Charlotte Perriand: Experience revolutionary furniture art in Krefeld!

Charlotte Perriand: Experience revolutionary furniture art in Krefeld!

Charlotte Perriand's architectural masterpieces and designs have now found their place in the Krefeld art museums. The exhibition "Charlotte Perriand. The Art of Living", which opened on November 2nd, is dedicated to the renowned French architect and designer who lived from 1903 to 1999. Perriand, who has been successful in a male-dominated industry, is known for always focusing on people's needs in her designs. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, Katia Baudin, director of the museums, highlights how current Perriand's issues such as housing shortages and sustainability are.

Perriand's work was characterized by the conviction that design is more than just the external appearance of an object. She strived to improve people's everyday lives. Her partners in the creative world were greats like Le Corbusier and Jean Prouvé, but her true passion was her own projects. She worked for over a decade to design the ski resort of Les Arcs, which was built between 1967 and 1982 and now contains 28,000 homes, which became the standard for ski architecture during her time as a designer. Their projects, such as minimalist homes and prefabricated weekend homes, were intended to make architecture and design accessible to all.

Insights into Perriand's creative world

In the Krefeld exhibition, visitors can immerse themselves in reconstructions of Perriand's interior design. These experiences are on a one-to-one scale and allow guests to sit on furniture designed by Perriand, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. A very special highlight is the “Forme libre six pans” table from 1938, which embodies Perriand’s innovative approaches to design. Perriand taught that for her design involves a social mission, that it is about participation and collaboration and not just about individual work.

Born in 1920, Perriand studied at the École de l'Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs from 1920 to 1925 and quickly made a name for herself in the design world. Her first significant work, designed in 1927, was Bar sous le Toit, which reflected her enthusiasm for the machine age. Although she was initially rejected by Le Corbusier, she later landed a job in his studio, where, among other things, she was instrumental in important furniture designs such as the B301 and the LC2. Her diverse career also included designing military housing during World War II and a trip to Japan that broadened her eye for functional design.

Women in architecture

A look at Perriand's achievements shows how important women's voices are in architecture. Even today, the proportion of women in architecture remains underrepresented. Studies show that women often earn less than their male colleagues for the same performance. Only in the last two decades have female architects such as Zaha Hadid and Julia Morgan received wider recognition for their contributions. Perriand is one of the pioneers who laid the foundation for a greater presence of women in architecture. Despite her groundbreaking work, she was often overshadowed by her male colleagues.

The exhibition in Krefeld is not only a homage to Perriand's life's work, but also a call to appreciate designers regardless of gender. Her vision of creating functional and attractive living spaces for everyone remains relevant and inspiring to the new generation of architects and designers.