The classic and iconic Le Corbusier chairs were designed over 80 years ago, but they are still popular and sought after additions for today’s modern home or office. The name “Corbusier Chair” refers to the chairs produced by the firm during the 1930s, and can refer to any of the three styles that are available today as reproductions.
Even though Le Corbusier is better known as an architect and pioneer of modern architecture, he was also one of the 20th century’s most important furniture designers. While there has been some controversy and debate about his contribution to architecture, there has never been disagreement over his importance to the world of furniture design. After nearly a century, his furniture designs are still widely used and have become icons of chair design – their form is as modern today as when they were first created.
Charles-douard Jeanneret-Gris, who later used the pseudonym Le Corbusier, was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He studied architecture in Vienna and worked for a time in Berlin and then Paris. As a result of his early training in the Arts and Crafts style, Le Corbusier learned that all the aspects and details of interior design were part of the domain of the architect. When the villas of his wealthy Swiss clients were being completed, Le Corbusier decided to design his own “modern furniture.” and the first significant furniture designs appeared in 1928.
Le Corbusier invited the young architect Charlotte Perriand to join the studio and asked her to work on a new type of furniture – a style that would be compatible and relevant to the “machine age.” Perriand was familiar with his ideas and writings and during 1927 – 1930, she expanded on his theories, and managed the production of the design firm’s tubular-steel furniture prototypes.
Le Corbusier had early defined three different uses in furniture: 1) Furniture to be used for an active purpose, 2) furniture designed for comfort, and 3) furniture that was created for total relaxation. The three designs which were then created by Perriand, Le Corbusier, and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, incorporated metal and cushioning, and have become icons of 20th century furniture.
Le Corbusier’s “Active” mode was represented by the LC1, or Chaise Basculant. Used as an office chair, it was based on the design of the Safari chair, a colonial officer’s chair with leather straps. The Chaise Basculant has a reclining back that provides support in several positions, and its stainless steel legs and frame are in polished chrome finish or matte black enamel.
Le Corbusier’s second design for comfortable seating was the Grand Confort or LC2 and LC3 chairs. This was the most popular of the three styles and its design is like a cube of chrome and black leather. This chair is well known today because it was used by Maxell in their 1980s commercial for audio-cassettes. It shows a young man seated low in the Grand Confort chair, being blown away by the sound of the stereo system. The Grand Confort was a variation of the Maples club armchair, and The LC2 and LC3 were referred to as “cushion baskets” by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret and Perriand because the usual design of furniture was reversed by putting the frame on the outside.
The third purpose – that of total relaxation — is represented by the LC4 or Chaise Longue. As much a work of art as a chair, it has self-balancing adjustment with two-piece construction. With its visible structural elements, it introduced the era of slim profiled and functional furniture. The simple design incorporates a tubular chrome frame with an H-shaped painted steel base. The form mirrors the natural curves of the body and with its true ergonomic design it can be adjusted from a full reclining to a nearly-upright position. The chair is balanced in any position and to adjust it you just move it along the tubular arc to find the desired position.
All the different styles of Le Corbusier chairs are available today in numerous quality reproductions, but the only one licensed by the Le Corbusier Foundation is the Cassina Master line. Cassina SpA acquired the rights to manufacture the furniture designs in 1964, while Le Corbusier was still alive.
For more information about these classic chairs visit Le Corbusier Chair
