Salone 2012: Charlotte Perriand's Mountain Prefab

Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999), one of the most innovative interior and furniture designers of the 20th century, did not only strive towards a change in forms but also towards an improvement in social conditions. After the tubular steel furniture, which she developed particularly in partnership with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, she preferred the natural material of wood with its free forms. At the same time her photography, which she approached in a radically modern way, became an impulse for her work. There followed grand stagings of magical objects found on beaches or in junkyards. Charlotte Perriand shared this interest for the poetry of “Art Brut” with Pierre Jeanneret and Fernand Léger, with whom she repeatedly worked. The opening of the archive now provides a longoverdue opportunity to rediscover this important pioneer as a furniture designer, as a photographer and—with her reconstructed large-format collages—as a socially committed woman.

The exhibition is on view unitl October 24th at the Musem of Design Zurich.

The color of this Corbu-Perriand-Jeanneret-designed LC2 came far after the fact, as Cassina reissued the 1928 black-and-steel-classic this year in a series of bold tones.The new hues may not be to everyone's taste, but it's most likely unanimous that the chair itself is still a masterpiece.