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Robert Mallet-Stevens
Robert Mallet-Stevens
	Villa Cavrois
Born	24 March 1886; Paris, France
Died	8 February 1945 (aged 58); Paris, France
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Villa Cavrois; Villa Noailles

Immeuble de rapport du 7 rue Méchain in Paris

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 in Paris, during which he wrote Guerande about relationships between the different forms of art.^[1]

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 founded the Club des amis du 7ème art. A Paris street in the 16th arrondissement, Rue Mallet-Stevens, was built by him in the 1920s and has on it six houses designed by him.^[2]

A portfolio of 32 of Mallet-Stevens' designs was published under the title Une Cité Moderne in 1922.^[3] 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's silent film L'Inhumaine (1924) is considered a masterpiece.

In 1929, surrealist photographer and filmmaker Man Ray 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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 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
Villa Cavrois (1929–1932), in Croix
Rue Mallet-Stevens (1927), Paris:^[6]^[7]
- Villa Allatini, Rue Mallet-Stevens 5^[8]
- Villa de Daniel Dreyfuss, Rue Mallet-Stevens 7^[9]
- Villa Reifenberg, Rue Mallet-Stevens 8^[10]
- Villa des Frères Martel, Rue Mallet-Stevens 10^[11]
- Villa Mallet-Stevens, Rue Mallet-Stevens 12^[12]
Garage Alfa Romeo, Rue Marbeuf, Paris
House of Louis Barillet, Square Vergennes 15, Paris^[13]
Caserne des Pompiers (firestation, 1935), rue Mesnil 8, Paris^[14]
Immeuble de rapport de la rue Méchain (1928-1929), in Paris^[15] where Tamara de Lempicka used to live until World War II.^[16]