François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008), Model of Têtes habitables, France, 1975

The museum holds a rich collection of works on François-Xavier Lalanne’s Têtes habitables, including a model, two sculptures and nine drawings. They unveil a relatively unknown utopian vision of his work. In 1970, he created two large concrete pigeons for the architect Emile Aillaud, located in the Grande Borne housing estate in Grigny. In 1973, he designed a giant man’s head for the Jean Vilar secondary school. He then sought to disengage himself from sculpture and move towards architecture with his Têtes habitables projects. This led to a falling out with Jean Tinguely, who was after a similar dream.