Sir Misha Black (16 October 1910 – 11 October 1977) was a British-Azerbaijani architect and designer. In 1933 he founded with associates in London the organisation that became the

Artists' International Association The Artists' International Association (AIA) was an organisation founded in London in 1933 out of discussion among Pearl Binder, Clifford Rowe, Misha Black, James Fitton, James Boswell, James Holland, Edward Ardizzone, Peter Laszlo Peri'Artis ...

. In 1943, with Milner Gray and Herbert Read, Sir Misha Black founded Design Research Unit, a London-based Architectural, Graphic Design and Interior Design Company. He was born in 1910 in Baku,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

) into a wealthy Jewish family. From 1959 to 1975 Black was a professor of industrial design at 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 o ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. During his tenure at the Royal College of Art, he became President of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) from 1959 to 1961. He was also a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Chartered Society of Designers The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is a professional body for designers. It is the only Royal Chartered body of experienced designers. Its membership is multi-disciplinary – representing designers in all design, disciplines including I ...

, and winner of the ''Minerva Medal'', the Society's highest award. He was knighted in 1972. Between 1974 and 1976 Black was President of the

Design and Industries Association The Design and Industries Association is a United Kingdom charity whose object is to ''engage with all those who share a common interest in the contribution that design can make to the delivery of goods and services that are sustainable and enhance ...

Notable works

Black is remembered largely for his iconic design of the

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

street name signs, the external styling of British Railways Southern Region

British Rail Class 71 The British Rail Class 71 was an electric locomotive used on the Southern Region of British Railways. Unlike Southern Region electro-diesel locomotives (such as classes 73 and 74) they could not operate away from the electrified (750 V DC) s ...

electric locomotives of 1958 and Western Region

British Rail Class 52 The British Rail Class 52 is a class of 74 Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964. All were given two-word names, the first word being "''Western''" and thus the type became k ...

diesel locomotives of 1961. He also designed the

London Underground 1967 Stock The London Underground 1967 Stock was a type of deep-level train that operated on the Victoria line of the London Underground from the line's opening on 1 September 1968 until 30 June 2011. It was also used on the Central line between Woodford ...

that was used on the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely underg ...

between 1967 and 2011. On 27 July 2003 at Salisbury station, preserved Class 52 D1015 named ''Western Champion'' was unveiled carrying temporary ''Sir Misha Black'' nameplates. Black is often credited for designing the black/brown/orange/yellow

moquette Moquette, derived from the French word for carpet, is a type of woven pile fabric in which cut or uncut threads form a short dense cut or loop pile. As well as giving it a distinctive velvet-like feel, the pile construction is particularly durabl ...

originally used by London Transport and also the

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...

in the late 1970s onwards; whilst he commissioned the fabric it was actually the work of noted textile designer Jacqueline Groag.

Publications

Personal life

Black played an active part in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. His brother was the philosopher

Max Black Max Black (24 February 1909 – 27 August 1988) was an Azerbaijani-born British-American philosopher who was a leading figure in analytic philosophy in the years after World War II. He made contributions to the philosophy of language, the philo ...

Legacy

Black is commemorated in The Sir Misha Black Awards, created in 1978 by the

, the Faculty of

Royal Designers 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 "sustaine ...

(RDI), and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was influential in framing the educational discipline of Industrial Design (Engineering) in the UK at the

(RCA) and also the foundation of the academic discipline of

design research Design research was originally constituted as primarily research into the process of design, developing from work in design methods, but the concept has been expanded to include research embedded within the process of design, including work concer ...

by facilitating the Professorial role offered to

Bruce Archer Leonard Bruce Archer CBE (22 November 1922 – 16 May 2005) was a British chartered mechanical engineer and Professor of Design Research at the Royal College of Art (RCA) who championed research in design, and helped to establish design as an ac ...

in the first Department of Design Research at the RCA. Recipients of the ''Sir Misha Black Medal'' include prestigious design educators such as Max Bill (1982),

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 ...

(1999),

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculp ...

(2002), Margaret Calvert (2016) and Professor Birgit Mager (2020). The ''Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education'', first awarded in 1999, was given to

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and T ...

in 2016 and the

University of Brighton Design Archives The University of Brighton Design Archives centres on British and global design organisations of the twentieth century. It is located within the University of Brighton Grand Parade campus in the heart of Brighton and is an international research r ...

in 2018.

References

External links

Black's moquette design for London TransportSir Misha Black AwardsRoyal Designers for Industry & Britain Can Make It
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Misha 20th-century British architects Chartered designers Academics of the Royal College of Art 1910 births 1977 deaths People from Baku Governorate Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom British Jews Architects from Baku Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor