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Design Classics

Design Classics: The Roberts Radio

Roberts Radio iStream
My Grandmother had one, and so, possibly, did yours. The Roberts transistor radio, with its leather case, was the classic radio of the Sixties. It was designed by Leslie Bidmead, who went into a business partnership with Harry Roberts in 1932. The RT1 was, according to company lore, based on the shape of Mrs Bidmead's
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Warren Platner Side Table by Knoll

We're all aware of the January sales when you can pick up a sofa for a song or snag a bargain fridge freezer but every November there is another sale. One that only the diehards know about. Yet the prices can be reduced by up to 70 percent. It is the Knoll annual sample sale
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The Tale of the Rock Star and the Shelf

This is a tale about a rock star (albeit a slightly ageing one) and a shelf (or rather a shelving system). It happened a couple of years ago, but is no less relevant for that. So the ARS (as he shall henceforth be known) rang me from his summer hideout, where he was, if truth
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Design Classics #45: Barber Wilsons Taps

This classic tap is designed by Barber Wilsons traditional taps from Barber Wilsons This classic tap is found in homes up and down the country. It even has a place in at least one of the Royal Palaces, as the company, which was founded in 1905, holds a royal warrant to supply kitchen taps and
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Design Classics #44: Safari Chair

This chair was inspired by a picture in a travel guide to Africa and has been a design classic since it first appeared in 1933. Kaare Klimt's Safari Chair: a design classic Kaare Klint was inspired by a British Officer's chair he had seen in a travel guide for Africa. Apparently, he particularly liked the
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Design Classics #43: Artek Stool

Created in 1933 by the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, this quintessentially functional piece of furniture celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. Design Classic: the artek stool image from thefinnishdesignshop.com The simple stool, which has become a design classic, is recognisable by its distinctive bent legs and round seat. This style would eventually become the feature
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Design Classics #42: Ernest Race BA3 Chair

The BA3 chair    image from www.the-committee-of-taste.tumblr.com Ernest Race was one of Britain's most successful and inventive furniture designers.  This chair was one of his first productions for his company Race Furniture and was first exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s morale-boosting exhibition ‘Britain Can Make It’  in 1946. The chair, which has been re-issued
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Design Classics #41: Eileen Gray Side Table E1027

Named after Eileen Gray's summer house in Maison en Bord de Mer at Roquebrune Cap Martin, which she built for herself and her collaborator Jean Badovici, the name E1027 is in code. E is for Eileen, 10 for Jean (J is the 10th letter of the alphabet), 2 for B(adovici) and 7 for G(ray). Eileen Gray's E1027
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Design Classics #40: Florence Knoll Sofa

Florence Knoll sofa from spacecraftint.com which sells authorised pieces As a pioneer of the Knoll Planning Unit, Florence Knoll created what she modestly referred to as the “fill-in pieces that no one else wants to do.” She referred to her own line of lounge seating as the equivalent of “meat and potatoes,”  adding, “I needed the piece of furniture for
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Design Classics: #39: Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair

Marcell Breuer's Wassily Chair from knoll.com So today's question is: What is the link between that chair and this bicycle? an adler bicycle The answer is that Marcel Breuer was a keen cyclist. He had an Adler bicycle which he particularly admired for its functional design. An apprentice at the Bauhaus school in Germany, he
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Design Classics #38: Diamond Chair

  images from Knoll Harry Bertoia did not take a conventional route into the world of furniture design. Unlike many of his contemporaries who trained first as architects (Arne Jacobsen and Eero Saarinen to name but two) Bertoia had a metal workshop and also designed jewellery. He even made the wedding rings of Charles and
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Design Classics #37: Arne Jacobsen’s Ant Chair

The Ant chair by Arne Jacobsen now comes in a variety of colours Designed in 1952, the Ant Chair was first produced with three legs and was not an instant hit. It was only in 1980 that a fourth leg was added and a variety of finishes and colours were included in the range that
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Design Classics #36: The Eames Eiffel Chair

image from New York Times magazine Charles and Ray Eames were responsible for some of the most iconic designs of the 20th century; that lounge chair and ottoman, those ball coat hangers you see everywhere and the Eiffel chair as well as several children's toys. The Eiffel was the first mass produced plastic chair. It
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Design Classics #35: The Tulip Table

image from beinteriordecorator.com Eero Saarinen, like many of the other Scandinavian greats, trained as an architect and created several stunning buildings, including St Louis Gateway Arch and the TWA terminal building in New York's JFK airport. But it is for his furniture that he is chiefly remembered. The Tulip first appeared in 1957, when he
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Design Classics #34: The Wishbone Chair by Hans Wegner

image from puregreendesign.blogspot.com Run your hands along the back of a Wishbone chair and you can instantly understand why Hans Wegner was known as the Master of the Chair. One of the most famous Danish designers (and let's face it, there are a few to choose from), Wegner worked in a different way from all
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Design Classics #33: The AGA

Classic style in contemporary white Beloved by the middle classes,  owners of farmhouses and readers of a certain type of fiction, the AGA is a totemic symbol of country living. There is usually a wet dog lying in front of it, a pile of laundry steaming gently on it, and preferably the aroma of baking
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Design Classics #32: Sarpeneva Pot

The perfect marriage of form and function Scandinavian design is known chiefly for its ability to combine form and function without one losing out at the expense of the other. This Finnish casserole pot is a perfect example of that design sensibility. Designed in 1960 by Timo Sarpaneva, the wooden handle can be used either
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Design Classics #31: Cornishware

The familiar blue and white stripes of TG Green You might not know its name but you would certainly recognise its distinctive blue and white stripes. Perhaps from your grandparent's kitchen, or some distant childhood memory. Cornishware, as it is correctly known, has been in production since the 1920s when Tom G Green bought a
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Design Classics #30: Peugeot Peppermill

Before there were cars there were peppermills It looks like a classic wooden peppermill. You've probably used one without realising. But it is, in fact, a Peugeot peppermill. Yes, it turns out that the French company has been making pepper, salt and coffee mills for longer than it has been making cars. Who knew? It
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Design Classics #29: Tupperware

Anyone for Tupperware? Its very name is synonymous with the product. Say "Tupperware" and everyone knows what you mean. They know about the parties, too. But do you know anyone who has actually been to one? Or who has any? You may not be aware, as you shop online and in those giant retail warehouses,
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