Perriand, Charlotte (1903–1999)

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Perriand, Charlotte (1903–1999)

French furniture and interior designer. Born on October 24, 1903, in Paris, France; died on October 27, 1999, in Paris, France; attended the École de l'Union Central des Arts Décoratifs; married in 1926 (divorced); married Jacques Martin (a government official), in 1943 (died 1986); children: (second marriage) daughter Pernette Perriand.

In a career that spanned eight decades, French furniture and interior designer Charlotte Perriand became a legend of the modernist movement. She designed tubular "equipment for living" with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, furniture in Japan, lobbies for Air France, workers' housing in the Sahara desert, and the interiors of ski resorts in the French Alps. Calling herself an "interior architect," Perriand subscribed to the modernist notion that furnishings and architecture should be considered a single entity. She also favored flexible space, free-form shapes, natural materials, and functional design with a humanistic touch. Her dining tables, for example, had splayed legs, so that people sitting on either end could stretch out their legs.

Perriand was born in 1903 in Paris, France, and lived there her entire life. An early talent for drawing led her to enroll at the École de l'Union Central des Arts Décoratifs, where she was trained in decorative design. At age 23, she was invited to exhibit at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs (from which the term Art Deco originated), and in 1927 she raised eyebrows at the Salon d'Automme with her "bar under the roof" installation, a built-in chromewalled bar counter and card table with pool-pocket drink holders.

Having distinguished herself as an avantgarde talent on the rise, Perriand applied for work at Le Corbusier's studio, where the famed designer initially dismissed her with the pronouncement, "We don't embroider cushions here." However, after seeing her bar installation, Le Corbusier relented and hired her. She worked with him, and his collaborator Jeanneret, from 1927 to 1937 and was instrumental in the design of the Le Corbusier classic chaise longue and the cube-shaped Grand Confort chair.

In 1940, Perriand was invited to Japan, where she produced modern designs using traditional materials such as bamboo, pine, and woven straw. With the outbreak of the war, the designer moved to Vietnam, where, unable to obtain a return visa to France, she worked for the colonial government. While there, she met her future husband Jacques Martin, a local official. They were married in 1943, and their daughter Pernette was born one year later.

Returning to France in 1946, Perriand was involved in projects ranging from ski resorts to student housing, Fiercely independent, she was selective about her collaborations, although she worked with Sonia Delaunay on some primary-colored bookcases with cupboards for the Cité Universitaire in Paris, and with Jean Prouvé on a table with a built-in overhead fluorescent light, as well as some other designs. She also teamed again with Le Corbusier on a housing project in Marseilles. Much of her time from 1967 to 1982 was spent on the Arcs, a vast compound of ski resorts in the Alps.

The first of a number of retrospectives of Perriand's work was mounted at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1985, followed by shows at the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Design Museum in London, both in 1996, and another at the Architectural League in Manhattan in 1997. Perriand, however, was not given to reminiscing, but remained a forward-thinker until the end of her life. At the time of her death in 1999, at age 96, she was exploring new materials for the 21st century.