The LC3 Sofa: Modernist Furniture by Architect Le Corbusier



In his long and fruitful career, the modernist architect and designer Le Corbusier has produced some of the world's most famous furniture designs. And among them is the Le Corbusier LC3 Sofa. Part of the LC3 collection which also includes the LC3 Ottoman and the LC3 Meridienne, the LC3 Sofa is a two to three-person capacity sofa composed of an external tubular steel frame and black leather cushions. Le Corbusier based the sofa's design on his earlier Grand Comfort armchair design, and was done in collaboration with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and designer Charlotte Perriand.

As with most of Le Corbusier's designs, the construction of the LC3 Sofa is light and minimalistic. The sofa's external frame, which can also be found in Le Corbusier's LC2 Sofa, is a testament to Le Corbusier's disdain for traditional sofa designs which hid the frame under wads of bulky padding. The tubular frame is made from high grade steel to support the weight of the sofa, and was coated with chrome finish in later production models. And to complement the frame's metallic finish, the cushions are covered in rich black leather. Later reproductions of the sofa have also been made with aniline leather upholstery as well as with other materials. The sofa also featured an interior spring mechanism, but this was discarded in sofas made after 1959.

The LC3 Sofa first underwent production in 1930s under the furniture company of Michael Thonet and later under the Swiss-based company Embru. Currently, Cassina S.p.A. is the sole authorized manufacturer of the Le Corbusier LC3 Sofa. The Milan-based high-end furniture company acquired the rights for Le Corbusier's furniture designs in 1964, and produces them today under license from the Fondation le Corbusier. However, reproductions of the LC3 sofa and other Le Corbusier designs made from other manufacturers also exist in the market.