With the exhibition L'Art d'habiter / The Art of Living, the Kunstmuseen Krefeld present the first major retrospective in Germany devoted to French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999). A leading figure in Le Corbusier's circle, Perriand fundamentally shaped modern living by merging visionary design with meaningful social progress.

Developed in close partnership with the Archives Charlotte Perriand, the exhibition examines Perriand's entire body of work through the lens of spatial design. From her groundbreaking tubular steel furniture to the experimental minimal housing of the interwar years, the modular storage systems of the postwar era, and her magnum opus—the alpine resort of Les Arcs—L'Art d'habiter reveals Perriand's design vision and social philosophy as expressed through the spaces where we live. Her legacy proves remarkably prescient today, speaking directly to contemporary concerns in architecture and design while addressing urgent ecological and social imperatives.

As 2025's flagship exhibition, the show will unfold across three remarkable venues: the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum (KWM) and the Lange and Esters houses, masterworks of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's architecture. Together, these spaces illuminate the full spectrum of Perriand's practice—her engagement with environment and nature, her dialogue across cultures, her uncompromising political vision, and her nuanced approach to craft in an age of industrial production. The exhibition also explores her pioneering use of photography and photomontage as tools to articulate the social dimensions of her artistic practice.

The exhibition brings together exceptional loans from leading international collections: rare original furniture, archival materials, photographs, and film documentation. Immersive room reconstructions allow visitors to experience Perriand's designs firsthand, while thematic sections trace the evolution of her creative approach from the 1920s through the 1970s.

www.kunstmuseenkrefeld.de