ALEXANDER GIRARD (1907 – 1993) was a prolific designer of the 20th century who was known for using primary colors, concise geometric patterns, and a touch of humor to inject joy and spontaneity into his designs.

Born in New York City and raised in Florence, Girard was educated in Europe as an architect. He began practicing architecture and interior design in the late 1920s. The exhibition he curated for the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1949— “For Modern Living” —celebrated postwar modernism. Girard developed a friendship with Charles Eames in the 1940s when the two men realized they had coincidently designed almost identical modern radio cabinets and were both experimenting with plywood chairs.

Girard’s reputation soared in 1959, when his zestful interior design of the La Fonda del Sol restaurant in New York electrified the public. He designed the entire experience for the restaurant—interior, graphics, place settings, staff uniforms. Girard reprised the feat for Braniff International Airways in the mid 1960s, designing no less than 17,543 different items—from logo to lounge furniture.

Girard’s risky, sometimes iconoclastic fabrics were inspired not by a vision of the future but by a love of international folk art. His passion for what he called “toys” led him around the globe, amassing a collection of roughly 106,000 pieces. These colorful, whimsical objects inspired him, as his designs continue to inspire us.

(Source: Herman Miller; Photo: Vitra)