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to be fair Alexander Girard was only a
designer he only designed fabrics
furniture textiles objects interiors
houses homes graphics typefaces
exhibition shows buildings and he only
redefined modern design in the process
what Gerrard brought to modernism was a
warmness and a humanity he wasn't afraid
of using textures and bright warm colors
he brought a levity to an otherwise cold
perception of modernism at the time
having spent his early career as a
designer and interior decorator this
levity would eventually bring him to the
attention of Charles and Ray Eames and
George Nelson at Herman Miller where in
1952 he began his long tenure as head of
the textile division concurrently he
began working on the Miller house in
Columbus Indiana perhaps the crown jewel
of American mid-century homes
an inveterate collector Gerard drew
heavily on his own preferences creating
a highly personalized space and
selecting every detail pillows furniture
objects carpets shots keys googas
baubles knickknacks it was a receptacle
of his obsessions and a place to put his
collections in position color if there's
one thing it's Abhi's about Gerard its
color color color color color color no
project shows Gerard's command of both
color and scale more than his complete
visual overhaul of Brandon Airlines
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Gerard designed over 17,000 different
elements with saturated color as the
defining look for the brand Braniff
proudly boasted Gerard's redesign as the
end of plane plane
in 1960 Gerard was approached to design
the interior of the fauna del Sol a
brash pan latin-american eatery on the
ground floor of New York's newly
completed time and Life Building here
again he was able to oversee every
design detail this time digging deep
into his interest in folk art from Latin
and South America he was so successful
that a wry critic and wag once referred
to the restaurant simply as Alexander
Girard Museum so here's to Alexander
Girard what are the unsung architects of
design in the 20th century he may have
only been a designer but in the process
he designed everything
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