2008, photographies, 8 × 8 cm

The Maison de Verre in Paris with its translucent facades was a masterpiece of 20th century architecture when it was completed in 1932. Until then, such large-scale glazing as the French architect Pierre Chareau created was unthinkable.

The construction work took a total of four years and caused a sensation, because the history of the house was also extraordinary: Doctor Dalsace planned to have his small apartment building in the seventh arrondissment in Paris replaced by a modern building. He commissioned his friend Pierre Chareau to do the project. But the tenant on the upper floor, an old lady, refused to move out. Chareau made a virtue of necessity: he supported the upper floor with a metal structure, tore down the floors below and built a state-of-the-art building there.