Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers in Modern Design

Front Cover
Princeton Architectural Press, 2001 - Art - 192 pages
Hailed as the British counterparts to Charles and Ray Eames, Robin and Lucienne Day electrified the British design scene in the 1950s with their startling furniture and textile designs. Indeed, their influence over the next five decades has been so profound that their early products were recently reintroduced by Conran's Habitat. Lucienne Day pioneered the introduction of modern abstract pattern design in the textile industry. Her fabrics, which oscillate between bold geometric figures and more subtle abstract patterns, were produced by companies as diverse as Heal's and Liberty of London. Robin Day's influential furniture designs pioneered the use of materials such as plywood, steel, and plastic. His stacking polypropylene chair (right) is one of the best-selling chairs in the world. Robin and Lucienne Day, the first-ever full-length monograph on their designs, features never-before-seen archival material along with over 250 color images of the full range of their work, including furniture, ceramics, textiles, wallpaper, interiors, appliances, exhibit designs, and graphics. Spanning a half-century's creative output, no designer will fail to be awed by the genius seen in this book.
 

Contents

SCHOOL COLLEGE AND TEACHING 9 Robin Day Early Life in High Wycombe 12 Lucienne Day Royal College of
9
Royal College of Art 10 Lucienne Day Early Life in Croydon
10
RCA Diploma Show
12
Markham Square
14
FLEDGLING DESIGNERS 17 Robin Day Exhibition Design and Posters
17
LowCost Furniture Competition 1948
23
Dress Fabric Designs 32 THE FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN
24
Hille
33
Seating
114
Polypropylene Chair
118
Polystyrene and Polyurethane Chairs
122
Storeys and Woodward Grosvenor
124
Heal Fabrics
125
Carpets
130
Rosenthal
132
Table Linen and Handkerchiefs 134 Lucienne Day Mattress Tickings and Fashion Fabrics
134

Royal Festival Hall
34
Homes and Gardens Pavilion at the Festival of Britain
40
Calyx
44
Festival of Britain
48
Milan Triennale 1951
49
Cheyne Walk
50
THE TRIUMPH OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN 55 Robin Day Desks and Storage Furniture
55
Seating
58
Danish and American Influences
68
Contract Furniture
70
Heal Fabrics 1952
78
Wallpapers
88
Göppinger and Rosenthal
92
Thomas Somerset and Cavendish Textiles
94
Heal Fabrics 19569
96
Carpets
98
Heals Exhibition 1958
105
GEOMETRIC PATTERNS AND ARCHITECTURAL FORMS 109 Robin Day Foyer Seating
109
Office and Restaurant Furniture
110
Domestic Furniture
112
BOAC
136
Churchill College
138
John Lewis Partnership
140
LATER CAREERS 145 Robin Day Series E and Polo Chairs
145
Propathene Fibreglass and
146
Barbican Arts Centre
148
Hille
152
Stadium and Auditorium Seating
154
Public Seating THE NINETIES REDISCOVERY 156 Robin Day Mines and West
156
Textiles for Heal Fabrics and John Lewis Partnership
158
Silk Mosaics
160
John Lewis Partnership
164
Royal Society of Arts
166
Chapter Notes
172
Robin
174
Lucienne
182
Bibliography
188
Index
190
Acknowledgments
192
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About the author (2001)

Lesley Jackson, the author of the acclaimed Contemporary: Architecture and Interiors of the 1950s and The Sixties: Decade of Design Revolution.

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