Serge Chermayeff

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Serge Chermayeff
Born
Sergei Ivanovich Issakovich

8 October 1900
Grozny, Russian Empire
Died8 May 1996 (1996-05-09) (aged 95)
Wellfleet, Massachusetts, US
NationalityRussian-British
OccupationArchitect

Serge Ivan Chermayeff (born Sergei Ivanovich Issakovich;[1] Russian: Сергей Ива́нович Иссако́вич; 8 October 1900 – 8 May 1996) was a Russian-born British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects.

The De La Warr Pavilion
in Bexhill on Sea

Early life

He was born into a wealthy Jewish family

Peterborough Lodge Preparatory School (1910-1913), the Royal Drawing Society School (1910–1913) and Harrow School
(1914–1917).

Continuing education and early career

From 1922 to 1925, he received training at various schools in Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands. During this period, he supported himself as a journalist for the Amalgamated Press (1918–23) before becoming chief designer (1924–27) at E. Williams, a decorating firm.[5]

In 1928, he became a British citizen.[6] That year, he and the French designer Paul Follot were placed in charge of the decorative arts department of Waring & Gillow.[7]

Early career as an architect

After practicing architecture for three years, he and the German architect

Low Weald
in Sussex, completed in 1938.

During the 1930s, Chermayeff designed bakelite radio cabinets for the Southend-on-Sea based company EKCO.[12]

Architect in the U.S.

In 1940, Chermayeff emigrated to the United States where he joined

Yale University School of Architecture
(1962-1971). Following his retirement, he briefly taught at Harvard again in 1974.

Books and awards

He wrote several books, including Community and Privacy with Christopher Alexander in 1964 and The Shape of Community with Alexander Tzonis in 1971. He died in 1996 in Wellfleet. Chermayeff's architectural drawings, project records, photographs, correspondence, teaching and writing papers, and research files are held by the Dept. of Drawings & Archives at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.

In 1980 he was awarded the

Sir Misha Black award and was added to the College of Medallists.[16]

Descendants

His son Ivan Chermayeff was a prominent graphic designer and a founding partner of New York-based design studio

Chermayeff & Geismar.[17]

Another son Peter Chermayeff is a prominent architect best known for his design of aquariums, with colleagues, while a founding partner at Cambridge Seven Associates, from 1962 to 1998, at Chermayeff, Sollogub and Poole, 1998–2005, at Chermayeff & Poole, 2005–2009 and currently at

Peter Chermayeff LLC
.

His grandson Sam Chermayeff is an architect and furniture designer in Berlin.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Obituary: Serge Chermayeff". Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. Independent.co.uk
    . Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Mapping Modernism". Victoria and Albert Museum, Digital Media. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  4. ^ Altino Joao Magalhaes Rocha (February 2004). Architecture Theory 1960—1980. Emergence of a Computational Perspective (PDF) (Architecture: Design and Computation thesis). MIT. p. 42. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2013.
  5. ^ a b "PCAD - Serge Ivan Chermayeff". pcad.lib.washington.edu. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  6. ^ "No. 33373". The London Gazette. 6 April 1928. p. 2550.
  7. ISBN 978-0-8118-6099-4
    .
  8. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1352840)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1225772)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  10. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1263517)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1113236)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  12. ^ "1920s & 30s Art Deco Artists and Designers – Antique Marks". antique-marks.com. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  13. ^ ArchitectDB – structure record id 10242: Mayhew, Clarence W.W., House, Piedmont[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Architect Serge Chermayeff, 95; taught at IIT, Yale and Harvard". New York Times News Service. 12 May 1996. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  15. ISBN 978-1-58685-858-2
    .
  16. ^ "The Sir Misha Black Medal | Misha Black Awards". mishablackawards.org.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  17. ^ "1979 AIGA Medalist: Ivan Chermayeff and Thomas Geismar". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  18. ^ Johnson, Rindon (1 March 2020). "It's Obvious, I Think: Choice Words with Architect Sam Chermayeff". Cultured. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Further reading

Blum, Betty J (2001). Oral history of Serge Chermayeff. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 12 August 2016.

Chan, Carson (2017). The Chermayeff Century. 032c. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Powers, Alan (2001). Serge Chermayeff: Designer, Architect, Teacher. London: RIBA Publications.

ISBN 1-85946-075-5
.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Serge_Chermayeff&oldid=1209410717"