1995
Alice RawsthorN
A prominent design critic and journalist, Alice Rawsthorn began her career at the Financial Times where she worked as a foreign correspondent in Paris before becoming architecture and design critic in 2000. During her career at the FT, Rawsthorn became a member of the Design Council and a trustee of the Design Museum. Between 2001 and 2006, she was Director of the Design Museum before stepping down to writes on design in the international edition of The New York Times.
Rawsthorn’s self-imposed criteria for the Conran Foundation Collection was to select objects that conformed to “the classic design criteria of looking beautiful and fulfilling its function”, and which showed how “lateral thinking had been applied to its design either in terms of the concept, the production process, or the way the product responded to changes in the way we live”. Her selection ranged from clothes pegs by Japanese manufacturer MUJI and plain Wedgwood china, to the Clipper CS-1, a mobile computer workstation and Microsoft’s Natural Keyboard, itself a product of three years’ research to find the best layout of computer keys.
The following items from the collection have been donated to the Design Museum By the Conran Foundation
La Chaise (1948) - Charles and Ray Eames - Vitra, Germany
Gello (1994) - Marc Newson - Trois Suisses, France
Ply (1989) (production version) - Jasper Morrison - Vitra, Germany
Ply (1989) (pre-production version) - Jasper Morrison - Vitra, Germany
Mobil chest of drawers (1994) - Antonio Citterio & Glen Oliver Low - Kartell, Italy
Tiramisu stepladder (1991) - Andries & Hiroko Van Onck - Kartell, Italy
Clipper CS-1 (1994) - Douglas Ball & Jeff Sokalski - Newspace, USA
Dome Kettle - Dualit, UK
Fogal ‘In Action’ bodystocking - Fogal, UK
Fogal ‘Saint Trop’ pantyhose - Fogal, UK
Sony MDRD77 headphones - Joe Wada - Sony, Japan
Madeda - Manolo Blahnik - Manolo Blahnik, Italy
Cylinda Line cocktail shaker and stirrer (1967) - Arne Jacobsen - Stelton, Denmark
Cylinda Line ashtray (1967) - Arne Jacobsen - Stelton, Denmark
Cylinda Line ice bucket (1967) - Arne Jacobsen - Stelton, Denmark
Cylinda Line ice tongs (1967) - Arne Jacobsen - Stelton, Denmark
Cylinda Line tray (1967) - Arne Jacobsen - Stelton, Denmark
Salad servers (1957) - Arne Jacobsen - Georg Jensen, Denmark
Cutlery (1957) - Arne Jacobsen - Georg Jensen, Denmark
100-15 watering can - Peter Holmblad - Stelton, Denmark
Comme des Garçons eau de parfum (1994) - Marc Buxton for Comme des Garçons - Comme des Garçons, France
A.P.C agenda quintennial (1994) - M/MParis - A.P.C., France
A.P.C. Sennelier Carnet (1994) - Jean Touitou - A.P.C., France
Microsoft ‘Natural’ keyboard (1994) - Ziba Design - Microsoft, USA
Pentax Photo t-shirt - Michael Dannroth - Sabotage, Germany
Helmut Lang sleeveless t-shirt - Helmut Lang - Helmut Lang, Germany
Helmut Lang sleeveless dress - Helmut Lang - Helmut Lang, Germany
Helmut Lang top - Helmut Lang - Helmut Lang, Germany
Mammut (1994) - Morten Kjelstrup & Allan Östgaard - IKEA, Sweden
La Pavoni Europiccola (1961) - La Pavoni, Italy
Dyson DC02 vacuum cleaner (1994) - James Dyson - Dyson, UK
Penguin Donkey (1939) - Egon Riss - Windmill Furniture, UK
Slip no. 50 (1995) - Rei Kawakubo - Comme des Garçons, France
Leigh teacup and saucer - Wedgwood, UK
Oasis ‘What's the Story Morning Glory’, (1995) - Brian Cannon - Creation Records, UK
Gucci ‘G’ belt chain - Tom Ford - Gucci, Italy
Lampshade no. 1 Lighting Fixture (1991) - Sebastian Bergne - Radius GmbH, Germany
HSW501 vacuum flask - Kori Mano - Thermos Nippon, Japan
Clothes pegs - MUJI, Japan
Swivel potato peeler - Good Grips, UK
Leatherman Supertool - Leatherman Tool Group, USA
Jacket - Miuccia Prada - Prada, Italy
Zeo TV (1994) - Philippe Starck - Thomson, France
Scottie tissue packaging - Scottie, Japan
House of Cards - Charles & Ray Eames - Ravensburger
Maglite torch - Anthony Maglika - Mag Instruments, USA
Neto paper scissors (1958) - Antonia Campi - Teunen & Teunen, Germany
Evian crushable water bottles (1994) - Evian, France
Veeders mailbox (1978) - Jonathan Magro - Veeders, USA
Waste-paper bin 4751 (1989) - Angelo Cortesi & Franco Scansetti - Kartell, Italy
Akari Light Sculpture UF4-L10 - Isamu Noguchi - Akari Associates, Japa
Gyo-An Teahouse (c.1993) - Shigeru Uchida - Shigeru Uchida, Japan