The Way We Live Now - Terence Conran Part2

Photographer Neil Wilder
[John Parkinson Agency]

Yesterday evening I was pleased to have been invited to a talk/presentation /celebration for Sir Terence Conran. See previous post:
http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/09/way-we-live-now-terence-conran.html

Deyan Sudjic, Fiona MacCarthy, Christopher Frayling and Stephen Bayley gave talks about Conran's life, inspiration and achievements. It was interesting, historical and inspirational - when you review someone's achievements in this way, it can leave one feeling a little lacking!

He has influenced virtually every area of design – furniture, textiles, retailing home furnishings, interiors, commercial environments, airport interiors, designing and running restaurants cafés, bars and hotels.
 
Conran says he has a fundamental aim – to produce useful things at a price that most people can afford. This maybe so, but what I found most interesting was Stephen Bayley's comment that whether it concerned food or design (and he explained the interconnection) that Conran cared for these three principles:

• Materials
• Execution
• Details 

...maybe this is genuinely the route to intelligent design (and no, I don't think that sounds too pompous). It was fascinating too, that his interest in natural products mainly manifested itself in the use of wood - so I'm sure he has an appreciation of quality paper!

I also found interesting parallels with the piece I wrote recently about Robert Welch:

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/09/robert-welch.html

...and it was interesting that the piece I wrote about the late Rowley Atterbury, listed three past recipients of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA)  Bicentenary Medal: Terence Conran, Deyan Sudjic and Christopher Frayling, all people involved in this very evening...

http://justinsamazingworldatfennerpaper.blogspot.com/2011/03/rowley-atterbury-printer.html
sadly not a medal that I'll be receiving, but an interesting link between the past and the present.

I think talks/lectures/presentations like this are essential to go to. To hear dynamic people, to be inspired by recent history can surely only serve to enhance our daily working lives. I hope that the Design Museum and the Tate will do more of these events.

Thanks to Rose Dahlsen at The Tate for inviting me to come along.

http://www.designmuseum.org/

http://www.tate.org.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 21.09.2011