SIR TERENCE CONRAN OPENS ‘THE WAY WE LIVE NOW’ EXHIBITION

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

The Jasper Conran studio headed over to the Design Museum at Shad Thames, Tower Bridge, this morning to preview a new exhibition covering the life and work of Jasper’s father Sir Terence Conran, entitled ‘The Way We Live Now.’

The exhibition is incredibly interesting, depicting the extent of Sir Terence’s influence on the social behaviour of the post-war generation, which was truly amazing. Through his various business empires - including founding interiors consultancy Conran Design Group, high street furniture chain Habitat and opening restaurants such as Quaglino’s and Le Pont de la Tour - he has pioneered a seismic shift in the eating and living patterns of the British public over the last sixty years.

Set out in a simple and very accessible way, much like Sir Terence’s design aesthetic, the exhibition includes a recontruction of rooms from the iconic Habitat catalogues of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, original print patterns from Sir Terence’s early days as a textile designer and a life-size mock-up of his office. If you’re interested in the history of British design, this is a definite must-see.

Sir Terence said: “This exhibition is very exciting for me because it is trudging back through my life and reminding me about lots of things that I’d forgotton about and all thanks to Stafford – who seems to know more about me than myself!

“Recently, I was eighty years old and it seems that being eighty is the moment when you have to look back at your life, so for that reason the exhibition is quite relevant. I hope it is an inspiration for school children and young designers to see what we can all achieve. Design is fundamental to recovery in this country and to have a manufacturing base benefits this. We can become a workshop to produce innovative products, new products and promote this to young people.”

The exhibition is due to launch tomorrow (16th November) and will run until 4th March next year.

Visit the Design Museum for more information.