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Marcel Gascoin, born 24th in Havre and died on the 29th in Paris, was an decoartive artist who specialised in « furniture de série ((??SERIES??)) », which played a major role in the emergence/development of French design after the Second World War.

The swift/speed/speedy and the matter of ship furnisihings---L’esprit et la matière du mobilier de bateau
Born into a fishing/seafaring/swashbuckling/sailing family (Perrey district) and son of a headteacher/foreman in/of a carpentry school, Marcel Gascoin trained in dual disciplines: technical as a carpenter/cabinet maker at the fr:École supérieure d'art du Havre (Le Havre school of fine art); and theoretical at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs (ENSAD, French national school of fine art, Paris) where first met Henri Sauvage (as a student of his). Sauvage invited Gascoin to the first exhibition of the Union de Artistes Moderne in 1930 which Gascoin subsequently joined in 1931. Gascoin recalls his youth in a February 1963 interview in Revue de l’ameublement (furniture journal) when he says he discovered and marine furniture and the dealings of wood a 'scent of adventure' and above all a certain practical sense. He also says that in preparation for the first exhibition of the Union des Artistes Moderne (UAM) in 1930, when he had to 'adapt the contents to the container' (ie the exhibition space), still a new idea at the time, he sought guidance from Robert Mallet-Stevens. His experience continued with his participation in a 'Cabine de bateau' (boat cabin) competition organised by the Technical Office of the UAM (OTUAM), in which he collaborated with Jean Prouvé.

Marcel Gascoin was not aliented in his work to many principle's of the modern movement. His taste for beautiful works, at the time both functional and robust, are charaterised by commitment to working with wood and to the marine crafts. A discovery that he prolonged during all his career - : the organisation of dressers (cupboards...?) evoked the 'marine writing desk/Capatains desk/log', the uage of organised storage systems (furniture which was collapsable, reatractable, pull down, fold up etc. ie the drop leaf table) is inspired of useful tricks used in the tight space of a boat cabin. From 1952 to 1955, he called on the know how of a design house?? in Le Havre (Loison frères), who specialised in the industrial production of marine furniture, to edit and distribute furniture in his home town (Le Havre), then in the Reconstructed Le Havre under the direction of Auguste Perret.

Combining Modernism & Democarcy
Marcel Gascoin's first professional experience was in fitting shop windows in the Faubourg of Saint Antoine (an area of Paris known for furniture production/sale and fine arts ), but he would yet go on to become a purveyor of accessible and pragmatic modernism. His first creations follow the evoulution of the Salon des Arts Ménagers when it is moving towards the furniture series, athe time modern, economical and of fine quality. During the salon of 1938 he decides to publish 'storage'?? where he can note the new development of design organique but this story was interrupted in France, continueing in Northern Europe. After the war had ended Gascoin found a second brought by his friendly links with Raoul Dautry and Eugène Claudius-Petit (minsters in charge of post war reconstruction) who allow him to impose upon the foreground. In 1947 he co-ordinates the Exposition internationale de l’urbanisme et de l’habitation??? being resposible for many stands (catering, lighting, AFNOR etc.), the scenescape including a model of an apartment for the reconstruction of (for reconstruction in???) Sotteville-lès-Rouen (by the architect Marcel Lods)

Some then found his words abusively dry: ''of a functionalism, of a severity a little too Protestant. The everyday life is not a condemnation to the bare minimum for life''. Le Décor d’aujourd’hui however, did not hesitate to put this on their rear page. Gascoin is the decorator all appointed (always ready?) for response to practical problems presented by the sinistrés. Social décorateur, he achieves this title with Logis 49 for the Caisse d'allocations familiales for the region of Paris, a minimal family apartment presented at the Salon des arts ménagers de 1949. This destination obliged a restriction of surfaces - one room for meals and rest with a food hatch. Organised/arranged like a traditional buffet for two, the mise en scène of the hatch expressing the wishes of serving a banal aesthetic, reconcilable with a modern objective.

Wood and Swedish design
His taste for wood naturally drives Gascoin's interest towards Nordic countries. In an interview for the exhibition Mobilier national (2008) devoted to Pierre Paulin, this last briefly recalls his internship in Gascoin's workshop - ''this Norman, surprisingly has a country style (farmer side). Gascoin we will understand to like the little modernity that we get closer to in this post war era, this that will have done for example the Swedish to this period, who have not expereinced the war. It's brought us the catalogues of the Nordiska Kompaniet which develops the destiny of furniture for student and people of modest origins. It is stowable furniture, in an elegant Nordic tradition.'' Here we recognise also the principles of furniture by elements (developed in France by the mark OSCAR, promoted by the UAM in 1950 and circulated until the 1960's). In the end, the idea of ergonomics, scientifically studied in the North of Europe seemed essential. Gascoin's furniture was not without the inspiration of these students, who for example determined the official dimensions and inclinations of the seat in their chair C. Beyond a source of inspiration more a less direct, this bond with the wooden material and the Nordic design can seem more subtly like the prolonging of a social ideal founded by the Arts & Crafts. Wood is so inexpensive and considered more warmly than other modern materials (metals & plastics), and industrial production can also be combined with fine craftsmanship. Wooden furniture then joined the concern of staying economically and psychologically accessible to as many people as possible, this demonstrating the wide distribution of Gascoin's furniture, available in all larger towns in France and available at low prices (equal to that of current industrial furniture).

Master of a/the Reconstructive Style
The period of the Reconstruction in France (1945~1955) appears to be atypical in the history of French decoration, most often re-attatched to the ideals of deluxe and elitism. After 1945 the grand masters of Art déco were rejected, the criticism found this wealth of luxury absurdly indecent in a country touched by poverty. Some years after the Libération, more expensicve sets for regular clients gave way to priority pieces of average cost for disaster victims. These modest designs followed an almost stright line???, that quickly qulaified as stylish, which the magazine Arts ménagers gives primary characteristics: 'the smallness of parts of our apartments can not accomodate monumental or solemn[...]. Modern furniture is above all sober furniture, of sharp lines, of reduced dimension, completely usable size or surafce and besides open to incresed praise due to many ingenious developments/improvements. Without overbearing, without carvings, without inlay, it's easy for the house maid to clean. The timber is most often natural - stained or white/light oak, sometimes cérusé (white petrified like - where white is absorbed by porous), rarely varnished. There is a united style in modern furniture. It is not necessary to seek furniture by appealling to a single designer. The makers of furniture, whilst varied in their methods, display their uniqueness and their differences, return a certain unity of conception Arts ménagers, n° 34, octobre 1952, p. 68-73</ref/.

This idea of simple, modular furniture, appeared with Francis Jourdain at the beginning of the 20th Century (les meubles interchangeables, 1912-1913) and thereafter with other's such as René Gabriel, Louis Sognot and even Étienne-Henri Martin to address the question of a style combining quality at lower costs by fabrication modular element. After the untimely death of René Gabriel in (1950), Gascoin becomes next in line to head research towards the Salon des arts ménagers, supervising the section of the Foyer d’aujourd’hui and the René Gabriel award - a prize offered to the most innovative furniture set. When the sites of the reconstruction succeed, model apartments (Appartement témoin (Le Havre)) disseminate the objects and ideas exclaimed at the Salon des arts ménagers throughout the French territory. In presenting the standard amenities, Gascoin Marcel and his family then impose a furniture seemed as well suited to the needs of the average household that could be the rest of the household equipment.

Publish & Spread ???
If the designs of Marcel Gascoin publically adapted to the needs of the masses, the industrials?? still seem to refuse to buy the innovation. He quickly manages to join the brands of Airborne (company?)?? (aeroplane seats) and [COMERA] (kitchens), but he had to publish himself mostly as part of his designs. For this occasssion he created l’Aménagement rationnel de l’habitation (1948-1950), renamed Aménagement rationnel de l’habitation et des collectivités (ARHEC) (1950-1955). At the turn of the 50's???, his workshop at Rue Rennequin welcomed the elite artists formed in the large schools but repelled by the Art déco designs, signed only the traditional decorative end finding furniture in accord with contemporary needs. In 1952 he grouped them all into the l’Association des créateurs de meubles en série (ACMS) with the help of René-Jean Caillette, to set out to conquer the first big networks of distribution in folowing the orders of the association - 'In our period, the furniture intended for sale in the current market needs to be made up in series; this method of makeup is the only in effect which allows prices to become low enough so that production stays accessible to most'. The nine new members of the ACMS...

dans l’Association des créateurs de meubles en série (ACMS), partant à la conquête des premiers grands réseaux de distribution en suivant les directives de l’association : «A notre époque, le meuble destiné à la vente courante doit inévitablement être fabriqué en série ; cette formule de fabrication est la seule, en effet, qui permette de parvenir à des prix de revient assez bas pour que la production reste accessible au plus grand nombre ». Les neuf premiers membres de l’ACMS incarnent l’élan impulsé par Marcel Gascoin : A ces noms s’ajoutent rapidement : Cette liste relate bien la formation d’une avant-garde dans le design français dont les modèles seront présentés dans le stand ACMS au Salon des arts ménagers jusqu’à la fin des années 1950.
 * René-Jean Caillette (édité par Charron)
 * Bernard Durussel (autoédité),
 * Marcel Gascoin (ARHEC),
 * Pierre Guariche (galerie MAI),
 * Jacques Hauville (Athéna, BEMA),
 * Henri Meyer (Mobilier 1.2.3),
 * Michel Mortier (Carrier, DMU, Minvieille),
 * les frères Perreau (IGAM),
 * Alain Richard (Caminelle).
 * Geneviève Dangles et Christian Defrance
 * Pierre Gautier-Delaye
 * Joseph-André Motte
 * Pierre Paulin
 * André Simard…

L’obsession du rangement…
Le rangement est au centre de la relation entre contenant et contenu, et l’on comprend l’acharnement de Marcel Gascoin à mesurer et à normaliser chaque objet de la maison pour finaliser un gabarit produit en série. Patrick Favardin rapporte qu’il aurait mesuré tous les objets du quotidien pendant l’Occupation et aurait ainsi imaginé l’optimisation des meubles. Ces études se retrouvent dans les croquis qu’il réalise pour l’AFNOR en 1947 et les abaques publiés dans L’art ménager français. Il s’intéresse toute sa carrière à la question de la préfabrication des rangements qu’il réalise tout d’abord pour l’ARHEC de 1949 à 1955 (blocs-tiroirs équipant armoires, placards et bahuts), puis par la SICAM et les meubles Alvéole. Dans la cuisine, son implication au sein de la marque Comera™ se prolonge dans jusqu’au milieu des années 1960. Au trentième Salon des arts ménagers en 1961 -qui se tient pour la première fois au CNIT- un « appartement préfabriqué » entièrement meublé par Gascoin est présenté comme modèle pour les HLM. De façon caractéristique, l’aménagement intérieur répond à « l’appartement idéal des Français » modélisé d’après sondage avec, dans chaque pièce, un « rangement » constituant l’unique élément mobilier. On atteint alors le paroxysme d’une pensée rationnelle où les différents usages des meubles (la commode, le buffet ou l’armoire) se limitent à une seule fonction : Ranger. Le reste n’est plus qu’une affaire d’assemblage : tiroirs, portes, abattants ou vides expriment la polyvalence du «mur Gascoin ». Cependant, vers 1960, ses créations se marginalisent et il tend, comme tête de file du meuble de série au Salon des arts ménagers (qui reçoit désormais plus d’un million de visiteurs), à mettre en avant les « jeunes créateurs » qu’il avait formé dans son atelier.

Bibliographie

 * Guillemette Delaporte, Marcel Gascoin, éditions Norma, 2010.
 * Élisabeth Chauvin, Appartements témoins de la reconstruction du Havre, éditions Point de vues, 2007.
 * Patrick Favardin, Steiner et l’aventure du design, éditions Norma, 2007.
 * Patrick Favardin, Les décorateurs des années 1950, éditions Norma, 2002.
 * Collectif, Les bâtisseurs. L’album de la reconstruction du Havre, éditions Point de vues – Musée Malraux, 2002.
 * Arlette Barré-Despond, Joudain, éditions du Regard, 1988

Articles connexes

 * Appartement témoin (Le Havre)
 * Centre-ville reconstruit du Havre
 * Union des artistes modernes
 * Jean Prouvé
 * Pierre Paulin

Liens externes

 * Base de donnée sur l’architecture reconstruite du Havre
 * Intérieurs, émission de Paris-Première consacrée à l’Appartement témoin Perret au Havre
 * Question Maison, émission de France 5, sur l’Appartement témoin Perret au Havre
 * Visites de l’appartement témoin Perret (mobilier Marcel Gascoin et René Gabriel)
 * Création de la marque Comera par Marcel Gascoin

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