Every now and then we’ll come across a designer who we’ve never heard of and wonder, did the more well-known designers just have better public relations firms?
Vladimir Kagan, for all intents and purposes, appears to be one of the most important, long-lasting and influential designers of our modern century. Can you believe we’re only just learning about the extent of his talent?
First of all, his body of work is HUGE. We’re talking a-workaholic-spanning-decades huge. Kagan started designing in 1946 and never looked back. Many of the important influential designers in our history designed for a certain period of time and then moved on or passed away. Not this designer. Kagan’s like the Madonna of the furniture design world: he’s stayed on top and kept up with the times, enabling him to be influential for many, many years.
So what’s his style? Well, accessible. Seemingly safe, yet, but with chances taken, as well. Some of his most famous pieces show what we’re talking about. The Cloud Sofa, the Floating Sofa and the Illuminating Omnibus sofa combine past designs (for familiarity) with cutting edge technologies (often with how the materials were shaped or constructed) to create pieces that are at once trendy and new, but also comfortable and enjoyable. He wasn’t looking to create work that people were afraid of or turned off by, he wanted to create pieces that anyone could use.
Again, his ability to transition through the decades, somehow following other designers leads and introducing his own elements seems to be his most enduring trait. All his furniture pieces are comfortable and soft, too, with curves and cushions and good intentions. Stylish, yes, but able to fit in with a number of different home styles.
Born in Germany in 1927, he emigrated to the United States in 1938. It was at the School of Industrial Art that something in him was sparked. He would graduate from there in 1946 with an architecture degree, and then study more architecture at Columbia University. He opened up his first office and shop in 1949 in New York City. He started off early creating commissioned pieces for commercial spaces and even the now-famous Mid-Century Modern designed "Monsanto House of the Future" at Disneyland.
A quote from the New York Times, taken from Kagan’s website, sums him up perfectly:
"Vladimir Kagan is one of the most important furniture designers of the 20th century. Furniture designed by him in the forties, fifties and sixties have become icons of Modernity and an obligatory reference to every designer. He is the creative grandfather of a whole new generation of designers."
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