Design Research (abbreviated and trademarked as D/R) was a retail store founded in 1953 by Ben Thompson in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, and which introduced the concept of

lifestyle store A lifestyle store is a retail store selling a wide variety of product categories under a single brand. It is designed to associate a brand with one or another aspirational lifestyle. Lifestyle stores may include clothing, housewares, furniture, ...

. In the 1970s under subsequent ownership, it became a chain of a dozen stores across the United States, and went bankrupt in 1979. Thompson's goal was to provide "a place where people could buy everything they needed for contemporary living",Pilar Viladas, "One-Stop Living", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' September 29, 201

/ref> notably modernism, modern European furnishings and in particular Scandinavian design. D/R has continued to have an outsized reputation: in 2000, a survey of influential design stores named D/R as number one, though it had then been closed for 22 years.Rob Forbes, "Foreword: Who's Your Daddy?" ''in'' Jane Thompson and Alexandra Lange, ''Design Research: The Store That Brought Modern Living to American Homes'', 2010 , p.
excerpt available
/ref> The store influenced later retailers like Crate & Barrel, Design Within Reach, Pottery Barn,

Workbench A workbench is a sturdy table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewellers benches to the huge benches used by ...

, and Conran's.Suzanne Slesin, "Design/ Research Store Starts Its Final Sale", ''The New York Times'
June 1, 1979
/ref>

Selection of products

Design Research carried an eclectic selection of products, from

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

, from

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

s to pots and pans, at a wide range of prices, introducing the idea of a

.Carole Nicksin, "The Legacy of Design Research: The impact of the long-defunct retailer is still being felt within the home furnishings industry", ''HFN The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network'', November 8, 200
full text
/ref> It carried furnishings by such designers as

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

Hans Wegner Hans Jørgensen Wegner (April 2, 1914 – January 26, 2007) was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His ...

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

, and Joe Colombo.Rachel Travers, "Through a glass, brightly", ''The Boston Globe'', October 29, 2009

/ref> Design Research was the exclusive US representative for the Finnish clothing and textiles of

Marimekko Marimekko Corporation () is a Finland, Finnish textiles, clothing, and home furnishings company founded by Viljo and Armi Ratia in Helsinki in 1951. Marimekko made important contributions to fashion in the 1960s. It is particularly noted for it ...

from 1959 to 1976.

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

was pictured on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' in 1960 in a Marimekko sundress purchased at D/R.

Stores

The original Design Research store was in a 19th-century wood frame mansard house at 57 Brattle Street, in

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

, Cambridge. D/R later added stores in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts;

Lexington Avenue Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...

(1961) and East 57th Street (1964) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; and

Ghirardelli Square Ghirardelli Square is a landmark public square at the foot of Russian Hill and adjacent to the Aquatic Park Historic District in San Francisco. It is often considered to be part of the tourist attractions at nearby Fisherman's Wharf. A portio ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(1965). In 1969, Thompson moved the original Cambridge store to a revolutionary new building designed by his firm, Benjamin Thompson and Associates, at 48 Brattle Street in Harvard Square, on a block that came to be known as "Architects' Corner". The 5-story building consists of flat

concrete slab A concrete slab is a common structural element of modern buildings, consisting of a flat, horizontal surface made of cast concrete. Steel- reinforced slabs, typically between 100 and 500 mm thick, are most often used to construct floors and ...

s supported by interior columns, and enclosed by frameless

tempered glass Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled heat treatment, thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into Compression (physics), comp ...

walls. The use of butted glass with no frame or mullions was unprecedented, and "allowed D/R to be a building almost 'without architecture'". It immediately received favorable reviews: "points the way to a method of glass building that could create a warmer city, adding color and light and optimism to the life of the streets". The building won many awards over the years: * 1970: New England AIA Honor Award, New England Chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

* 1971:

Harleston Parker Medal The Harleston Parker Medal was established in 1921 by J. Harleston Parker to recognize “such architects as shall have, in the opinion of the Boston Society of Architects for any private citizen, association, corporation, or public authority, t ...

for Outstanding Architecture,

Boston Society of Architects The Boston Society for Architecture (formerly known as the Boston Society of Architects) (BSA) is a nonprofit membership organization committed to architecture, design and the built environment. History On June 20, 1867, approximately 50 archi ...

* 1971: National Honor Award, American Institute of Architects * 2003: AIA Twenty-five Year Award for "architecture of enduring significance" The first D/R stores were all located in urban areas, but under new management starting in 1969, D/R opened stores in suburban

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s, which Thompson disapproved of: South Shore Plaza in

Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree () is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is officially known as a town, but Braintree is a city with a mayor-council form of government, and it is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The populat ...

(1972); South Coast Plaza in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

(1972); and The Mall at Chestnut Hill in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

(1974). The company also opened urban stores at the

Embarcadero Center Embarcadero Center is a commercial complex of four office towers, two hotels, and a shopping center located in San Francisco. An outdoor ice skating rink is open in the center during winter months. Embarcadero Center sits on a site largely bo ...

(1973), and in downtown

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in Rittenhouse Square (1975).

Later tenants of Brattle Street store

After D/R closed in 1979, the Brattle Street building housed a Crate & Barrel store from 1979-January 2009. From October 2009 to April 2010, the vacant Brattle Street store hosted a temporary installation of D/R goods, visible from the street. The building housed an

Anthropologie Anthropologie is an Economy of the United States, American retailer operating in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany and the UK that sells clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decorations, beauty products, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of Urban ...

store from August 2010 to January 2025.

Corporate history

Design Research was started by the architect Ben Thompson in 1953. Spencer Field, a furniture designer, joined the firm as a 50-50 business partner in the early 1950s. By 1966, it was clear that the company was underfinanced for Thompson's expansion plans, and he started looking for outside investors. The company was reorganized as a new corporate entity in 1967 and was recapitalized, with Field's interest being bought out in February 1968 by Peter J. Sprague, an entrepreneur and chairman of

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor Corporation was an United States of America, American Semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturer, which specialized in analogue electronics, analog devices and subsystems, formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, ...

, who became chairman. In 1969, Sprague forced Thompson out as director of the company, but Thompson remained a stockholder. Under a succession of presidents, D/R opened more new stores, but Thompson felt that they had lost their distinctive style and approach. By 1976, the business was deteriorating, and in 1979 it declared bankruptcy. Rights to the names "Design Research" and "D/R" were bought jointly by Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn.Levy, "Design Research
Chapter 1
, p. 17-29

Bibliography

* Janet Levy, "Design Research: Marketing 'Good design' in the 50s, 60s, and 70s", Master of Arts thesis at

Parsons The New School for Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

, 2004
chapter list
* Walter J. Salmon, "Design Research, Inc.", Harvard Business School Case 578-203 (not seen) * * Andrew Wagner, "Partners in Design", ''Dwell'' October/November 200
original magazine spread
* , ''ArchitectureBoston'', Spring 2011 issue,

. Issue is dedicated entirely to Thompson with articles by various authors.

Notes

{{reflist

External links

photos, plans, bibliography from ArchitectureWeek.
Design Research Headquarters
at the Archiplanet wiki, a service of ArchitectureWeek American companies established in 1953 Retail companies established in 1953 Home decor retailers Defunct retail companies of the United States Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts Retail companies disestablished in 1978 Buildings and structures in Cambridge, Massachusetts 1953 establishments in Massachusetts 1978 disestablishments in Massachusetts