Maison du Peuple, Community center and theater in Clichy, France
The Maison du Peuple in Clichy is a building with a steel framework, sliding walls, retractable floors, and a movable glass roof designed to bring in natural light. This flexible design allowed the interior to be quickly reconfigured depending on the type of event.
The building was constructed between 1935 and 1939 under architects Eugène Beaudouin and Marcel Lods during the Popular Front era. It stands as France's first structure built with prefabricated components that were assembled on site.
The building brings together a market at ground level with a multipurpose hall upstairs that can be arranged as a cinema when needed. This flexibility allowed the space to serve the community in different ways depending on what was required.
Visitors can explore the building, which features high ceilings and open spaces that are easy to navigate. The site remains accessible and shows how architectural thinking was changing about 80 years ago.
The building features steel curtain walls developed by Jean Prouvé that were used for the first time in France here. This innovation showed how industrial design and architecture could come together to create something new.
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