Category: Design

George Nakashima: Master of Organic Furniture Design

George Katsutoshi Nakashima created wood furniture with reverence and patience, sometimes keeping boards of wood around his workshop until their true essence was revealed to him. The furniture designer was born in Spokane, Washington on May 24, 1905 and passed away on June 15, 1990.  Even though he started designing furniture opposed to the popular concept of modern …

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Peter Zumthor’s Zinc Mine Museum in Norway’s Allmannajuvet Gorge

Happy birthday to minimalist architect Peter Zumthor, born on this day April 26, 1943 in Basel, Switzerland. Peter Zumthor designed a graceful, stilted building to tell the story of Norway’s Allmannajuvet Gorge Zinc Mine, which operated from 1881 to 1899. He also designed the nearby café for the museum with the same elegant grace. Zumthor commented …

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Disney Legend Rolly Crump

Disney imagineer and animator Rolly Crump was born on February 27, 1930 in Alhambra, California. Inspired at the young age of three by the Disney Silly Symphony short, Three Little Pigs, Crump began drawing in 1933. He started working with Disney in 1952, doing “inbetweening” or “tweening” to provide the illusion of smooth movements between film frames. …

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Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire

Today is the birthday of Disney artist and designer Mary Blair, born on this day October 21, 1911 in McAlester, Oklahoma. Blair was an integral part of Disney, designing incredibly beautiful, unique concept art for a variety of Disney attractions and animated films, including her most well known work on the “It’s a Small World” …

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The Ceramics of Carl-Harry Stålhane

Carl-Harry Stålhane, born on December 15, 1920 in Mariestad, Sweden, was one of the most innovative Swedish ceramic artists of the twentieth century.  His designs and craftsmanship have become so revered that he has been an inspiration for modern designers and has been featured in the Swedish National Museum of Art and Design and New York’s MoMA. In 1939 …

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