George Nelson

Georg Nelson, born in Hartford (1904), graduated at Hartford Public High school in 1924, Nelson studied architecture at Yale University, where he graduated in 1928. A scholarship helped him in 1932-34 to afford his studies at the American Academy in Rome. Based in Rome, he traveled through Europe where he met a number of the modernist pioneers, whom he interviewed for the purpose of writing articles for Pencil Points. At ''Architectural Forum'' he was first associate editor (1935–1943). He published a principle article about house building and furniture design, which caught the attention of D.J. DePree, head of the furniture company Herman Miller. After that he became consultant editor of Herman Miller. In this position, which he held until 1972, he becomes to a central figure of the American design: He got Charles & Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard to Herman Miller. The cooperation with Vitra starts in 1957. Besides that, he proceeded his own design office since 1946 and created some sketches, which also belonged to the icones of the ''Mid-Century-Modern''. Other work emphasis of Nelsons office are architecture and exhibition art/ design. George Nelson dies 1986 in New York. His archive is in the care of the Vitra Design Museum.