The life and work of Alexander Girard was a master of mediums and broke the mold of the accepted design of his time with his use of color, patterns and keen eye for detail.
It isn’t every day that a designer is able to extend their talents across a variety of modalities, all while maintaining an outstanding quality that makes their work loved and respected for three quarters of a century. But Alexander Girard was no average designer. With a career spanning multiple decades and countries, Girard was able to deftly translate and even anticipate years in advance movements in the design world through many different mediums, making him one of the most prolific designers of the mid-century and beyond.
In their newly released book, Alexander Girard: Let the Sun In, authors Todd Oldham and Kiera Coffee explore in-depth Girard’s life and legacy through extensively researched and thoughtful essays and descriptions as well as more than 800 illustrations—including several that have never been published. The book is divided into Girard’s various disciplines and projects, culminating in a timeline that helps to visually organize his impressively extensive and varied body of work.
A Change in Plans
Born in 1907 in New York City to an American mother and Italian father, Girard’s life was soon uprooted to Florence, Italy, where his passion for art and design was born, guided by the skilled and knowledgeable hand of his wood-carving and art-collecting father. After achieving two architectural degrees in both London and Rome, Girard moved to America in 1932 in the hope of launching his career. However, the Great Depression had caused many architectural firms to close, so Girard expanded his horizons. He opened his first studio that included interior and product design as well as architectural renovation before achieving his third degree at New York University.
This launched what would be his diverse and multifaceted career in design, which included leading Herman Miller’s textile department and collaborating with George Nelson and the Eames brothers; graphic chic logos and graphic designs for airlines, restaurants and more; and show-stopping interior design pieces. Yet, Girard never lost his personalized touch, no matter the scale or the discipline. This freshness is the result of his optimism and dedication to whatever project he was involved in, evidenced by the following mantra he said in an interview: “The hope for good design lies in those designers who believe what they do, and who will only do what they believe.”
Flexibility & Flair
Throughout the various sections of the book, the authors highlight Girard’s accomplishments and contributions to the world of Mid Century Modern design. Whether carefully crafted wooden sculptures or the entire visual brand of a restaurant, Girard’s work is marked by an astounding ability to traverse many kinds of design with a boldness in his use of color and pattern that was a break from the typical designs of the time. “By creating custom graphics, furnishings, and lighting for each client, he raised questions about how frequently designers might alter accepted standards, and how they might borrow form the past without duplicating it, which Girard did beautifully,” Oldham writes.
While his training was in architecture, Girard was able to use the principles of the discipline to create a connection between the structural design of a home and the interior design within it. Oldham pulls Girard’s quote from the Progressive Architecture magazine to illustrate this idea: “Since it is impossible to conceive of an architecture (a space-enclosing structure) as existing without an interior space, one cannot then think of ‘interior design’ or interior space as a separate activity disconnected from architecture.”
It is this philosophy, combined with an appreciation of and ability to wield many kinds of design mediums, that sets Girard apart. “His ability to endlessly evolve while remaining true to his singular design ethos remains a beacon today, as does his unique, otherworldly color sense and soothsayer-like ability to introduce designs decades before they existed in the zeitgeist,” Oldham writes. “Girard’s appreciation of the connective tissue between cultures, history and the arts has created a pathway for all of us to share in his remarkable way of seeing.”
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