Happy Birthday Corbu

Today would have been Le Corbusier's 124th birthday. Born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret in La Chaux-de-Fonds in north western Switzerland, he adopted his pseudonym in 1920. It is an altered form of his maternal grandfather's name, Lecorbésier, and also means 'like a crow'. Undoubtedly one of the most renowned architects of both the Modernist movement and indeed of the Twentieth Century, Le Corbusier is possibly equally as well-known for the furniture designs that he developed along with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and their collaborator Charlotte Periand for the exhibition 'Equipment for the Home' at the Salonne d'Automne in 1929. They included the LC1 chair (also known as the Basculant chair, referring to its tilting back) the LC2 and LC3 upholstered chairs (Fauteuil grand confort, petit modèle, and Fauteuil grand confort, grand modèle) and the LC4 Chaise Longue - possibly one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of furniture design of all time.

In 1964 - one year before Le Corbusier's death from a heart attack as he swam in the sea below Eileen Gray's house E1027 at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin - he granted the licence to manufacture these iconic furniture designs to Cassina SpA of Meda in Northern Italy and thus the 'Cassina i Maestri' Collection was born. Cassina is still the only manufacturer authorised by the Fondation Le Corbusier to produce the designs to the exact specification and unparalleled levels of quality that he demanded. Each model is stamped with his signature and with an edition number, proving its provenance.

As well as the pieces designed with Jeanneret and Perriand, Cassina also manufactures pieces created by Le Corbusier alone - most notably the LC12 Table, designed in 1925 for the Maison La Roche, which now houses the Fondation Le Corbusier, and the LC15 Table de Conférence, designed in 1958 for his own atelier in the rue de Sèvres in Paris.

Happy Birthday Corbu!

ARAM STORE