Charlotte Perriand
(24 October 1903 – 27 October 1999) was a French architect and
designer. Her work aimed to create functional living spaces in the
belief that better design helps in creating a better society. In her
article "L’Art de Vivre" from 1981 she states "The
extension of the art of dwelling is the art of living—living in
harmony with man’s deepest drives and with his adopted or
fabricated environment."
Perriand was born in
Paris, France to a tailor and a seamstress. In 1920, she enrolled in
the Ecole de L'Union Centrale de Arts Decoratifs ("School of the
Central Union of Decorative Arts") to study furniture design
from 1920 until 1925. One of her noted teachers during this period
was Art Deco interior designer Henri Rapin.
After applying to
work at Le Corbusier's studio in 1927 and being famously rejected
with the reply "We don’t embroider cushions here",
Perriand renovated her apartment into a room with a large bar made of
aluminum glass and chrome. She recreated this for the Salon
d’Automne, gaining notice from Le Corbusier's partner, Pierre
Jeanneret, convincing Corbusier to offer her a job in furniture
design. There, she was in charge of their interiors work and
promoting their designs through a series of exhibitions.
In 1928 she designed
three chairs from Corbusier's principles. Each chair had a
chromium-plated tubular steel base. At Corbuiser's request a chair
was made for conversation: the B301 sling back chair, another for
relaxation: the LC2 Grand Comfort chair, and the last for sleeping:
the B306 chaise longue.
Perriand was
familiar with Thonet's bentwood chairs and used them often not only
for inspiration but also in her designs. Their chaise longue, for
this reason, bears some similarity to Thonet's bentwood rocker
although it doesn't rock. The chair has double tubing at the sides
and a lacquered sheet metal base. The legs unintentionally resemble
horse hooves. Perriand took this and ran with it, finding pony skin
from Parisian furriers to cover the chaise. Perriand wrote in a
memoir, "While our chair designs were directly related to the
position of the human body...they were also determined by the
requirements of architecture, setting, and prestige". With a
chair that reflects the human body (thin frame, cushion/head) and has
decorative qualities (fabrication, structural qualities) they
accomplished this goal. It wasn't instantly popular due to its formal
simplicity but as modernism rose, so did the chair's popularity.
In 1940 Perriand
traveled to Japan as an official advisor for industrial design to the
Ministry for Trade and Industry. While in Japan she advised the
government on raising the standards of design in Japanese industry to
develop products for the West. On her way back to Europe she was
detained and forced into Vietnamese exile because of the war.
Throughout her exile she studied woodwork and weaving and also gained
much influence from Eastern design. The Book of Tea which she read at
this time also had a major impact on her work and she referenced it
throughout the rest of her career.
In the period after
World War II (1939–45) there was increased interest in using new
methods and materials for mass production of furniture. Manufacturers
of materials such as formica, plywood, aluminum, and steel sponsored
the salons of the Société des artistes décorateurs. Designers who
exhibited their experimental work at the salons in this period
included Perriand, Pierre Guariche, René-Jean Caillette, Jean
Prouvé, Joseph-André Motte, Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq.
Charlotte Perriand took part in the design of the ski resorts of Les
Arcs in Savoie. In the 1950s she designed for various corporate
service spaces. Perriand's main goal as a designer was to develop
affordable, functional, and appealing furniture for the masses.
Some of her work
includes:
Meribel ski resort
The League of
Nations building in Geneva
the remodeling of
Air France's offices in London, Paris, and Tokyo
Charlotte Perriand
collaborated with Jean Prouvé through the rest of her career.
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