Charlotte Perriand / The modern life

Charlotte Perriand was one of great designers of the twentieth century. A pioneer of modernism, her work was often overshadowed by her more famous male collaborators, who included Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Jean Prouvé. However, in recent years her reputation as a furniture designer and architect has matched the stature of her peers – her furniture in particular has become highly prized by collectors. From the 1920s onwards, Perriand was instrumental in bringing the modernist aesthetic to interiors. But she also believed in the synthesis of the arts and was friends with visual artists such as Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger. This book will explore Perriand’s journey from the machine aesthetic to her adoption of natural forms, and from modular furniture systems to major architectural projects such as Les Arcs ski resort. Featuring some of her most famous interiors, as well as her original furniture, her photography and her personal notebooks, this book sheds new light on Perriand’s creative process and her place in design history. It will accompany the forthcoming Design Museum exhibition of the same title, which will coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Perriand’s last significant presentation in London, held at the Design Museum in 1996.