Flower Table

Description
Designer Bio

Brand: Vitra

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In the mid-1950s, Alexander Girard designed the interior of the legendary Miller House in Columbus, Indiana. He gave the bright and airy rooms an intimate, warm atmosphere by interspersing the Miller family’s fine art collection with folk art and a wide variety of bespoke objects. The heart of the house was the so-called ‘conversation pit’ – a sunken lounge area with built-in seating. The surrounding sofas featured a multitude of colourful scatter cushions that changed with the seasons, and in the middle of the lounge ensemble stood its centrepiece: the Flower Table.

Today the famous Miller House belongs to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is accessible for public viewing – as is the Flower Table, which was specially fabricated for the lady of the house, Xenia Miller. Modified in 1977 with an altered top, the brass table still stands in its original location. In close cooperation with the Girard family, Vitra has developed a version of the table in powder-coated steel for serial production. It is available in a choice of colours and can also be used outdoors.

Along with his colleagues Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson, the designer and architect Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures in American design during the post-war era. While textile design was the primary focus of his oeuvre, Girard was also admired for his graphic art as well as his work in furniture, exhibition and interior design.

About Designer
Alexander Girard	Born in 1907 in New York City, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American design, along with his close friends and colleagues George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames. The primary focus of his wide-ranging oeuvre was textile design. Girard created numerous fabrics for the Herman Miller Company, favouring abstract forms and geometric patterns in a wide variety of colour compositions. Many of his upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever and are still manufactured and utilised by Vitra today. Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition, interior and graphic design. Moreover, he was one of the world's most important collectors of folk art. The objects and textiles acquired by Girard on his extensive travels provided him with a rich source of inspiration and ideas. When Rolf Fehlbaum, the son of Vitra's founding family, first visited Alexander Girard and his wife Susan at their Santa Fe home in 1960, Fehlbaum wrote a letter to his parents telling of the deep impression it had made on him, and describing it as the most fascinating house he had ever seen in the United States. Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum have devoted themselves to the reappraisal and revival of Alexander Girard's work over the past several years. The growing Girard collection in Vitra's product portfolio includes his painted Wooden Dolls, the Environmental Enrichment Panels and various furniture pieces and objects, along with his distinctive fabric designs. After Alexander Girard's death in 1993, his heirs donated the Girard archive (comprising hundreds of drawings, prototypes and samples) to the Vitra Design Museum. In 2016/17, the museum mounted the exhibition 'Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe'.

About Designer

Alexander Girard

Born in 1907 in New York City, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American design, along with his close friends and colleagues George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames.

The primary focus of his wide-ranging oeuvre was textile design. Girard created numerous fabrics for the Herman Miller Company, favouring abstract forms and geometric patterns in a wide variety of colour compositions. Many of his upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever and are still manufactured and utilised by Vitra today.

Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition, interior and graphic design. Moreover, he was one of the world's most important collectors of folk art. The objects and textiles acquired by Girard on his extensive travels provided him with a rich source of inspiration and ideas. When Rolf Fehlbaum, the son of Vitra's founding family, first visited Alexander Girard and his wife Susan at their Santa Fe home in 1960, Fehlbaum wrote a letter to his parents telling of the deep impression it had made on him, and describing it as the most fascinating house he had ever seen in the United States.

Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum have devoted themselves to the reappraisal and revival of Alexander Girard's work over the past several years. The growing Girard collection in Vitra's product portfolio includes his painted Wooden Dolls, the Environmental Enrichment Panels and various furniture pieces and objects, along with his distinctive fabric designs.

After Alexander Girard's death in 1993, his heirs donated the Girard archive (comprising hundreds of drawings, prototypes and samples) to the Vitra Design Museum. In 2016/17, the museum mounted the exhibition 'Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe'.