Designing women: Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray (1878–1976) was an interior designer and architect of Irish origin, though she spent most of her life in France creating modernist furniture and interiors.

Eileen Gray, 1927. Photo by Berenice Abbott. © Getty images.

As curator Cloé Pitiot puts it, “If one can say Le Corbusier is one of the fathers of modernity, then one can say Eileen Gray is one of the mothers of modernity.” In 1972, a retrospective exhibition, Eileen Gray: Pioneer of Design, was held in London.

Glass Salon at Rue de Lota Apartment, 1922.

In 1917, Eileen Grey created the interiors of Rue de Lota apartment in Paris.

“A house is not a machine to live in. It is the shell of man, his extension, his release, his spiritual emanation,”—Gray once said. In 1926, at a time when primarily male designers and architects were introducing modern furniture pieces, Gray created her curvaceous and inviting Bibendum chair—an original and feminine take on the geometries and proportions prevalent at the time.

body:not(.rm-fonts-loaded) .css-nfj4v{visibility:hidden;}Eileen Gray (1878–1976) was an interior designer and architect of Irish origin, though she spent most of her life in France creating modernist furniture and interiors.

Eileen Gray (1878–1976) was an interior designer and architect of Irish origin, though she spent most of her life in France creating modernist furniture and interiors.

Eileen Gray (1878–1976) was an interior designer and architect of Irish origin, though she spent most of her life in France creating modernist furniture and interiors.