Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray (1878–1976) was an Irish-born architect and designer whose modernist furniture, interiors, and buildings joined experimentation with close attention to use. Her best-known works include the house E-1027.

E-1027: A modernist house on the French Riviera designed by Eileen Gray with Jean Badovici and completed in 1929. This seaside house is Gray’s best-known architectural work and a synthesis of her design ideas.
Modernist architecture: An architectural movement that favored new materials, functional planning, and forms suited to modern life. Gray’s houses adapted modernist principles to intimate domestic needs.
Slade School of Fine Art: An art school at University College London, founded in 1871. Gray studied painting at the Slade before turning toward decorative arts and design.
Le Corbusier murals at E-1027: Murals painted by Le Corbusier on the walls of E-1027 during the late 1930s. The murals altered Gray’s carefully designed interior and became central to disputes over the house’s meaning.
Bibendum Chair: An armchair designed by Eileen Gray around 1926, named for its resemblance to the Michelin Man. Its monumental upholstered rings show Gray’s playful approach to comfort and form.
Built-in furniture: Furniture fixed to a building’s structure rather than designed to be freely moved. At E-1027, built-ins organize space while leaving room for movable furnishings.
Japanese lacquerware: Objects finished with layers of lacquer, a craft tradition developed extensively in Japan. Japanese lacquer techniques informed Gray’s training and her early furniture and screen designs.
E-1027 restoration: The conservation and reconstruction work undertaken to preserve E-1027 as a historic house. Restoration has renewed attention to Gray’s design and to damage the house suffered over time.
Adjustable Table E 1027: A height-adjustable glass-and-steel side table designed by Eileen Gray for E-1027. The table’s adaptable height reflects the house’s emphasis on flexible domestic use.
Adjustable furniture: Furniture designed to change position or configuration to suit different uses. Gray used adjustable pieces to make small rooms serve changing activities.

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Zaha HadidCompared with: Gray offers an earlier example of a woman designer whose architectural recognition came belatedly.