James Irvine RDI (1958 – 18 February 2013) was a British

industrial designer Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufact ...

who created furniture and product designs for many well know companies and brands such as

Artemide __NOTOC__ Artemide () is a design-oriented Italian manufacturer founded by Ernesto Gismondi and Sergio Mazza in 1960. Based in Pregnana Milanese, a suburb of Milan, the company specialises in the manufacture of lighting designed by designers an ...

B&B Italia B&B Italia SpA is an Italian modern furniture company whose products are sold worldwide. The company was founded in 1966 by the Busnelli family, who manages the company. On March 1, 2011, the Busnelli family became majority shareholders of the co ...

Cappellini Cappellini and Capellini are Italian surnames, possibly derivatives of ''Capelli'' or ''Capello''. It is also used as a Spanish surname. Notable people with those surnames include: * Ada Itúrrez de Cappellini, Argentine Justicialist Party politi ...

, Foscarini,

Ikea IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been ...

Magis ''Magis'' (pronounced "màh-gis") is a Latin word that means "more" or "greater". It is related to '' ad majorem Dei gloriam'', a Latin phrase meaning "for the greater glory of God", the motto of the Society of Jesus. Magis refers to the philos ...

Muji (), or is a Japanese retail company which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods. Muji's design philosophy is minimalist, and it places an emphasis on recycling, reducing production and packaging waste, and a no-logo or "no-bran ...

Thonet Thonet is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anne Bonnet, née Thonet (1908–1960), Belgian painter * Michael Thonet (1796–1871), German–Austrian cabinet maker ** Gebrüder Thonet Gebrüder Thonet or the Thonet Brothers ...

, and WMF. He once described the product designer's job as “the work of an unknown hero.” Irvine was the son of the architect and designer Alan Irvine and his first wife, Betty. He obtained his bachelor's degree in industrial design from the

Kingston Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

(now University) alongside fellow designers

Jasper Morrison Jasper Morrison (born 1959) is an English product and furniture designer. He is know for the refinement and apparent simplicity of his designs. In a rare interview with the designer, he is quoted as saying: "Objects should never shout". Ear ...

and Michael Young. He subsequently earned a master's degree from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It ...

, and then moved to Milan in 1984 to work with

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been par ...

. He also worked for one year at the Toshiba Design Center in Tokyo. In 1988 he opened a design studio in Milan, initially collaborating with Cappellini and SCP. He also worked with

Ettore Sottsass Ettore Sottsass (Innsbruck, Austria 14 September 1917 – Milan, Italy 31 December 2007) was a 20th century Italian architect, noted for also designing furniture, jewellery, glass, lighting, home and office wares, as well as numerous buildings an ...

and became a partner at Sottsass Associati. In 1999 he designed the

Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...

bus for the city of

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and proposed an accompanying design for the city's bus shelters in preparation for

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially some 40 million people were exp ...

Mercedes-Benz Citaro Irvine Solobus Uestra Hauptbahnhof Hannover Germany

He was a professor of industrial design at the

Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design The Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) is a state art college founded in 1992 in Karlsruhe. It focuses on media art, communication design , product design , scenography, exhibition design and scenography, art history, art research and ...

. In 2004 he was appointed

Royal Designer for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained ...

(RDI). In 2006 his A 660 Bentwood chair for Thonet received the iF Design Award In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Design form Kingston University. In 2010 his S 123 H barstool for Thonet received the iF Design Award In 2013 Irvine's "Juno" chair for Arper received both the Design Guild Mark Award and the iF Design Award. In 2015

Phaidon Press Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional o ...

published a monograph about his work and life, with contributions from many of his collaborators and contemporaries including: designers Michele De Lucchi,

George Sowden George J. Sowden (born 1942 in Leeds, UK) is a designer and product developer. Career He studied architecture at Gloucestershire College of Art in the 1960s. In 1970, he moved to Milan, where he started working with Ettore Sottsass and ...

, Stefano Giovannoni, Thomas Sandell, Jasper Morrison,

Konstantin Grcic Konstantin Grcic ( sr-cyr, Константин грчић, born 1965) is a German industrial designer known for creating mass-manufactured items, such as furniture and household products. He has participated in leading design shows and his work ...

Naoto Fukasawa Naoto Fukasawa (; born 1956) is a Japanese designer, author, and educator, working in the fields of product and furniture design. He is known for his product design work with the Japanese retail company Muji, as well as collaborations with compa ...

Alberto Meda Alberto Meda is an engineer focusing on design, born in Tremezzina Tremezzina (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Como, in Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , popul ...

and

Marc Newson Marc Andrew Newson CBE RDI (born 20 October 1963) is an industrial designer who works in aircraft cabin design, product design, furniture design, jewellery, and clothing. His style uses smooth geometric lines, translucency, strength, tra ...

; design impresario

Giulio Cappellini Giulio Cappellini is the founder and art director of the eponymous Italian furniture company Cappellini based in Milan. In 2004 the Company became part of the Poltrona Frau Group. In 2021, it was acquired by the American office furnisher Haworth I ...

; design critics

Deyan Sudjic Deyan Sudjic (born 6 September 1952) is a British writer and broadcaster, specialising in the fields of design and architecture. He was formerly the director of the Design Museum, London.LSE"Advisory board" retrieved 17 May 2013 Life and caree ...

and Francesca Picchi. With the publication of the book, the Triennale Design Museum hosted a tribute to Irvine titled "Stories about James" to celebrate the life and work of the designer. His eponymous company "Studio James Irvine" continues under the guidance of his wife, the architect and

Art Director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Marialaura Rossiello Irvine. Irvine died of pneumonia in 2013 at the age of 54 and is buried at the Maggiore cemetery in Milan. He is survived by his wife, designer MariaLaura Rossiello Irvine and two sons Giacomo and Giorgio.

Publications

* *

References

External links

*
Luminaire "A Tribute to James Irvine"

Articles about James Irvine in dezeen

James Irvine: GlassLab

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

, short film (interview) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, James 1958 births Alumni of Kingston University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Royal Designers for Industry English furniture designers English industrial designers English emigrants to Italy Olivetti people Industrial design Designers 2013 deaths

See also

Publications

References

External links