The Search for Paradise: Charlotte Perriand’s Canoe Trip around Mallorca

Abstract

In the summer of 1932, Charlotte Perriand made a trip to the Balearic Islands, the relevance of which was reflected in her later memoirs. The trip began in Mallorca, following an itinerary that was unusual for the time: paddling around the island in a canoe. This article reconstructs the route Perriand followed while examining the precedents for the trip and its derivations in her later work, which centred on architecture for leisure and the enjoyment of nature. The article focuses on certain imaginaries that may have fuelled the trip, offering an analysis of the island topos and its subsequent interpretations in the mythological construction of the idea of paradise and emancipatory adventure. The expedition is also situated in its historical context, looking at the specific perspective of the avant-gardes in relation to popular culture, which ended up shaping the ideal of Mediterraneity as part of the Modern Movement’s investigations. At the same time, the article points to the singularity of Perriand’s peripheral recognition of Mallorca, defining what is understood as a liminal approach to the territory, carried out mainly from the coastline, which syncopated the experience and the timing of the journey.