Charlotte Perriand (1903–99) is one of the foremost figures in twentieth-century interior design. Together with her contemporaries and collaborators, such as Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier, and Jean Prouvé, she created many pieces of furniture we now consider classics, including the instantly recognizable LC4 chaise. Her pioneering work with metal was particularly instrumental in paving the way for the machine-age aesthetic popular throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

The first volume of this four-part definitive monograph on Charlotte Perriand, this book looks at her early life until 1940: her childhood and youth, her education and work in photography, her early interest in pre-fab residential architecture. A core part of the book is dedicated to the years 1927–37 that Perriand spent working with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret and during which the LC4 chaise and the LC2 arm chair were created.