Charlotte Perriand, an art of living (book)

This post is also available in: Français (French)

Charlotte Perriand, un art d’habiter (book) by Jacques Barsac. 2005. Publisher Norma. Large-format book. Good condition, slight marks on slightly faded dust jacket.

A key designer of the 20th century, charlotte perriand (1903-1999) was one of the founders of modern interior architecture, a discipline in its own right within the art of building.
One of the pioneers of design, although her approach remained above all that of an architect, she never ceased to reflect politically and ethically on a habitat adapted to human needs over the course of her seventy-year creative life. On graduating from the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs at the age of 22, she broke free from the prevailing conservatism, and two years later was one of the creators of the first French avant-garde tube furniture.

Struck by the modernity of the bar sous le toit she exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in 1927, Le Corbusier invited her to join forces with Pierre Jeanneret to design the interiors, furniture and fittings for the villas they were building. In 1929, she was one of the co-founders of the Union des Artistes Modernes. During the ten years of her collaboration with Le Corbusier, she pursued research into housing and furniture for the masses, modular prefabricated architecture and urban planning within the framework of the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM), of which she was one of the organizers in France.

At the same time, she developed the technique of photomontage to communicate her political ideas. Appointed advisor for industrial art in Japan in 1940, she discovered a conception of traditional housing that was in line with the most avant-garde theories. this experience was decisive in the development of her “art d’habiter”, a manifesto expressing a vision based on harmony and emptiness, which she wrote on her return to france.

At the same time, she helped found the useful forms movement within uam. In 1952, the prospect of mass production led her to sign an agreement with the Jean Prouvé workshops, entrusting her with the task of improving the aesthetics of existing furniture, as well as developing new designs. The 50s saw the culmination of his research into storage with the brazza cupboard, mexique and tunisie bookcases – as famous as the rocking chaise longue, the swivel armchair and the fauteuil grand confort, designed in 1928 with le Corbusier and pierre Jeanneret.

Please feel free to take a look at the additional photos on the top left, thank you!