Completed in 1957, the Nouvelle Buvette de la Source Cachat – or Pump Room for the Cachat springs – at Évian-les-Bains is ranked as a twentieth century icon. The building was the product of fruitful collaboration by team capable of combining tremendous plastic sensitivity with precise structural rigour: Maurice Novarina, an experienced architect; the “construction genius” Jean Pouvré; and architect-engineer Serge Ketoff. From their collective exploit came technical object of undoubted originality, a daring performance delivered  with gusto – this was much more than just industrial materials made to look good. Precision mechanics rather than Meccano, this masterpiece so cherished by Jean Pouvré is an impeccably calibrated assemblage of very different elements and components. The Bouvette seems to inhabit perfectly the urban landscape of Évian, on the shores of Lake Geneva. As part of the analysis undertaken prior to the program of conservation, this initial monograph is intended to help win back the recognition it so clearly deserves.

You can order a copy here (French).