Designers Robin and Lucienne Day looked internationally to learn about modernism as contemporary design was unknown in the UK at the time, explains their daughter Paula Day in this interview for our mid-century modern series.
Paula Day, who is the founder of the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation, spoke to Dezeen about her parents' early work at this year's London Design Festival, where Danish brand &Tradition was showcasing Robin Day's furniture and Lucienne Day's textile designs at the Royal Festival Hall.
Paula Day started the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation
Designed as Robin Day's first major furniture commission, four of the pieces on display were originally created in 1951 for the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Festival of Britain. The pieces that have been reissued are an outdoor chair, an outdoor table, an armchair and a lounge chair. "I think he was probably very stimulated and inspired by the ethos of a festival," Paula Day told Dezeen.
An armchair was among the pieces on show at the Royal Festival Hall
Robin Day originally gained attention when he, together with designer Clive Latimer, won the storage category of the New York Museum of Modern Art's Low-Cost Furniture Competition in 1948.
The designer eventually became known for his work with different materials, bringing moulded plywood to the UK and creating the first polypropylene chair.
"He was a great materials innovator; for example, bringing moulded plywood to the UK, and of course...