Design for a Mass-Operational House: Floor Construction

This technical drawing by French architect Hector Guimard presents a standardized parquet floor system intended for mass production and affordable housing. The plan details a panel-based wooden flooring arrangement with cross-sections showing assembly methods and support structure. Guimard, known for his Art Nouveau designs, pursued later in his career the problem of creating efficient, reproducible housing solutions—a concern shared by many early twentieth-century architects. The drawing demonstrates the shift from ornamental craft toward industrial standardization, using clear technical notation to communicate construction details. Such work reflects the period's optimism about design's capacity to improve living conditions through systematic manufacturing.