Charlotte Perriand

A major figure of interior architecture in the 20th century, Charlotte Perriand is a pioneer who led during seventy years of creation a political and ethical reflection leading to a habitat adapted to the modern man. Thanks to her Bar sous le toit successfully exhibited at the Salon dʼautomne in 1927 when she was only a young graduate of 24 years old fresh out of the Union centrale des arts décoratifs, she entered the closed club of the French avant garde. She joined the team of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret who entrusted her with the interior design of the villas built by the agency. In 1929, she actively participated in the founding of the Union of Modern Artists (UAM), presided over by Robert Mallet-Stevens.During the ten years of her collaboration with Le Corbusier, she continued her research on a habitat and furniture for the greatest number. She was interested in new materials such as steel and glass and in the new functionalities that progress offered to improve well-being in the home. She shared with Fernand Léger the realization of the Pavillon de lʼagriculture at the 1937 International Exhibition, a platform that allowed her to develop the technique of photomontage to communicate her political ideas. In 1940, she was officially appointed by the Japanese government as an Advisor in Industrial Art and left to settle there. She finds herself enthused by the modular principles of the local architecture so close to her own conceptions.Returning to France after the war, she concretizes from 1952 her ideas in furniture within the Ateliers Jean Prouvé, where she is responsible for the aesthetic improvement of furniture. Finally, the vast site of Les Arcs in Savoie, where she was responsible for the design and interior layout of the apartments, was for her the opportunity to apply her ideas in mass production. She passed away in 1999.