 |
| Terence Conran |
Terence Conran (1931- ) was born in Kingston upon Thames and was educated at Bryanston School and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where he studied textiles and other materials, adopting the Bauhaus belief that "a good design should be available to the whole community, not just to a few."
He opened his own design practice in 1956 at the age of 21 and designed a shop for Mary Quant. In 1964 he opened the first Habitat shop in Chelsea, which grew into an international chair selling household good and furniture in contemporary designs. Habitat was instrumental in imbuing the country with a modernist view, using simple shapes, natural materials and a colorful palette, showing postwar England that design could be glamorous. Habitat catapulted Conran into the mainstream of design. In the mid-1980s, he expanded Habitat into the Storehouse group of companies which included Heals. Later he started the Conran Shop and Benchmark Furniture.
He is also a noted restaurateur, had an architectural practice with Fred Lloyd Roche and has written several books about interior design. The Conran Foundation also manages the Design Museum. He was knighted in 1983 and was a winner of the Chartered Society of Designers Minerva Medal, the Society's highest award. In 2003, he received the Prince Phillip Designer's Prize in recognition of his lifetime achievements in design. He has been provost of the Royal College of Art since that year.
From designmuseum.org and wikipedia.org
 |
Matador chair and ottoman
designmuseum.org |
 |
Boomerang dining table and chairs
archithing.com |
 |
C.20 stack chair
designaddict.com |
 |
Balance Alcove shelving
designmuseum.org |
 |
59th Street sofa
designmuseum.org |
 |
Mon Oncle chairs
retrotogo.com |
 |
Tableware for Midwinter
vam.ac.uk |
its always a pleasure to know about a designer..and ur posts are so informative...thanks for sharing
ReplyDelete@Sudha: I was fascinated by his designs but equally interested in his success as a restaurateur. The man must be immensely talented.
ReplyDeleteJust so cool. Thanks for always teaching something interesting.
ReplyDelete@DearHelenHartman: Isn't there an old saying that goes "You can take the old woman out of the classroom, but you can't take..."? No wait, it's "You can lead an old woman out of the classroom, but you can't make her shut up." Something like that...:)
ReplyDelete