Les Arcs Collection by Charlotte Perriand @ Fuorisalone

Noir Blanc, 1972 — Chiesa di San Celso, Milan

At Fuorisalone 2023 cc-tapis presented the Les Arcs collection designed by Charlotte Perriand in a site-specific installation curated by Michela Croci.

The Les Arcs Collection, designed by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand (1903 –1999) is a collection of handknotted rugs produced by cc-tapis, 5 designs available in 3 dimensions made entirely by hand in Nepal by Tibetan artisans.

 

Production process — cc-tapis Atelier in Nepal

Presented in the San Celso church, the Milan-based curator and set-designer Michela Croci, took advantage of the fact that the viewer is dettached from the street and the city, walking through a garden to arrive at the entrance of the church where they are greeted by a calm, reflective and silent space. The silence of the space is replaced by the vibrant colors of the Les Arcs collection, which engage in the cavernous volumes of the ancient structure, creating natural auras under the arches, where the rugs almost replace the original stained glass windows.

Brun Abeille, 1972 — Chiesa di San Celso, Milan

Charlotte Perriand originally designed the collection in 1972 for the Les Arcs ski station in the French Alps. A project the iconic designer worked on for 20 years, designing both the exterior and interior architecture. Whilst designing Les Arcs 1600, the first of many buildings in the ski complex, Perriand intended to include textile panels in the interiors, but due to budgetary constraints they were never realized. After more than 50 years, cc-tapis worked closely with Pernette Perriand Barsac and Jacques Barsac, custodians of the Charlotte Perriand archive, to give life to the designs which had never been produced before.  

Discover the Les Arcs collection

 

Abeille, Abricot, Acanthe, Aigue Marine, Amiral, Antilope, Azalée, Blanc, Brun, Gris, Noir, Vert
Photo by Marcelo Gomes

For this collection color was the main theme, with which cc-tapis had the challenge of reproducing the palette created by Perriand. 12 shades she affectionately detailed and named with labels such as Antilope (antelope), Abeille (bee) and Acanthe (ancanthus plant). Each color excluding Noir (black) and Blanc (white), was dyed by hand with an abrash dying technique which gives the rugs their depth and movement, matching Perriand’s sketches as closely as possible.

 

Noir Gris, 1972 — Chiesa di San Celso, Milan

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Bleu Blanc Gris, 1972

 

Photo by Alejandro Ramirez Orozco