LC4 Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand for Wohnbedarf edition, 1952

Born in Paris in 1903, Charlotte Perriand studied at the Ecole de l’Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. In 1927, inspired by his architectural treatises, Perriand persuaded Le Corbusier to employ her. He put her in charge of prototype production and public presentations of the studio’s work. In collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret, Perriand developed a series of tubular steel chairs, which were—and are still today—hailed as icons of the machine age.

In 1940, she travelled to Japan as an official advisor on industrial design. When Japan joined the war, she found herself trapped in Vietnam from 1942 until 1946. During her exile, Perriand studied local techniques of woodwork and weaving. She returned to France intent on introducing straw and bamboo to modern design.

Back in France, Perriand continued her work with Le Corbusier and Prouvé. She was integral to the design of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. She remained an influential figure in the modern movement until her death in 1999.

Born in Switzerland in 1887 as Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier was an architect, urban planner, painter, writer, designer, and theorist who lived and worked primarily in France. In 1900, he began to study at the École d'Art in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, as an engraver and goldsmith, expanding his studies in 1904 to include architecture. Among his influential early teachers were Auguste Perret, Jose Hoffman, and architect Peter Behrens. During World War I, Le Corbusier taught at his old school in La Chaux-de-Fonds. After the war, he returned to Paris and worked on concrete structures for the government while focusing most of his energy on painting.

In 1919, Le Corbusier and painter Amédée Ozenfant—cofounders of the Purism movement—launched the art magazine L’Esprit Nouveau (the Le Corbusier pseudonym was officially adopted in its first issue). The magazine presented Le Corbusier’s ideas on modern architecture, which were based on a philosophy of harmony and proportion. In 1922, he and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret opened a studio in Paris, a partnership that lasted until 1940. The pair began to experiment with furniture design after architect Charlotte Perriand joined the studio in 1928. In his design, architecture, and artwork, Le Corbusier embraced elemental geometric forms. In 1943, he developed Modulor, a system of proportions based on the male figure and the golden ratio, which was used to determine the proportions of units in architecture and technology. This also served as the basis for his furniture design.

After World War II, Le Corbusier sought efficient ways to house large numbers of people in response to the housing crisis. His most notable housing unit was the Unité d'Habitation of Marseilles (1946–52). He was also a founding member of the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM). During the 1950s, he was presented the unique opportunity to translate his vision on a large scale with the construction of the newly founded capital city of Chandigarh, India.

A leading 20^th-century modern architect, Le Corbusier pioneered the International style, working primarily with steel and reinforced concrete. His buildings were constructed across central Europe, India, and Russia, and one each in North and South America. Arguably, his most notable works are the Weissenhof Settlement in Stuttgart (1927) and Villa Savoye (1929–31). In 1961, he was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal and the AIA Gold Medal. In 1964, Milan’s Cassina S.p.A. acquired exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture his furniture designs.

Le Corbusier died in August 1965.