ALEXANDER GIRARD

ALEXANDER GIRARD-A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Alexander Girard (May 24, 1907 – 1993) was born in New York City, USA, to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father. He was raised in Florence, Italy. A graduate of the Royal School of Architecture in Rome, Girard refined his skills in both Florence and New York. Girard is widely known for his contributions in the field of American textile design. He and his wife, Susan Girard, amassed a remarkable collection of artifacts comprising of folk art, popular art, toys, and textiles from around the world, which is displayed through the Girard Foundation, founded 1962.

ALEXANDER GIRARD-His Designs

The focus of his broad oeuvre was on textile design: As head of the Herman Miller Company’s textile division, Girard designed a multitude of textiles that reflect his love of festive colors and patterns. He favoured abstract and geometric forms, typically put together in bright constellations of colors. His upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever with many of them still being sold today. Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition and interior design as well as in the graphic arts. On his extended travels, he avidly collected textiles from all over the world, which furnished him with a source of inspiration and ideas.

A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME OF HIS CREATIONS

ALEXANDER GIRARD-His Works

Alexander Girard is particularly famous through his work for Herman Miller (1952 to 1975), where he created fabrics for the designs of George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames. His work also includes designing the La Fonda del Sol Restaurant in New York (1960), the Herman Miller Showplace: T&O (Textiles and Objects) (1961), Braniff Airlines (1965). and the Girard Foundation (1962), which houses his extensive folk art collection.

ALEXANDER GIRARD-at HERMAN MILLER(1952-1975)

In 1952, Alexander Girard was hired to head the fabric and textile division. Girard worked with George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames to form a design team that has influenced the fundamentals of design throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Girard initially established a fabric collection based on his architectural training. His first fabric line consisted of plain upholsteries and geometric drapery prints—stripes, circles, and triangles. He went on to create many more patterns and designs, largely inspired by folk art. Girard also developed a furniture collection for Herman Miller in 1967 building on his designs for Braniff Airlines' lounge and office furniture which featured a low sight line and interior/exterior shell separate from the seat cushion to maximize varied upholstery..

Braniff Airlines

In the mid-1960s, Girard began his design work for Braniff International Airways re-branding – “The end of the plain plane”. This project gave Girard the opportunity to work with textiles, color, and graphics on a grand scale, redesigning everything from the sugar packets to the ticket counters to the color of the planes themselves. He used colors like light and dark blue, beige, ochre, orange, turquoise, and muted yellow to make the planes recognizable from the ground. Italian couturier fashion designer Emilio Pucci designed attendant uniforms.Girard also designed a line of furniture for Braniff's ticket offices and customer lounges.

The La Fonda del Sol (1961)

Commissioned by Jerome Brody of Restaurant Associates, Girard designed every aspect the La Fonda del Sol restaurant in a Latin American/Contemporary theme, including menus, matchbooks, tableware and the ceramic tiles on the floors and walls. Girard created over eighty different sun motifs found throughout the restaurant.Alexander Girard also designed the L’Etoile restaurant (1966) in the Sherry Netherlands hotel , New York He also worked on the Compound Restaurant(1967) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

THE GIRARD FOUNDATION

In 1962, Girard and his wife established the Girard Foundation in Santa Fe to manage their art collection that numbered over 100,000 pieces., including toys, dolls, icons, and other ethnic expressions. Girard's design work was heavily influenced by his passion for folk art. In 1978, Girard contributed his immense collection to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The museum opened to the public in 1953 and has gained national and international recognition as home to the world’s largest collection of folk art.

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Presented By:ANAND KUMAR(03)

SOUMYA BHATTACHARYYA(27)