Very Rare George Candilis Dining Table 'Les Carrots' Port Leucate France 1968

A rare dining table designed by architect Georges Candilis (1913-1995) .Candelis created this furniture for the 'Les Carrats' holiday resort that he designed in Port-Leucate, France with Finnish interior designer Anja Blomstedt (who also worked together with Charlotte Perriand at the time).

This rare table has been restored and refinished with respect for its original look and patina

They had the idea of creating soulful, cheap and simple furniture that was easy to disassemble and transport, yet still be strong and hard wearing, consisting of simple pieces of solid wood or plywood held in place with aluminium angle brackets.
Chairs, tables, beds and shelves were designed using a unique assembly system, patented in 1969 by the duo, consisting of connecting a vertical support upright in solid wood to a horizontal plywood top using a metal bracket.

A unique and small original edition of this furniture was fabricated and assembled at the famous 'Sentou' workshops, all of which were destined for the 'Les Carrats' resort. Only around a few hundred pieces still exist.
In 2014, the Les Carrats holiday village was included in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments

The 'Carrats' holiday village completed during the period 1967-1969 was finally opened in 1970, and occupies nearly five hectares by the beach, almost at the western end of Port-Leucate.
For the Candilis team, the Carrats operation becomes a place of architectural experimentation with a social dimension.
Composed of cubic-shaped bungalows, its roof terraces, its patios, collective buildings, the numerous public places (small squares, play areas) allowed the creation of an ideal place where everything was done to tend towards individual and collective happiness.

This minimalistic soulful furniture designed complemented ideas behind the architectural holiday village perfectly.
As the budget was limited, Candilis had to design smart, creating the idea of a modular useable idea into all his pieces.
A simple but strong cast aluminium corner construction part allowed Candilis to mass produce that part and use it into different pieces of furniture, with the aluminium connection as centre construction piece. The chairs have solid ash feet and birch plywood seats and backs. The chairs were used many years pretty intense which gave them the beautiful patina they are in today. Since this was a beach location, Candilis added the rubber/metal feet to protect the chairs from water on the floors.

Georges Candilis was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and grew up in Athens, Greece, where he studied architecture and met great French architect Le Corbusier in the early 30s. He became one of his closest workshop collaborator and worked on the construction of La Cité Radieuse, Le Corbusier’s masterpiece in Marseille, developing some architectural principles like planned urbanism and « habitat au plus grand nombre » as logic responses to the growth and the changes of individual housing. Founding member of the Team X (or Team Ten), he then specialized with his partners Alexis Josic and Shadrach Woods in large scale projects for affordable and inclusive housing in the 50s like the Mirail in Toulouse or The Free University in Berlin, as well as projects in Casablanca. His rational and democratic approach of architecture led him to design a modular plastic camping unit known as « Hexacube » and a whole holiday resort in Port-Leucate, Les Carrats, with Finnish interior designer Anja Blomstedt

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHY:

Georges (Gheorghios) Candilis studied architecture at the Polytechnic in Athens (1931-36) , he met Le Corbusier during his studies, at CIAM IV (1933, Athens). As a result, Le Corbusier assigned Candilis the leadership of ASCORAL (Assemblee de constructeurs pour une renovation architecturale) in 1943.

Collaborations with Le Corbusier:-

In 1945 he joined the office of Le Corbusier, where he became one of the main collaborators. He also became the project architect for the construction of the Unite d'Habitation in Marseille (1945-52). In 1951 Candilis, Shadrach Woods and engineer Henri Piot become the leaders of ATBAT-Afrique in Tangiers, Morocco. ATBAT-Afrique was the African branch of ATBAT, Atelier des batisseurs, founded in 1947 by Le Corbusier, Vladimir Bodiansky, Andre Wogenscky and Marcel Py, with Jacques Lefebvre as commercial manager. This so-called atelier was conceived as a research centre, where architects, engineers and technicians could work in an interdisciplinary fashion. Originally ATBAT was formed to carry out the construction of the Marseille Unite d'Habitation. Due to the tense political climate the ATBAT-Afrique office in Tangiers was closed at the end of 1952. As a result Candilis and Woods became the leaders of the enlarged Casablanca head-office from that moment. However, the changed atmosphere announced the end of ATBAT-Afrique.
Paris Years

In 1954 Candilis returned to Paris and opened his own office, together with engineers Paul Dony and Piot as well as with the Yugoslav architect Alexis Josic and Woods. The office immediately won the national competition Operation Million, aimed at lowering the construction costs of a three-room apartment from 1.5 million francs to 1 million francs. In the following decade the Candilis-Josic-Woods office built tens of thousands of dwellings, both in France and in the French overseas territories. The office realized remarkable projects such as the extension of Bagnols-sur-Ceze (1956-61) and the design for the city expansion Toulouse-Le Mirail (from 1961-71). Candilis's role in the partnership was that of official representative and of negotiator, permanently in touch with builders and politicians.
Team 10 Years

In the early years of Team 10 Candilis's main contribution evolved around the idea of habitat du plus grand nombre, an idea he had taken from Michel Ecochard, with whom he and Woods presented their Moroccan studies at the ninth CIAM congress of 1953. This presentation together with the ATBAT projects received a lot of attention and critical acclaim. In the late 1950s he and Woods also developed the idea of the habitat evolutif, integrating the issues of growth and change at the level of the individual house. Because of his long involvement in CIAM and his relation with Le Corbusier, within Team 10 Candilis represented the continuity with CIAM and with Le Corbusier. After the end of CIAM he organized several Team 10 meetings, in Bagnols-sur-Ceze (1960) and in Toulouse (1971). The last Team 10 meeting in Bonnieux was held at Candilis' holiday home, and was of an informal character.
Teaching and Late Years

Candilis lead an external studio at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, starting in 1965. He continued his teachings after the student unrests of May 1968 in the Unite Pedagogique NR 6 and was a guest professor at various schools of architecture in France and abroad. After the Candilis-Josic-Woods partnership was dissolved in 1969, Candilis remained active as an architect and a town planner. His assignments included tourist regions and centres and several projects in the Middle East ranging from dwellings to schools and vacation houses. In 1977 he published the retrospective book Batir la Vie.
Seat Height: 16.93 in (43 cm)

Condition report:

Repaired: A plywood corner has been restored. New connection insert nuts (as original). Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Good original vintage condition with user wear consistent with age and use, the table is stable and functional to use.