Saluting The Patriarch of Modern British Life

The Design Museum in London helps celebrate Terence Conran’s 80^th birthday by launching an exhibit on his legacy and impact on modern British daily life. The exhibit is called "The Way We Live Now".

Mr. Conran is undeniably one of the sages of modern daily life in Britain since the end of World War II, and has made his mark through products, books and the architectural vernacular.

Mr. Conran is one of the founders of the Design Museum, and helped establish it initially in the basement of the Victoria & Albert Museum. The exhibit traces the various incarnations of Mr. Conran’s career from his architectural practice to mass retailer of modern furnishings and house wares, to restaurateur.

The exhibit is on display until March 4, 2012 at the Design Museum on London’s waterfront. To learn more about the exhibit go here.

David J. Hansen

Photos from top:

1)   Photo of exhibition poster in the London Metro from the Conran blog whatsgoingonatconran.wordpress.com

2)   Photo of Terence Conran from e-architect.co.uk

3)   Photo of Habitat store in Dublin from ipernity.com

Fresh Starts!

Before I decided to pursue interior design, my former career was in retail window display and visual merchandising. Every January my former vocation seems to come to mind. After all the work of decorating a large retail store for Christmas it was almost painful to think of eradicating any signs of it from the premises. To abandon all the red, sparkle and luxe the look of Christmas defines; the New Year was usually met with a different visual approach.

This visual language usually consisted of tones of blue, aqua and indigo while incorporating natural textures like linen and burlap. The textiles used were usually of an exotic nature like paisley, ikat or batik. The merchandising theme to accompany this departure was usually called “Fresh Starts”, or some related variation. This was meant to quite literally represent the visual equivalent to the “Anti-Christmas”. Depending on what retail establishment you worked for you might or might not be promoting Valentines Day which might or might not mean using more red as a display device so a firm demarcation was required to erase the former holiday away.

I’ve been thinking about this idea since ringing in 2011 and trying to apply it to an interior design context. What would “Fresh Starts”, or the “Anti-Christmas” look like in an interior? I’m thinking light, airy spaces that feel like a vacation. Some good examples might be some of the legendary Michael Taylor’s later work, a Moroccan Riad, or perhaps the work of Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz. The possibilities are endless.

What are your “Fresh Starts”? Whatever this means for you, just breathe and let the holidays become a memory!

David Hansen

Photographs from top:

1) Bergdorf Goodman window display May 23, 2008 photographed by Rudy Panzano for anothernormal.com

2) The Mondrian Hotel with interior by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz.

3) Dixneuf La Ksour Riad from Hoosta magazine.

4) Michael Taylor interior photographed by Russell MacMasters from Architectural Digest.

5) Nacho Polo interior photographed by Andrea Satini from yatzer.com.