WARD BENNETT (1917-2003) was a leading American designer whose career spanned more than five decades. Born in New York, he left home at 13 and got his start in the city's garment district. He eventually left the fashion world and began to reinvent himself as the Ward Bennett we know today: designing architecture, interiors, furniture, textiles, and objects, all with his vision for simple form paired with elegant materials.

His reputation earned him some of the day's most affluent clients: David Rockefeller and Chase Manhattan Bank, Gianni and Marella Agnelli, Tiffany & Co., and Rolling Stone magazine cofounders and publishers Jann and Jane Wenner, among others. Even after his death, his signature rich minimalism continues to be recognized and awarded.

Today, he is considered the first American to use industrial materials for home furnishings. He was hailed by the American Institute of Architects for “transforming industrial hardware into sublime objects.” Many his designs are in the permanent collection at MoMA, as well as in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

(Source: Herman Miller + Phaidon; Image Credit: Interior Design Magazine)