Designers
& architects

Charlotte Perriand drew Le Corbusier’s attention in 1927 with her Bar sous le toit. She presented it at the Salon d’Automne, already employing a functional style stripped of the remnants of the then-popular Art Deco. Yet, just a few days earlier, when she had shown her avant-garde portfolio to the master, the young graduate from the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs had faced a dismissive refusal: “We don’t embroider cushions here.”

From the ten years she spent with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret emerged the series for Villa Church in 1928. This includes the legendary LC4 chaise longue*, the LC2 armchair*—in which Steve Jobs liked to present his company’s new highlights—and the L6, a magnificent table with airplane-wing-shaped legs, all produced by Cassina as her personal creations.

An engaged woman, close to Jean Prouvé, with whom she developed collective equipment programs, she pursued projects ahead of their time.

She explored principles of minimum housing, such as flat-pack furniture or multifunctional pieces for students. Influenced by the clean aesthetic of Japanese living design, Perriand later returned to wood to create the modular Refolo system, the Nuage shelving, and the Ombra Tokyo chair.