Charlotte Perriand: the modern life

design museum

★★★★★ The Telegraph

'A beautiful new exhibition' Evening Standard

Charlotte Perriand was a giant of the design world, her pioneering work defining what a modern interior is and how we live in them. From designing open plan homes in the 1920’s to free women from confinement in the kitchen, to her timeless furniture design collaborations with Le Corbusier studio in Paris, Perriand’s ideas were trailblazing.

The Design Museum’s new retrospective, curated in collaboration with the Perriand family and archive, aims to highlight the important part Perriand played in the history of design. Featuring large-scale reconstructions of some of Perriand’s most famous interiors, together with her iconic furniture designs and sketches, photographs, scrapbooks and prototypes, the exhibition celebrates the creativity of this little known but hugely influential designer.

To light the exhibition, Beam created a series of expansive lightboxes for the full-scale reconstructions. Working with Assemble the 3D designers we designed a scheme using a mixture of in house fittings and hired fixtures. We also commissioned a new temporary power distribution system to provide power to the entire exhibition. Beam installers worked with teams from the UK, France and Italy to bring this spectacular story to life.

All images by Felix Speller.