In memoriam

In mid-august, acclaimed Brazil-based industrial designer Jorge Zalszupin passed away at the age of 98. Known for his refined creations incorporating the latest techniques for bent plywood as well as local woods, Zalszupin originally trained as an architect before relocating to Rio de Janeiro by way of Romania from his native Poland in 1949. He would go on to produce a range of such now-iconic pieces as the JZ Tea Trolley, Brasiliana sofa and Ipanema armchair for local manufacturer ETEL, shaping modernism in the country in the process.

Soon after, interior designer Christian Liaigre, who founded his eponymous company in 1985, died on September 2 at the age of 77. Liaigre was renowned for his muted and restrained designs, from residences for the likes of fashion giant Calvin Klein to New York’s Mercer Hotel and collections of expertly crafted furniture. “His taste and style were unmatched,” hotelier Ian Schrager said after the designer’s passing, “and his refined simplicity and elegance stood above everybody else.”

Just over a week later, on September 12, Sir Terence Conran, the British designer, philanthropist, businessman and founder of London’s Design Museum, passed away at the age of 88. Prior to establishing the museum in 1989, he founded Habitat, a furniture retailer considered a major force in defining postwar British design, in 1964. In a tribute, the Design Museum noted that Conran “had a greater impact than any other designer of his generation, revolutionizing everyday life in contemporary Britain.”