Modernist Classsic Design: LC2 Armchairs, Le Corbusier by Cassina, 1990s

Swiss-born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, best known by his adopted name Le Corbusier, was a highly influential architect, designer, painter, urban planner and writer whose career spanned almost five decades.

A pioneer of progress-minded modern architecture, Le Corbusier sought to impose a rational order on the chaos of the world through design. He rejected the excessive architectural ornament and developed a style that became known as brutalism, creating buildings with elemental geometric forms that were made of industrial materials such as steel and reinforced concrete. Le Corbusier believed that pure, well-designed spaces could offer a lesson in how little is needed to achieve happiness. To convey this notion, the architect prioritized modern, open interiors and emphasized light, rational designs. His architecture and interiors share a clear sense of space and structural order, underlining the beauty in harmony, proportion and simplicity.

Le Corbusier’s furniture espouses these same ideals. His designs are spare, minimal and efficient but at the same time offer supreme comfort. Collaborating with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, and trailblazing designer Charlotte Perriand, he devised such iconic pieces as the LC2 Petit Confort armchair and the LC4 chaise longue. Each couples a tubular chrome frame with soft, supple leather upholstery, lending an organic warmth to an industrially made design. In his furniture, Le Corbusier broke new ground in ergonomics. The shape of the LC4 chaise is taken directly from the human form; the classic cowhide upholstery makes the sitter feel weightless; and the piece features an adjustable positioning mechanism to promote total relaxation.

Such planning and intelligence were the hallmarks of Le Corbusier’s career. Whether in his designs for private residences such as the Villa Savoye near Paris, apartment towers like the Unité D'habitation in Marseilles, or in his furniture, he worked toward a style of living that was expansive and flexible. The strength and simplicity of line of Le Corbusier’s sofas and other seating pieces give them a sculptural presence in any décor, yet they are sublimely restful. And as you will see on 1stDibs, Le Corbusier’s furniture reflects a worldly taste: it is at once refined, cosmopolitan and chic.

Furniture manufacturer Cassina is a prolific design house for more reasons than one: It not only owns the licenses to an exquisite collection of iconic chairs, sofas, tables and other pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries but also produces original works that are characterized by innovation and the finest Italian craftsmanship.

Cassina’s illustrious legacy includes being one of the first companies to bring industrial design to Italy in the 1950s. Founded in 1927 in Meda, Italy, by brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina, the Italian manufacturing giant originally specialized in bespoke woodworking. In nearly a century since its founding, the company has shown incredible foresight about design trends and the evolution of technology.

In 1964, Cassina signed an exclusive licensing agreement to manufacture furniture by Le Corbusier and his collaborators — such as the LC4 chaise longue made with trailblazing French modernist Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret — a move that would shape the future of the company. Cassina’s I Maestri collection is an ongoing initiative to restyle landmark designs from the 20th century, such as pieces by Gerrit Rietveld (the Red and Blue armchair from 1918), Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Franco Albini and Frank Lloyd Wright. The company preserves the intentions and original styles of their designs but adds updated techniques, materials and processes — rendering them the best possible combination of past, present and future. The brand has also worked with contemporary icons like Zaha Hadid, Gio Ponti and Philippe Starck.

Cassina’s original designs are cutting-edge as well. They include pieces for everyday use, the development of which is guided by comfort and the marriage of Italian craftsmanship with industrial technology.

Some of Cassina’s pieces, both from its contemporary and I Maestri collections, can be found in the collections of museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Vitra Design Museum. In 2014, the company became part of Haworth in its acquisition of Italian furniture group Poltrona Frau, and in 2015, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola joined Cassina as its art director, leading the brand into its next century of inventive style.

Find a collection of new and vintage Cassina furniture on 1stDibs.