Charlotte Perriand

Charlotte Perriand was a French architect and designer, considered one of the founders of contemporary design. After attending the Ecole de l'Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, she had some experience in designing furniture and furnishings. In the second half of the 1920s she began a collaboration with the architect Le Corbusier, until 1937. During the Second World War she embarked for Japan where she had the opportunity to create prototypes and organize an exhibition. In addition to Le Corbusier, she collaborated with many other artists such as Fernand Léger. In the last period of her life she remained engaged in the construction of ski resorts in Haute-Savoie. She received many honors and many retrospective exhibitions were dedicated to her. Among her lighting projects we can identify products that create plays of light and movement such as the Cilindrique wall light, the À Volet Pivotante and the Pivotante À Poser wall light. Her minimalist approach infuses a timeless character into her creations: these are the "Useful Forms" that derive from the movement she co-founded in 1949. Her lamps rotate and fold, they are not immobile, they adapt to our needs.