One of the most influential furniture designers of the early modern movement, CHARLOTTE PERRIAND (1903-1999) introduced the 'machine age' aesthetic to interiors in the steel, aluminium and glass furniture she created at Le Corbusier's architectural studio in the late 1920s and 1930s. She then continued her experiments with different materials.

She also forged friendships with the gifted young architects and designers from all over the world who, like her, had jumped at the chance to work for Le Corbusier as an unpaid or, if they were very lucky, poorly paid assistants. Together with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, Perriand developed a series of tubular steel chairs, which were then (and are still today) hailed as icons of the machine age.