Jean Prouvé, 1950

The aesthetic appearance of Jean Prouvé's EM Table adheres to structural principles, illustrating the flow of forces and stresses in its construction. It comes in a range of sizes with table tops in premium solid wood or HPL laminate in a choice of colours. Tops measuring 2000 or 2400 mm in length are also available in oak veneer. Thanks to this wide selection, the ideal EM Table can be found for every dining room.

Jean Prouvé completed his training as a metal artisan before opening his own workshop in Nancy in 1924. In the following years he created numerous furniture designs, and in 1947 Prouvé established his own factory. Due to disagreements with the majority shareholders, he left the company in 1953. During the ensuing decades, Prouvé served as a consulting engineer on a number of important architectural projects in Paris. 

He left his mark on architectural history again in 1971, when he played a major role in selecting the design of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers for the Centre Pompidou as chairman of the competition jury. Prouvé's work encompasses a wide range of objects, from a letter opener to door and window fittings, from lighting and furniture to façade elements and prefabricated houses, from modular building systems to large exhibition structures – essentially, almost anything that is suited to industrial production methods.

In close cooperation with the Prouvé family, Vitra began in 2002 to issue re-editions of designs by this great French constructeur.