardens, theatre and cinema. His intellectual engagement was further affirmed in 1930, when he joined the editorial committee of the journal Architecture d’aujourd’hui.

His first projects were exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1912. From 1917, he designed Une Cité Moderne, a collection of drawings published as a portfolio in 1922.

Mallet-Stevens’ career includes relatively few built works, most of which are private residences. His first significant commission was the villa for Paul Poiret in Mézy.

In 1923, Charles de Noailles, an architecture and garden enthusiast, commissioned him to create a villa on the hills above Hyères. For this large-scale project, he developed an elegant and luminous style. A geometric garden designed by Gabriel Guévrekian adorned the villa. Other notable residences followed, including the Collinet house in Boulogne-Billancourt, the buildings on Rue Mallet-Stevens, and the Villa Cavrois in Croix. He also completed projects such as the building on Rue Méchain and the renovation of the casino in Saint Jean-de-Luz.

Between 1920 and 1928, he designed around twenty film sets, notably for l’Inhumaine and Le Vertige by Marcel l’Herbier, and Le Jockey disparu by Jacques Riven.

In 1925, he presented five creations at the International Exhibition of Moderne Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, which were critically acclaimed: a film studio for the Société des Auteurs de Films, the Pavilion du Syndicat d’initiative de Paris, and the winter garden hall of the Pavillon de l’Ambassade de la Société des Artistes Décorateurs (SAD).

In 1929, he left the SAD and became president of the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM). The manifesto “For modern art, the framework of contemporary life” was published in 1934, while the annual exhibitions laid the groundwork for the development of the industrial aesthetic. He then began designing standardized, industrially producible furniture. He used metal techniques (flat and tubular) and sketched chairs that would later be produced with the Tubor company. This chair represented a synthesis of the architect’s modernist and technical references.

In 1937, he stood out at the International Exhibition of Arts and Technology in Paris with three creations: the Pavillon de l’Hygiène (designed with René Coulon), the Pavillon de l’Électricité et de la Lumière, a monumental Signal created with the Martel brothers for Ciments français, and the presentation counter for Cafés du Brésil.

During the Occupation, he took refuge in Penne-d’Agenais to ensure his wife’s safety. He returned to Paris, where he passed away in 1945.