He wrote scores of books on design, cooking and other subjects; turned a London warehouse riverfront into a fashionable South Bank commercial development; founded the Design Museum, Britain’s only museum for contemporary products and architectural designs; and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He also married four times, had five children and collected wildflowers, butterflies, old master paintings and Bugatti pedal cars. Image Among Mr. Conran's designs was this one for a detergent container. It also gave him a frank look at a people weary of shortages, and a glimpse of the future of commercial design. “They came along in their dreary wartime mackintoshes, gas-mask cases filled with Spam sandwiches, and found bright cafes, music, flowers, modern furniture and a spirit of something that none of them had ever experienced in their lives,” Mr. Conran told The Daily Telegraph, the British newspaper, in 2011.

Source: International New York Times September 12, 2020 15:00 UTC