FIGURE DESIGN 44 Une anecdote qui ne doit pas occulter l’œuvre d’une créatrice surnommée très tôt, « la championne des idées nouvelles ». En 70 ans de carrière – elle décède à 96 ans – cette avant-gardiste s’est attachée à associer dans tous ses projets la notion de fonctionnalisme chère aux modernistes – elle fonde en 1929 avec Jourdain, Herbst et Mallet-Stevens l’UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes) – et celle d’humanisme. A travers une sensibilité centrée sur le bien-être de l’individu et son épanouissement, elle s’est toujours fixé comme objectif de relever les défis sociaux et politiques de son époque. La collection éditée aujourd’hui par Cassina propose de (re)découvrir certaines réalisations – de nombreuses ne virent jamais le jour – inspirées par le Japon où elle séjourna de nombreuses fois. Une synthèse originale d’éléments occidentaux et de culture orientale. Il en résulte une créativité organique et essentielle. Un minimalisme intuitif qui se traduit dans une pureté formelle intemporelle et pleine de vie. novembre 2009 www.cotemagazine.com PETALO, 1951 Passionnée par la couleur pure, Perriand dessine ces cinq tables basses comme un hommage à l’arc-en-ciel. De forme triangulaire aux angles arrondis, elles se rangent l’une sous l’autre et se prêtent à de multiples combinaisons. -/Perriand adored pure colour and so designed these five occasional tables as a tribute to the rainbow. Triangular in shape with rounded corners, they nest together and can be used in many different combinations. > -/"You know, we don't embroider cushions here ! " The meeting ended thus, with Le Corbusier turning on his heels and leaving. It was 14 October 1927 and Charlotte Perriand had come to show the architect her work in the hope of joining the Le Corbusier/Jeanneret studio. Nothing doing. But one month later the critics lauded her for her Bar sous le Toit (rooftop bar) in nickel-plated copper and anodised aluminium, exhibited at the Salon d'Automne show. Le Corbusier called her back and offered her an unpaid job as "associate for home furnishings". She was 24 years old. This collaboration was to last 10 years and produce a series of joint projects some of which would become iconic designs, among them the famous series of tubular steel furniture that is often attributed to Le Corbusier alone. Now the Italian firmCassina, which owns the reproduction rights, has for just on six months been commercialising this series, stamped with the names of both Le Corbusier and Perriand. Such anecdotes should not obscure the oeuvre of a creative designer who early on earned herself the nickname of "champion of new ideas". Throughout her 70-year career (she died at 96) this precursor strove to imbue all her projects with two fundamental ideas : the functionalism so beloved of the modernists (she, Jourdain, Herbst and Mallet-Stevens founded the Union des Artistes Modernes in 1929) and humanism. Applying a sensitivity focused on the wellbeing and self-fulfilment of the individual, she consistently set her sights on tackling the social and political challenges of her day. The collection that Cassina is now producing allows us to (re)discover some of her creations (many did not go into production) that were inspired by Japan, where she lived for a time. Her original synthesis of Western elements and Oriental culture resulted in an organic and fundamental creativeness, an intuitive minimalism that translates into an ageless formal purity full of life. La chaise Ombra Tokyo.