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Los Angeles architect Francois Perrin has passed away

R.I.P.

Los Angeles architect Francois Perrin has passed away

Los Angeles-based architect Francois Perrin has passed away. (Courtesy Jacqueline Booth Di Milia)

Los Angeles–based architect Francois Perrin has passed away.

Perrin was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer in January, 2019, and passed away on April 1, 2019, in Ventura County, California.

Born in Paris, France, Perrin would eventually settle in Los Angeles, where his design practice, Air Architecture, was well known for creating materially inventive spaces filled with ethereal physical qualities that transcended everyday experiences.

Photo of Francois Perrin’s air House
Francois Perrin’s Air House from 2006 used trapped air visible through clear plastic siding as a form of building insulation. (Nills Timm)

Perrin’s architectural projects were widely published; his Venice Air House from 2006, an addition to a single-family home that used trapped air visible through clear polycarbonate siding as a form of insulation, was well known. Perrin’s Hollywood Hills House from 2012 was designed as a series of terraces that simultaneously disappeared into and were hung off of a steeply-sloped site.

In the past, Perrin has organized several exhibitions including “Dialogues” and “Yves Klein-Air Architecture” at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture and “Architectones” in several locations around the world.

In 2004, Perrin’s The Weather Garden transformed the courtyard of Materials & Applications in Los Angeles using netting, a wooden platform, and palm tree saplings.

In 2016, Perrin and French Canadian architect Francois Dallegret organized a retrospective of Dallegret’s early works at WUHO Gallery in Hollywood.

A photo of Perrin’s Air Houses installation.
View of Perrin’s Air Houses installation from the Chicago Architecture Biennial. (Courtesy Chicago Architecture Biennial/Steve Hall)

In 2017, Perrin’s Air Houses brought a series of tent-like shelters to the Palm House at the Garfield Park Conservatory for the Chicago Architecture Biennale.

A joint project between Perrin and Dallegret was scheduled to go on view earlier this year at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles as part of the Shelter or Playground exhibition, but Perrin’s work on the exhibition was cut short by his illness.

Perrin was decorated with the Chevalier de l’Art et des Lettres in June, 2018, at the Residence de France in Los Angeles.

On top of everything, Perrin was an avid big-wave surfer and an artist, pursuits that earned him the love of a wide community of artists and architects around the world. As the shocking news of Perrin’s illness spread among his friends last week, several organizations and institutions rallied to his family’s support.

Perrin is survived by his partner Eviana Hartman and their 16-month-old daughter. A fund has been set up to help the family navigate this difficult time.

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