Charlotte Perriand

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.” ^[1]

Biography

Perriand was a female designer of the 19th century who is known for introducing machine age aesthetics such as steel, aluminum, and glass furniture in interiors. She was born in 1903 in Paris, France. He father was a tailor and her mother a seamstress. In 1920 she attended the Ecole de L'Union Centrale de Arts Decoratifs and studied there for 5 years. Perriand was not fond of the Baeux-Arts style and crafted-based design so her work work derived from the inspiration of machine aesthetics of motor cars and bicycles. Perriand married and moved into a apartment in which she gutted and remodeled the largest room into a glass bar. This design would later be her ticket to collaborating with Le Corbusier. In 1928 she would later go on to design three chairs from Corbusier's principles. Each chair had chromium platted tubular steel bases. At Corbuiser request one chair was made for conversation which was the B301 sling back chair, one made for relaxation being the LC2 Grand Comfort chair, and the last for sleeping which was the B306 chaise lounge.

In the 1930s, Perriand’s focus became more egalitarian and populist. Along with designing furniture and living spaces, she was also involved with many leftist organizations such as the Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires, and Maison de la Culture. She also collaborated with the Jeunes in 1937 and help to found The Union des Artistes Modernes. ^[2] In her designs from that period, rather than use expensive chrome, she began to use traditional materials such as wood and cane, which would be more affordable, and handcrafted techniques which she displayed at the 1935 Brussels International Exhibition. ^[3] Many of here designs from this period were inspired from the vernacular furniture of Savoie where her grandparents lived and she visited often as a child.

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 a lot of influence from Eastern design.The Book of Tea, which she read at this time, also had a major impact on her work, as she referenced it during the rest of her career.^[4] Charlotte Perriand took part in the design of the ski resorts of Les Arcs in Savoie, at the same time making her architecture and installations of interiors. In the 1950s she also designed for various corporate service spaces. Since March 2004, Cassina produces the furniture of Charlotte Perriand. Perriand's main goal as a designer was to develop affordable, functional, and appealing mass manufactured 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 continued collaborating with Jean Prouve through the rest of her career

Timeline

1903 Born in Paris, France.

1920 Enrols at the Ecole de l’Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs to study furniture design.

1926 Marries her first husband, Percy Kilner Scholefield, a year after graduation and converts their attic apartment into a ‘machine age’ interior.

1927 Was interviewed by Le Corbusier on an October afternoon. After a brief glance at her drawings she was rejected and Le Corbusier bid her farewell with the dry comment "We don't embroider cushions here." She left her card with him regardless, and later that year invited Le Corbusier to see her installation at the Bar sous le Toit filled with tubular steel furniture at the Salon d'Automne, resulting in an invitation by Le Corbusier to join his studio at 35, rue de Sèvres to design furniture and interiors.

1928 Designs three chairs with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret (the LC2 Grand Confort armchair, the B301 reclining chair and the B306 chaise longue) for the studio’s architectural projects.

1929 Creates a model modern apartment in glass and tubular steel to be exhibited as Equipment d’Habitation (Living Equipment) at the Salon d’Automne.

1930 Separates from her husband and moves to Montparnasse. Travels to Moscow for a Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) conference and designs fixtures for the Pavilion Suisse at the Cité Universitaire in Paris.

1932 Starts work on the Salvation Army headquarters project in Paris.

1933 Travels to Moscow and Athens to participate in CIAM conferences.

1934 Designs the furniture and interior fixtures for Le Corbusier’s new apartment on rue Nungesser-et-Coli.

1937 Leaves Le Corbusier’s studio to collaborate with the artist Fernand Léger on a pavilion for the 1937 Paris Exhibition and to work on a ski resort in Savoie.

1939 When World War II begins, she leaves Savoie to return to Paris and to design prefabricated buildings with Jean Prouvé and Pierre Jeanneret.

1940 Sails for Japan where she has been appointed as an advisor on industrial design to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

1942 Forced to leave Japan as an “undesirable alien” but is trapped by the naval blockade and spends the rest of the war in Vietnam, where she marries her second husband, Jacques Martin, and gives birth to a daughter, Pernette.

1946 Returns to France and revives her career as an independent designer and her collaboration with Jean Prouvé.

1947 Works with Fernand Léger on the design of Hôpital Saint-Lo.

1950 Designs a prototype kitchen for Le Corbusier’s Unité d'Habitation apartment building in Marseille.

1951 Organises the French section of the Triennale di Milano.

1953 Collaborates on design of the Hotel de France in Conakry, Guinea

1957 Designs the League of Nations building for the United Nations in Geneva.

1959 Works with Le Corbusier and the Brazilian architect Lucio Costa on the interior of their Maison du Brésil at the Cité Universitaire in Paris.

1960 Collaborates with Ernő Goldfinger on the design of the French Tourist Office on London’s Piccadilly.

1962 Begins a long-running project to design a series of ski resorts in Savoie.

1985 Retrospective of her work at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

1998 Publication of her autobiography, Une Vie de Création, and presentation of a retrospective at the Design Museum in London.

1999 Charlotte Perriand dies in Paris.

References

1. ^ Mcleod
2. ^ Mcleod
3. ^ steel to bamboo
4. ^ Mcleod

http://designmuseum.org/design/charlotte-perriand

Bibliography

• Charlotte Perriand by Elisabeth Vedrenne. Assouline, November 2005. ISBN 2-84323-661-4.
• Charlotte Perriand: A Life of Creation by Charlotte Perriand. Monacelli, November 2003. ISBN 1-58093-074-3.
• Charlotte Perriand: An Art of Living by Mary McLeod. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. December 2003. ISBN 0-8109-4503-7.
• Charlotte Perriand and Photography: A Wide-Angle Eye by Jacques Barsac. Five Continents, February 2011. ISBN 978-88-7439-548-4.
• Charlotte Perriand: Livre de Bord by Arthur Ruegg. Birlhauser (Princeton Architectural Press); 1 edition, December 2004. ISBN 3-7643-7037-8.
• Charlotte Perriand: Modernist Pioneer by Charlotte Benton. Design Museum, October 1996. ISBN 1-872005-99-3.
• Charlotte Perriand: Un Art D'Habiter, 1903-1959 by Jacques Barsac. Norma Editions, 2005. ISBN 978-2-9092-8387-6.
• Die Liege LC4 von Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret und Charlotte Perriand (Design-Klassiker by Volker Fischer. Birkhauser. ISBN 3-7643-6820-9.
• From Tubular Steel to Bamboo: Charlotte Perriand, the Migrating Chaise-longue and Japan by Charlotte Benton. Journal of Design History VOl.11, No.1 (1998)

External links

• Information from the Design Museum, London
• Charlotte Perriand exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 7 December 2005 – 27 March 2006
• Charlotte Perriand biography
• Collective affinity — architect Charlotte Perriand — Interview by Hendel Teicher, ArtForum, Summer 1999
• Works by Charlotte Perriand and Biographical info

Persondata
Name	Perriand, Charlotte
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 October 1903
Place of birth
Date of death	27 October 1999
Place of death