Cansado Sideboard by Charlotte Perriand, France – 1950s

Description

Designed by Charlotte Perriand for the Cité Cansado project in Mauritania, this sideboard exemplifies her functional and architectural approach to furniture design. Crafted in mahogany veneer with white Formica sliding doors, sculptural wooden handles, and a black lacquered steel base, it combines warmth, durability, and refined simplicity. Produced by Steph Simon in the late 1950s, the piece reflects Perriand's vision of furniture as an integral part of modern architecture and everyday life.

The Cité Cansado project in Mauritania formed part of a broader modernist urban initiative, with contributions from Jean Prouvé and other leading architects and designers of the period. Perriand developed adaptable furnishings suited to modern living while maintaining an economy of form and material. This sideboard embodies those principles through its rational construction, modular composition, and understated visual balance, functioning equally as storage and as an architectural element within the interior.

Faithful to Perriand's belief in creating clarity through design, this sideboard embodies her mantra, "Create emptiness," offering storage that organizes space while preserving openness and harmony. Preserved in its authentic condition with a natural patina, it stands as both a practical piece of furniture and a lasting example of twentieth-century modern design.

GW4631