Architecture & design
Alexander Girard
1907–1993 · architect, interior and textile designer
Modernist designer who worked from Detroit and Grosse Pointe for sixteen years before becoming Herman Miller's famed textile director.
- Born
New York City, New York- Died
Santa Fe, New Mexico
aged 86- Birth name
- Alexander Hayden Girard
- Also known as
- Sandro Girard
- Detroit years
- 1937–1953
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Raised in Florence and trained as an architect in London and Rome, Girard opened a design studio in New York in 1932 and moved to Detroit in 1937. Based in the Detroit area, and living in Grosse Pointe, he designed interiors, furniture and exhibitions for local clients and industry, and became part of the circle around Cranbrook and the Saarinens. In 1949 he organized An Exhibition for Modern Living at the Detroit Institute of Arts, a landmark show that presented the new furniture of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Eero Saarinen to the public in fully designed rooms. In 1952 Herman Miller, the Michigan furniture maker, named him head of its fabric division, a post he held until 1973, and in 1953 he moved to Santa Fe. His colorful textiles, the La Fonda del Sol restaurant and the Braniff Airways identity made him one of the defining designers of the era.
Highlights
- Based in Detroit and Grosse Pointe, 1937–1953
- Organized An Exhibition for Modern Living at the DIA (1949)
- Head of Herman Miller's textile division, 1952–1973
- Braniff Airways rebranding (1965)
- His folk-art collection fills the Girard Wing in Santa Fe
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Related place · 1949
Detroit Institute of Arts (Friday Night Live!)
Where he staged An Exhibition for Modern Living, a milestone show of mid-century American design.