Nelson, George, 1908-1986

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1908-05-29

Death 1986-03-05

Nationality: Americans,

Language: English,

Biographical notes:

"[George Nelson was an] American designer, writer and architect. He studied at Yale University, New Haven, CT (BA, 1928; BFA, 1931), and at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC (1932). Winning the Rome Prize in 1932, he was named a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome in 1934; while there he wrote 'Architects of Europe Today', published as 12 articles in Pencil Points in 1936-7, an early introduction of European architects to a wide American audience. From 1934 to 1949 he held a succession of editorial and management posts at Architectural Forum and had a major influence on the magazine's progressive point of view and its success with readers. From 1948 to 1975 he was editor of Interiors magazine. He also wrote Industrial Architecture of Albert Kahn Inc., which in 1939 was an early recognition of Kahn's factories as architecture, and Tomorrow's House (1945), a plea for rationality and simplicity in domestic design. His later books include How to See (1977) and George Nelson on Design (1979). As a designer, Nelson had a series of offices under various partnership names in New York from 1936. Their work included the Storagewall (1944-5), the prototype of the room dividers of the 1950s, as well as many other familiar furniture designs. He was also active as an exhibition designer, and, although not primarily an architect-builder, he designed some houses including the Fairchild house, New York (1940-41), with William Hamby (b 1902) and the Holiday house in Quoque, Long Island (1950), with Gordon Chadwick. In 1946 Nelson became design director for the Herman Miller furniture company, and his own designs and his employment of other designers such as Charles Eames expanded a regional furniture manufacturer into an interiors firm of international influence. He was also an active lecturer as well as an organizer of the International Design Conference at Aspen, CO, from 1965."--Oxford Art Online, viewed November 22, 2010 (http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)

From the description of George Nelson exhibition catalog, 2009. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 688123272