Шарлотта Перриан: Француз архитектор және дизайнері

French architect and designer

Charlotte Perriand (ʃaʁlɔt peʁjɑ̃; 24 October 1903 – 27 October 1999) was a French architect and designer. Her work aimed to create functional living spaces in the belief that better design helps in creating a better society. In her article "L'Art de Vivre" from 1981 she states "The extension of the art of dwelling is the art of living — living in harmony with man's deepest drives and with his adopted or fabricated environment." Charlotte liked to take her time in a space before starting the design process. In Perriand's Autobiography, "Charlotte Perriand: A Life of Creation", she states: "I like being alone when I visit a country or historic site. I like being bathed in its atmosphere, feeling in direct contact with the place without the intrusion of a third party." Her approach to design includes taking in the site and appreciating it for what it is. Perriand felt she connected with any site she was working with or just visiting she enjoyed the living things and would reminisce on a site that was presumed dead.

Perriand was born in Paris, France, to a tailor and a seamstress. Her high school art teacher noticed her drawing abilities early on, and her mother eventually encouraged her to enrol in the Central Union of Decorative Arts school in 1920 to study furniture design until 1925. One of her noted teachers during this period was Art Deco interior designer Henri Rapin. Perriand continued her education through attending department store classes that provided design workshops. She also went to lectures by Maurice Dufrêne, the studio director of workshop 'La Maîtrise'. In 1925, her projects from schoolwork were selected to be a part of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Dufrêne also put her wall hanging designs on display at the Galeries Lafayette around this time.

Two years after graduating Perriand renovated her apartment into a room with a built in wall bar made of aluminium, glass and chrome and a card table with built in pool pocket drink holders. She recreated this design as the Bar sous le Toit (=Bar under the roof, i. e. "in the attic") at the 1927 Salon d'Automne. Her design featured an abundance of light reflecting aluminium and nickel plated surfaces, as well as leather cushions and glass shelves. Her design received wide praise from the press and established Perriand as a talent to watch. The Bar sous le Toit showed her preference for designs that represented the machine age, a departure from the preference of the time for finely handcrafted objects made of rare woods. Perriand took advantage of the use of steel as a medium in this project, which formerly was used primarily by men. Despite the success of the Bar sous le Toit in getting her name known, Perriand described the work as being highly collaborative between Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret (his cousin) and herself; they were "three fingers on one hand." In 1928 she designed three chairs from Corbusier's principles that the chair was a "machine for sitting," and that each of the three would accommodate different positions for different tasks. At Corbusier's request, a chair was made for conversation: the B301 sling back chair; another for relaxation: the LC2 Grand Confort chair; and the last for sleeping: the B306 chaise longue. The chairs had tubular steel frames. In the prototype models, the steel was painted; in production the steel tubes were nickel or chromium plated. In the 1930s Perriand's focus became more egalitarian and populist. Along with designing furniture and living spaces she was also involved with many leftist organizations, such as the Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires and Maison de la Culture. She also collaborated with the "Jeunes" in 1937 and helped to found the "Union des Artistes Modernes". Many of her designs from this period were inspired from the vernacular furniture of Savoie, where her paternal grandparents lived — a place she visited often as a child. After working with Le Corbusier for a decade she "stepped out of his shadow into a successful career of her own."

After finishing her work with Le Corbusier she worked with Jean Prouvé. She designed metal objects, like screens and stair railings. The war turned their focus to designing military barracks and furnishings for temporary housing. In 1940 France surrendered, and they parted ways until 1951. Perriand left France to go to Japan when the Germans arrived to occupy Paris in 1940.

Charlotte Perriand's work was in high demand and she worked on many projects from ski resorts to student housing. She often refused to furnish buildings designed by other architects. However, she was eager to work with Jean Prouvé again, who collaborated with her on and produced several of her designs from 1951 to 1953. Since guests would spend most of their time outdoors, Perriand designed minimal rooms, the minimal cell style being a hallmark of her design. Instead the buildings have great spaces that are open to the nature and the elements. Importantly standardization of the wet units (bathrooms and kitchens) increased efficiency and allowed them to build 500 inhabitable studios very quickly. She died three days after her 96th birthday in 1999.