Gérard et Lucien Grandval
Gérard Grandval is a French architect, designer, and artist born in Paris on October 7, 1930.
He studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and obtained his DPLG architecture degree in 1959. After winning numerous prizes and medals, he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome in 1961. A Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters, he has been a full member of the Académie d'Architecture since 1994, served as its vice-president from 1999 to 2001, and has been president of the jury for the Architecture Book Prize for more than 20 years.
His creations spanned a wide range of fields, from urban utopias to interior architecture and design, including urban planning, new towns, housing, stadiums, and factories. Gérard Grandval made a name for himself with his first factory project in 1958, but it was the creation of a mountain chalet project, known as the “chalet coquille” in 1965 and his winning entry in the Palais de l'Air et de l'Espace competition in 1966 that led to him being commissioned to design the Palais district in the new town of Créteil, which brought him worldwide renown. Built between 1970 and 1974, these eleven residential towers are distinguished by their large petal-shaped balconies, which quickly earned them the nickname “choux” (cabbages) or “épis de maïs” (corn cobs).
This organic and sculptural approach contrasts with the rationalism of the large housing estates of the time. Initially planned to be covered with vegetation, this pioneering ambition for “green facades” was ultimately never realized.
At the same time, Gérard Grandval, who was very close to the fashion world, designed the Cacharel factory and headquarters, as well as all of the stores around the world throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He also designed the Fashion Exhibition and Presentation Center in Paris (Carrousel du Louvre). Gérard Grandval had three children: Agathe, Camille, and Lucien.
Following a burglary in which his wife, Virginie, had all her jewelry stolen, father and son set about designing numerous pieces with the idea of replacing them. This became their joint project: imagining, drawing, and designing jewelry inspired by the world of architecture.
Gérard was 90 years old at the time, Lucien was 30, and the 120 Steps collection was born: a digression on the theme of staircases, published by the MiniMasterpiece gallery.
After Gérard Grandval's death in December 2021, Lucien decided to complete the collection, a tribute to his father and an impetus to launch his own creative endeavors.
