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Nuage Biblio­thèque Épis et Murales MX

c. 1956/2012

by Charlotte Perriand
for Cassina

Nuage Biblio­thèque Épis et Murales MX

by Charlotte Perriand
for  Cassina

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Nuage Biblio­thèque Épis et Murales MX designed by Char­lotte Perriand was orig­i­nally produced by Galerie Steph Simon in Paris from 1956 to 1970. Nuage’s oak wood construc­tion features a result­ing arrange­ment of recti­lin­ear compart­ments that vary in height – their respec­tive inte­ri­ors are visible or concealed by the addi­tion of metal sliding doors avail­able in differ­ent colors. The user’s orien­ta­tion of the panels affords a fabu­lous range of aesthet­ics result­ing from the form’s inter­play with the space behind it. The colored aluminum panels are remi­nis­cent of the hori­zon­tal and verti­cal blocks of color that char­ac­ter­ize Holland’s De Stijl move­ment of neoplas­ti­cism from 1917 through the 1920s and mani­fest in the paint­ings of Piet Mondrian and Theo van Does­burg as well as the furni­ture and archi­tec­ture of Gerrit Rietveld.

After many years, Cassina, in close collab­o­ra­tion with Perriand’s daugh­ter, Pernette, has substan­tively reis­sued the Nuage range of modular creden­zas, book­cases, storage units, and wall-mounted compart­ments as part of its I Maestri Collec­tion. Noted here are the Nuage Biblio­thèque Épis et Murales MX storage unit/​bookcase config­u­ra­tions. In addi­tion to being avail­able in a number of versions, these also have substan­tial color and finish options for panels.

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Charlotte Perriand

France (1903–1999)

In her eight-decade career, Charlotte Perriand contributed to countless design projects that allowed her to experiment with material. She explored working with tubular steel furniture, natural pieces in ebonized wood, bamboo furniture in Japan, and more. Paying close attention to the functionality of the furniture and the arrangement of the interior environment, Perriand designed pieces that were meant to be comfortably used and enjoyed in a space, as evidenced in her famed 1959 daybed or curved-back LC7 chair. Her revolutionary user-centric approach helped establish her as a seminal figure in the modernist design movement whose legacy endures to this day.

Not long after graduating from Ecole de L'Union Centrale de Arts Decoratifs in Paris, Perriand impressed critics with “Bar Under the Roof,” an installation featuring an aluminum and chrome bar counter and card table presented at the Salon d’Automne in 1927. The showcase established her as an avant-garde talent to watch and wowed a personal icon of hers, Le Corbusier—who invited her to join his studio and work on furniture designs with him and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret. The trio went on to craft some of the most enduring modern furniture pieces of the 20th century, such as the widely collected LC4 chaise longue, today produced by Cassina.

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