The Design Museum in London is marking what would have been the 90th birthday of Sir Terence Conran with a free new display, ‘The Conran Effect’, which explores both the personal life and professional achievements of Conran.
Personal photographs sit alongside some of his most celebrated designs – including his popular ‘Cone’ chair – while the exhibition also showcases memorabilia from the launch of Conran Design Group and the Habitat chain of stores. The display explores how Habitat changed the way we interacted with design upon the launch of the first store, in London, in 1964, its innovative grouping of furniture, fabrics and cookware, bringing design into the daily lives of the UK public for the first time. Staff, dressed in Mary Quant, were a chic bridge between fashion and form.
Habitat bag © the Design Museum
The respected British designer, who founded the Design Museum in 1989 – something he later referred to as one of his proudest achievements – supported design education and the creative industries throughout his life. Conran’s multiple careers are explored in the exhibition, which takes a closer look at his roles as designer, retailer and entrepreneur, dissecting how his designs such as duvets and flat-pack furniture shaped modern life in Britain as we know it.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book, Terence Conran: Making Modern Britain, by Deyan Sudjic, director emeritus of the Design Museum. ‘Terence had so many different careers, from craftsman potter, to the chairman of a £2bn public company, to a restaurateur,’ says Sudjic. ‘As a student he was close to the art world, and Eduardo Paolozzi. By the time he was 25, he had opened five restaurants, started a furniture manufacturing business and a textile company, and worked on the Festival of Britain, and for Paolozzi. He became one of Britain’s most influential taste makers through Habitat.’
‘Chequers’ platter designed by Terence Conran and made by Midwinter Pottery Ltd, c. 1957 © the Design Museum
Habitat catalogue, 1971 © the Design Museum
INFORMATION
-
Bocci and Anna Carnick join forces on a showcase of evocative design practices in Berlin'Crafting Community' is on view at Berlin's Wilhelm Hallen until 14 September 2025
-
The story behind a one-of-a-kind Dieter Rams handbag, reborn by German leather brand TsatsasA new exhibition at Vitsœ’s London store celebrates the ‘931’ bag, designed by Dieter Rams for his wife Ingeborg in 1963 and reborn over half a century later in a collaboration between Rams and German leather accessories brand Tsatsas
-
A Miami pied-à-terre channels Art Deco glamour and endless summerInterior designer Olga Malyev reimagines a South of Fifth apartment with bold colour, vintage treasures and a sunlit spirit that captures Miami’s timeless allure
-
Norman Foster and nine other architects design birdhouses for charity – you can bid‘Architects for the Birds’ is spearheaded by Norman Foster and the Tessa Jowell Foundation to raise funds to improve treatment for brain cancer. Ten architect-designed birdhouses will go up for auction
-
The David Collins Foundation celebrates creativity in all its forms at London Design FestivalThe David Collins Foundation presents ‘Convergence’ at the Lavery during London Design Festival 2025 (on view until 19 September), featuring works from the Arts Foundation’s annual Futures Awards
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
