How designers live

While researching an upcoming post, I happened upon some extraordinary images of interiors of homes of well-known designers. The photographer, Leslie Williamson, has a spellbinding website that I urge you to visit. Her portfolio includes portraits of craftsmen and artists, as well as interior shots of beautiful spaces. What you see in this post are only a few of my favorites. I'm sure you will have favorites of your own.

All images from lesliewilliamson.com

Russel Wright's dining area - Garrison, NY

Vladimir Kagan's living room - New York City, NY

George Nakashima's Reception House - New Hope, PA

Irving Harper's bedroom - Rye, NY

Eva Zeisel's studio shelves - Rockland Co., NY

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Charles and Ray Eames's studio - Pacific Palisades, CA

Walter Gropius's living room - Lincoln, MA

John Kapel's living room - Woodside, CA

Marianne Brandt

Marianne Liebe Brandt (1893-1983) studied painting and sculpture at the Weimar Hochschule für Bildende Kunst from 1911 until 1918. In 1919 she moved to Norway, where she married a Norwegian painter. After four years of living in Norway and France, the couple separated, and at the age of thirty-one, Marianne Brandt enrolled at the Bauhaus.

She was in the metalworking shop run by László Moholy-Nagy, who recognized her talent and encouraged her work. From 1924-1929 she produced several pieces that are now considered icons of Bauhaus design.

In 1926 she was made deputy head of the metalworking shop and was responsible for coordinating projects with industry. It was during this time that she designed a number of lamps and lighting fixtures for the firm of Körting & Mathiesen. While at the Bauhaus, she collaborated with Hin Bredendieck, Christian Dell, Hans Przyrembel, and Wilhelm Wagenfeld.

In 1929 Marianne Brandt worked briefly in the Berlin architecture practice of Walter Gropius. While there, she primarily designed modular furniture for mass production and worked on interior design for housing.

After leaving the Gropius firm, she was head of the design division for the applied arts at the Ruppelwerke Metalware Factory in Gotha until 1932.  For several years after leaving that position, she led a very retired life. Although brilliant at the Bauhaus, she was never able to establish herself with any success as an independent designer.


In 1949 she took a teaching position at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in Dresden, and from 1951 to 1954 she taught in East Berlin at the Institut für angewandte Kunst.

Later in her life, she returned to painting and sculpture. 

From marianne-brandt.com and designaddict.com 

Table lamp
jlohmanngallery.com

HMB25 pendant lamp
bonluxat.com

Teapot
tecnolumen.com

Ashtrays
unicahome.com

Kandem lamp
moma.org

Table clock
moma.org

Fixture HMB 25300
tecnolumen.com

Hot water jug
moma.org

Ceiling fixture
edition20.com

Tea infuser
dezeen.com

Garrett Eckbo

Garrett Eckbo (1910-2000) was born in New York but grew up in Alameda, California. He received an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from the University of California, Berkeley in 1935. In 1936 he entered Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Having lost interest in the landscape architecture courses being taught at the time, he chose instead to study architecture with Walter Gropius and developed his Modernist ideas along multi-disciplinary lines. Together with classmates Dan Kiley and James Rose, he helped start the modern movement in landscape design.

He moved back to California and worked briefly with landscape designer Thomas Church, and then he took a job with the Farm Security Administration, designing migrant worker camps. Throughout his career, Eckbo saw landscape design as a vehicle for social change.

In 1964 he started the firm of Eckbo, Dean, Austin & Williams, known as EDAW. He taught at the University of Southern California and was chair of the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Landscape Architecture from 1965-1969. In 1975 he was awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects' Medal of Honor.

From ced.berkeley.edu and tclf.org

Eckbo sketches
djc.com

Tucson Convention Center
tclf.org

Ambassador College, Pasadena, CA
tclf.org

Ocotillo Lodge, Palm Springs, CA
tclf.org

Fulton Mall, Fresno, CA
tclf.org

Residential garden in Berkeley, CA
erirentals.com

Residential landscaping in Los Angeles, CA
georgeandeileen.com

Florence Knoll Bassett

Born Florence Schust (1917- ) in Michigan and orphaned at age 12, she later became a protegée of Eliel Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, as well as a close friend of his son Eero. She also studied at the Architectural Association in London and under Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

After receiving her degree, she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she worked briefly for Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Wallace K. Harrison. In 1943, she went to work for the Hans J. Knoll Furniture Company, which at that time was a small studio mainly manufacturing pieces by Scandinavian designers. By 1946, she had become a full partner in the firm and married Hans Knoll. Together they formed Knoll Associates and began to focus on International Style Modernism.

Her innovative concept of "total design" resulted in the formation of a "space planning unit," which created cohesive, comprehensive design by encompassing architecture, manufacturing, interior design, textiles, graphics, advertising and presentation. This reinvented Knoll's image and revolutionized the field. Her ideas still remain in practice today.

She acquired the rights to produce Mies van der Rohe´s "Barcelona" group, as well as work from other well-known designers, including Eero Saarinen, Isamu Noguchi, and Harry Bertoia.

She became president of the firm in 1955, when Hans Knoll was killed in a car accident. She retired in 1960, but she is still a consultant. In 1958, she married banker Harry Hood Bassett.

In 2004, the Philadelphia Museum of Art devoted a major exhibit to her life and work.

From lostcityarts.com and knoll.com

Florence Knoll bench
knoll.com

Florence Knoll chair
knoll.com

Armless sofa
treadwaygallery.com

Oval desk table
knoll.com

Chrome and glass coffee and end tables
knoll.com

Florence Knoll sofa
knoll.com

Maple desk
metroretro.com

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) received little formal architectural or design training. After working briefly as a stonemason for the family business, Mies moved to Berlin in 1905. There, he joined the office of Bruno Paul, where he learned furniture design. In 1908, he took a job with Peter Behrens; his colleagues in that office included Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Mies went into private practice in 1913, adding the more impressive Rohe, his mother´s maiden name, although he is most commonly referred to simply as Mies.

Mies, often in collaboration with Lilly Reich, designed furniture for many of his early projects, and most of it is still in production today.  In particular, furnishings for the Tugendhat House and the Barcelona Pavilion have become design icons.

In 1937, Mies was appointed head of the architecture department at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and he left Germany permanently to settle there. His ideas would irrevocably alter the American architectural landscape.  The Seagram Building in New York (1958) was one of the first glass office towers in America, and has since inspired countless imitations. Mies' work was widely published and exhibited, and he was generally regarded as the foremost living architect.

Notable furniture designs include the cantilever MR10 chair, the Barcelona suite of furniture, the Brno chair and the 248L chaise.

From lostcityarts.com

Barcelona chair
1stdibs.com

Barcelona daybed
1stdibs.com

MR chair
moma.org

MR chaise
1stdibs.com

Tugendhat chairs
1stdibs.com

Brno chair
knoll.com

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