In 2019, the Fondation Louis Vuitton hosted a major monographic exhibition on Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999), a pioneer of modernism in interior design and a close collaborator of Le Corbusier. Twenty years after her death, Le Monde Nouveau de Charlotte Perriand celebrated the genius of this figure through a chronological itinerary that presented the most significant exhibitions of her career, set up next to the paintings of artists such as Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso, who were among the designer’s closest friends in the effervescent cultural climate of Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Emblematic, for instance, is Lèger’s still life Les mouvements à billes, which also depicts a ball-bearing necklace identical to the one Charlotte wears in many photos of the time.
In this context, Sice Previt made an important contribution to the exhibition by taking care of the reconstruction of Appartement Moderne, exhibited by Charlotte Perriand together with Le Corbusier and Jeanneret at the Salon d’Automne of 1929 (where it earned the legendary title of ‘avant-garde assault on the house’), of various components of La Maison du Jeune Homme, first exhibited in 1935 at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels, and finally of the assembly of the Maison au Bord de l’Eau, also built by Sice Previt in 2013 based on the designer’s autograph drawings.
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The aim of the exhibition was to convey the innovative thrust of Charlotte Perriand’s work by philologically recreating the atmosphere of the historic exhibitions and encouraging historical and technical research into those designs. In this context, Sice Previt’s work therefore consisted first of all in the combined study of autograph drawings, period photographs and occasional original pieces in order to define all the construction details necessary for the reproduction of the furnishings conceived by Perriand. Only later did the design take over from the actual construction, which was also conducted philologically using, where possible, the techniques and materials available at the time.
Crucial to this project was the collaboration with the curators of the Perriand archive, Pernette Perriand and Jacques Barsac, as well as the architectural historian Arthur Rüegg, who made available their profound knowledge of Charlotte’s work and the building techniques of the time to fill in the gaps left by the documents. By combining the research and development expertise gained at Sice Previt with this knowledge, it was possible to conduct work that, by means of study models, made it possible to recreate the original furniture and rooms – at least limited to their external appearance, in accordance with the exclusively exhibition-oriented purpose of the initiative.
This was different from the commercial work that Sice Previt does in the retail sector in several respects, from the particularity of organising logistics in a museum venue to the need to rely on external technicians for assembly, to the different approach in the production of the finishes, which did not have to be flawless by today’s standards but rather in line with the look of the finishes produced at the time.
For the Appartment Moderne originally presented at the Salomne d’Automne ‘29, Sice Previt was first of all involved in the production of the pioneering modular casiers conceived by the designer, which separate the kitchen from the living room, defining – in a truly modern way – an ante litteram openspace, bright, fluid and open. Characterising these double-sided sideboards as well as the bibliothèque, also a double-sided bookcase separating the living room from the bedroom, are metal and glass: materials that contribute to the brightness of the room and its hypermodern appearance. Disruptive in concept and appearance is also the kitchen, designed to be modulated according to need thanks to folding shelves, and characterised by the use of metal as well as the rational use of space, as can be seen in particular in the original compartment with hooks designed for practical and tidy storage of frying pans and saucepans. Finally, the sliding bed and the ‘cabin’ shower are interesting.
Every detail of the various pieces of furniture was reproduced as faithfully as possible, even customising screws, bolts and hooks that are no longer commercially available. The guides for the glass panels in the living room casiers, for example, characterised by an innovative ball-bearing system, were recreated on the basis of what has been observed in similar furniture. Other furnishing elements, such as the ceramic sanitary ware and the top of the economy kitchen, were instead reproduced only in form, using MDF as the material, painted and finished in imitation of the original materials.
Sice Previt also took care of defining the appropriate materials for the wall and floor finishes (the tiles, ceramics, cathedral glass), through the creation of special mock-ups in the company.
In addition to Appartement Moderne, Sice Previt also developed other pieces of furniture for different living projects, in particular for La Maison du Jeune Homme, which belongs to the period in which the designer integrated traditional materials such as wood into her concept, thematising the search for balance between modern and nature. For this section of the exhibition, the Sice Previt carpentry firm created some coffee tables (Table basse Carrée), a small desk with rounded shapes (Table Tunisie), as well as the more challenging Table Manifeste, whose top is embellished with silk-screen prints of drawings by Picasso and Lèger, and its counterpart Meuble Manifeste. Two creations that required special research and experimentation on electrolysis and the printing techniques of the time.
Finally, for the young man’s home Sice Previt reproduced several bookcases designed by Perriand, including one free-standing and two to be hung on the wall (Bibliothèque Nuage). Made of metal and wood, they exactly reproduce all the details of the original ones, from the type of screws and wall hooks to the curved and painted sheet metal finishes. Here too, the creation of study models on which to compare with experts to arrive at the most philologically correct result was fundamental.
Finally, for the occasion, the monumental fountain at the entrance to the exhibition venue also featured the famous Maison au Bord de l’Eau, created six years earlier by Sice Previt itself with the support of the Perriand archive.
Our company is particularly proud to have contributed to this important exhibition on one of the most influential figures in 20th century design, whose modernist conception of furniture effectively revolutionised contemporary taste and continues to influence it today.
