Vitra’s Massive New Book Is a Treasure Trove of Furniture Design History

Charlotte Perriand was a trailblazer in an era when even the progressive Bauhaus school barred women from furniture design courses. Shortly after garnering acclaim at the 1925 Expo des Arts Décoratifs at age 22, she joined the Paris design studio of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret where they collaborated on "equipment for living." Post World War II, Perriand joined forces with Jean Prouvé to create modernist furniture like the Tunisie bookcase. The piece was made from oak, pine, mahogany, painted diamond-point aluminum, and painted metal, and it was manufactured by Prouvé’s studio in 1952.