Desk Clock - Cone Base Clock
In 1947, the
American designer George Nelson was commissioned to create a collection of
clocks. Nelson analysed how people used clocks and concluded that they read the
time by discerning the relative position of the hands, which made the use of
numbers unnecessary. Furthermore, since most people wore wristwatches, he
assumed that clocks had become more of a decorative element for interiors.
These ideas provided the basis for the first
collection of 14 timepieces, consisting of a completely new style of wall
clocks and compact table clocks, which were launched on the market in 1949.
Although the models all shared one common feature – the absence of numbers –
the diversity of their shapes, colours, materials and designs could hardly have
been greater.
In the 35
years that followed, the designers at Nelson Associates conceived more than a
hundred different clock models: wall clocks, portable table clocks and built-in
clocks. After Nelson’s death in 1986, his archival estate, encompassing roughly
7400 manuscripts, plans, drawings, photographs and slides dating from 1924 to
1984, was acquired by the Vitra Design Museum.
Vitra began
reissuing the Nelson Clocks in 1999 and updates the collection from time to
time. The Desk Clocks are available in various shapes and materials. Equipped
with high-quality quartz movements, they continue to offer a refreshing
alternative to conventional clocks.
About Designer | |
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George Nelson |
In 1935, Nelson joined the editorial staff of the 'Architectural Forum',
where he was employed until 1944. A programmatic article on residential
building and furniture design, published by Nelson in a 1944 issue of the
journal, attracted the attention of D.J. DePree, head of the furniture company
Herman Miller, Inc. A short time later, George Nelson took on the position of
Design Director at Herman Miller. Remaining there until 1972, he became a key
figure of American design; in addition to creating furnishings for the home and
office, Nelson also convinced the likes of Charles &
Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander
Girard to work for Herman Miller. In 1957, Vitra founder Willi Fehlbaum signed his first licence agreement
with Herman Miller to produce furniture for the European market. During the ensuing
decades of the collaboration with Vitra, a close friendship evolved between
George Nelson and Rolf Fehlbaum, who later said about Nelson: 'No other
prominent designer spoke as intelligently or wrote as coherently about design'.
Nelson expressed his thoughts on design topics in numerous articles and eleven
books; his seminal treatise 'How to See' was recently reissued in a new edition
by Phaidon. Along with his position as Design Director at Herman Miller, Nelson
opened his own design office in 1947, George Nelson Associates, Inc., working
together with such outstanding employees as Irving Harper, Ernest Farmer,
Gordon Chadwick, George Tscherny and Don Ervin to create countless products and
objects, some of which are now regarded as icons of mid-century modernism. His
architectural work included numerous private residences. The Sherman Fairchild
House (1941) attracted considerable attention, and his Experimental House
exemplified his interest in prefabricated building and flexible floor plans.
George Nelson died in New York in 1986. His estate, which is held by the
Vitra Design Museum, encompasses roughly 7400 manuscripts, plans, drawings,
photographs and slides dating from 1924 to 1984. In 2008/09, the Vitra Design
Museum mounted the exhibition 'George Nelson – Architect, Writer, Designer,
Teacher. |