Refuge Tonneau - Charlotte Perriand

In the photograph taken in 1930, the woman raises her ski gloves triumphantly, topless but wearing her trademark steel ball bearing necklace. she is pictured strong in the mountains she loved, Savoie. a place she would later devote 20 years of her life designing a ski chalet complex between 1962-1982. she is charlotte perriand. for the first time in its history, the fondation louis vuitton held an exhibition on all 4 floors regarding a single artist.

i had never heard of her, but i had heard of her boss - corbusier and did visit the studio they worked on Rue de Sevres. it's hard enough to be a good architect, but perriand was able to overcome gender discrimination to prove herself. When she applied to work at Le Corbusier's studio in October 1927 at the age of 23, she was famously rejected with the reply "We don't embroider cushions here." A month later however, Le Corbusier visited the Bar sous le Toit at the Salon d'Automne, which convinced him to offer her a job in furniture design. in her bar, she built a built-in wall bar made of aluminium, glass and chrome and a card table with funky built-in pool-pocket drink holders.

in an archtiectural record interview she reflected on her time with corbusier, ‘I think the reason Le Corbusier took me on was because he thought I could carry through ideas. I was familiar with current technology, I knew how to use it, and what is more, I had ideas about the uses it could be put to.’ Tasked with designing furniture and interiors, she devised prototypes based on his sketch analysis of ‘seven states of sitting’, including two armchairs and the famous chaise longue. ‘Ils sont coquets’ (they are pretty), was her employer’s approving reaction.

In another photo, perriand again can be seen looking away from the camera, letting the viewer focus on the furniture steel tube chaise she designed with corbusier rather than the person. she's wearing her ball bearing necklace.

the exhibit at the fondation revolved around perriand's architecture and furniture designs. in her refuge-tonneau design, a cabin for 6 people designed in 1938. all components were prefabricated and organized around a tubular steel frame. she used aluminum components so it could be easily transported, and robust enough to withstand harsh weather conditions. the construction was adaptable to different locations and could be mounted and assembled in just 4 days. with limited interior space perriand designed a compact and easily transformable space. the beds could be folded down and served as benches during the day, and stools served as storage for personal belongings. 

bar sous le toit (bar in the attic)

chaise designed in collaboration with corbusier and jeanneret

refuge tonneau designed in collaboration with pierre jeanneret

perriand photograph