At first glance, there’s nothing too surprising about George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher, the exhibition on view until February 2, 2013 at the Yale School of Architecture Gallery in New Haven, Conn. We recognize the architect’s iconic modern designs from the 1940s and 1950s – the Ball Clock, the Coconut Chair, the Marshmallow Sofa and the Bubble lamps – but upon closer scrutiny there’s a lot more to this first comprehensive retrospective devoted to Nelson (1908-1986). Yale is the last stop of an international, four-year tour organized by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
Through more than 50 drawings, large-scale models, photos, films, graphics and 120 pieces of furniture and design objects, we discover that Nelson was a complicated man: a dedicated modernist often more interested in ideas than producing designs, a visionary about modern living, a proto-feminist, and a witty, ego-free boss who liked collaborating with – and giving full credit to – fellow talents such as Jane Thompson, Buckminster Fuller, Alexander Girard and Charles and Ray Eames.
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