Series: Design Masters

Culture Trip’s Design Masters series shines a light on the innovators, tastemakers and even rule breakers of the creative world. From architects and product designers to textile and graphic artists, Design Masters celebrates the contribution of those who have had a monumental impact on both the creative industry and our everyday lives. The influential figures range from movement pioneers and rogue freethinkers to those who have created signature icons that have dramatically shaped our landscapes – and our homes – forever.

We talk to stalwarts of the industry, including Sir Terence Conran, who shook up gloomy post-war Britain with his exotic range of continental lifestyle products at Habitat and gifted London the Design Museum, bringing modern design to the masses. We also meet the design world’s freethinking mavericks, such as Israeli designer Ron Arad, who became an international rising star in the 1980s by defying boundaries and experimenting with cutting-edge materials. In addition, Design Masters will focus on the women who have broken into this male-dominated industry, from prize-winning architects Denise Scott Brown and Kazuyo Sejima to modern-day design trailblazers Hella Jongerius and Es Devlin.

The London-based Israeli designer opens up on the glory days of the punk era, his inability to follow the rules and how one chair made him one of the most successful designers of the 1980s and 1990s. Read the article here.

Denise Scott Brown is one of the most important female architects of the 20th century and an equal half of Postmodernist firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, a company she set up with her husband and lifetime collaborator. Discover Scott’s greatest work and why she has become a role model in the industry. Read the article here.

We spoke to the 86-year-old designer at his new suite launch at the hip Andaz hotel in East London about his favourite chair in the world, how Habitat introduced Britain to the concept of lifestyle and why he decided the country needed a Design Museum. Read the article here.

Each month we will be profiling one of the world’s greatest creative minds and telling the story behind their fascinating careers – check this page for regular updates.