From May 24 to June 29, the Downtown François Laffanour gallery presents a set of pieces by Charlotte Perriand, Kenzo Tange, Isamu Noguchi, Yunya Ishigami, Tokujin Yoshioka, and Shimizu Hisakazu.

I’ve often wondered what attracted Charlotte Perriand to Japan and what inspired her creations.
The answer seems to me to be high standards.
High standards of form, materials, and craftsmanship.
High standards to achieve the best possible result.
This is what can connect these two distant civilizations, one Gallo-Latin-Catholic and the other Buddhist-Shinto.
Here we rediscover the meeting of the emblematic creators of Japan and France, two demanding aesthetes and two friends, Kenzo Tange and Charlotte Perriand.
I found their creations in various locations across Japan, hidden places amidst cities that are constantly transforming with new construction. These places have been inhabited by Japan’s leading figures: an entrepreneur with a passion for architecture, a great writer close to Sakakura, a collaborator of Charlotte’s…
And the intellectual and aesthetic rigor of all the protagonists guarantees the longevity of these creations, highlighting a particular sensitivity.

Yumiko Seki – Laffanour