1997
Dan Pearson
Gardener, writer and journalist Dan Pearson is one of Britain’s most respected landscape designers. He has won the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show award five times, and regularly appears on TV and radio in addition to designing private gardens and civic planting projects. Pearson is an expert in naturalistic perennial planting, and is known for popularising ‘wild’ schemes in contrast to more formalistic garden arrangements.
As might be expected, Pearson’s selection for the 1997 Conran Foundation Collection contained a range of gardening tools and equipment such as pair of Felco 11 secateurs and heavy-duty gloves. However, the collection is particularly notable for the way in which it revealed how a garden designer could be inspired by a wide and eclectic range of sources, including garments by Rei Kawakubo, Sony video cameras and an early polyethene bathmat by Dutch designer Hella Jongerius.
The following items from the collection have been donated to the Design Museum By the Conran Foundation
Jacket (1997) - Rei Kawakubo - Comme des Garçons, Japan
Flying Saucer (1997) - Issey Miyake - Issey Miyake, Japan
One Piece of Cloth (1997) - Issey Miyake - Issey Miyake, Japan
Bath Mat (1993) - Hella Jongerius for Droog Design - DMD Netherlands
Smoke (1964) - Joe Colombo - Arnolfo di Cambio, Italy
Sony Digital Handycam DCR-VX1000E (1995) - Sony, Japan
Lampshade (1973) - Isamu Noguchi - Ozeki & Co, Japan
Super Glove Kew - Handcraft Gardening, UK
Felco 11 secateurs - Felco, Switzterland
Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite sleeping mat (1995) - Cascade Designs Inc.