Long Live Design

Karen D. Singh -- Interior Design, 10/31/2007 12:00:00 AM

One of my favorite things about the design profession is that folks just don't seem to retire. While it may be my imagination, they also seem to live for a very long time. Being from a family of early bucket-kickers, I'm hanging many a hope for longevity on this observation—please don't burst my bubble.

In this 75 Years Young Fall Market Tabloid, part of Interior Design's series of special issues celebrating our 75th anniversary, we've gathered some ever-youthful design legends and photographed them with three-quarter-century-old design classics in "Going Strong." In our "Time Capsule" feature, we offer a timeline of treasures, clustered by decade. It's always humbling, the moment one thinks one is on the cutting edge of the new, to realize that someone already did it years ago. Witness Hans Brattraud's Scandia Senior Easy Chair (page 42). Other scene-stealers include Ena Rottenberg's 1930 Shape 21 porcelain tea set by Augarten Wien (cover) and Gerrit Rietveld's tailored Utrech armchair (page 183) from 1935, accessorized by that handsome Harry Hinson. Among my contemporary favorites: Top Floor's Escapade rug (page 210) and Création Baumann's Etrus textile (page 114).