Le Corbusier

Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, was born at La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Swiss Jura, in 1887; he died in France, at Cap Martin, on the French Côte d’Azur, in 1965.

Le Corbusier practiced as a town-planner, architect and designer.  Instances of this are:

Unité d’Habitation, Marseille (1946-52);
the Chapel at Ronchamp (1950-55);
the Dominican Monastery «La Tourette» (1951-56);
the Centre of Zurich (1964-65)
the Hospital in Venice (1965).

He designed the furniture for the Salon d’Automne, 1928, with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand and the “Casiers Standard”, system of container units designed for the Pavillon of the Esprit Nouveau, 1925, with Pierre Jeanneret.

In 1964, when Le Corbusier was still alive, Cassina signed the first licensing agreement and began the work for reconstructing the first group of models - LC1, LC2, LC3 and LC4 - which went into production in September 1965. Other models were introduced respectively in 1974, 1978, 1985, 1998 and 2006: LC6, LC7, LC8, LC9, Casiers Standard, LC10-P and LC11-P, LC5.F, LC12 and LC13. In 1978, in accordance with Fondation Le Corbusier and in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand, the entire collection underwent a revision. Cassina works with the Fondation Le Corbusier, the institution which keeps and attends to the archives of Le Corbusier’s drawings and design and in collaboration with Pernette Perriand and Jacqueline Jeanneret, heirs of the co-authors.

The co-authors.

In 1922, Le Corbusier began working in the new rue de Sèvres atelier with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret with whom he shared research projects and design criteria in a profound and life-long professional relationship.

In October 1927, the pair decided to draw on the contribution of a young architect who had already begun to establish a reputation on the architectural scene of the time: Charlotte Perriand. Their collaboration lasted through to 1937 and was extremely fruitful, especially in the field of furniture design. The partnership was highly significant, both in terms of the cultural weight of their achievements and their professional successes.

It was together with Charlotte Perriand that the pair tackled the innovative project for “l’equipement intérieur de l’habitation”. The resulting furniture designs achieved considerable success at the time and, thanks to Cassina’s meticulous research and attention to production quality, this continues today.