Any review of 2021 should acknowledge the array of talents from across the creative spectrum that we have sadly lost during the year. Here, we remember just some of the inspirational creative figures – from fields including architecture, design, art, fashion, jewellery, and more – whose loss we mourn but whose enduring work and lasting legacy we continue to cherish and celebrate.
In memoriam
Virgil Abloh, creative polymath (1980 – 2021)
Virgil Abloh on the Pont Neuf in Paris in 2019, with ‘Color Gradient Chair’ (2018).
A boundary-breaking figure, Virgil Abloh transcended a host of creative fields, spanning fashion, art, design and music. Appointed men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton in 2018, he was one of the few Black designers to lead a luxury French fashion house.
Elsa Peretti, jewellery designer (1940 – 2021)
Italian jewellery designer Elsa Peretti poses for a photo shoot in 1975 at her residence in New York.
In 1974, Elsa Peretti began her tenure at Tiffany & Co, a partnership which endured for the rest of her life. Her statement pieces quickly became iconic silhouettes in jewellery design, and continue to be bestsellers today.
Trevor Dannatt, architect (1920 – 2021)
Trevor Dannatt.
The designs of British architect Trevor Dannatt OBE RA wove humble, traditional materials and modernist ideas. For Wallpaper’s May 2012 issue (W*158), his son, art critic Adrian Dannatt, gave an account of one of the architect’s new projects at the time, a private house in Petersfield. Following Trevor Dannatt’s passing in February 2021, we republished the article in tribute.
Pauline Deltour, designer (1983 – 2021)
French designer Pauline Deltour was a much loved figure, with a sublime sensitivity for colour and shape; her works spanned furniture design, objects created with artisans, transport and technology-oriented projects as well as jewellery.
Richard Rogers, architect (1933 – 2021)
Richard Rogers, photographed for Wallpaper’s July 2013 issue (W*172) in his house in Chelsea, London, a light and airy space he created in the 1980s by knocking together two terraced houses.
We celebrate the life and career of Richard Rogers, one of the most influential architects of our era and winner of the 2007 Pritzker Prize.
Lawrence Weiner, conceptual art pioneer (1942 – 2021)
Portrait of artist Lawrence Weiner in January 2017.
Lawrence Weiner was present at the birth of conceptualism in the late 1960s. Shaking up conventions, he probed the essence of what art should stand for, what role the artist should assume, and how they should relate to the viewer.
Alber Elbaz, fashion designer (1961 – 2021)
Alber Elbaz, shot via Zoom by New York street photographer Bruce Gilden on 22 February 2021, for the May 2021 Issue of Wallpaper*
The Israeli fashion designer, who founded label AZ Factory in 2021, is most renowned for his creative directorship at Lanvin, from 2001 to 2015, where he rejuvenated the house with his imaginative designs, brimming with colour, print and volume.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, landscape architect (1921 – 2021)
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander photographed for Wallpaper* in 2018, sitting on a Harry Bertoia ‘Diamond’ chair in her Vancouver home.
The career of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the critically acclaimed Canadian landscape architect, was filled with impressive highlights. ‘My passion is to be with nature and introduce people to it from all levels of society,’ she told Wallpaper* in a 2018 interview. ‘I believe in the therapeutic effects of greenery on the human soul.’
Ken Garland, designer, educator, writer and activist (1929 – 2021)
Ken Garland: Structure and Substance, published by Unit Editions
One of the most pre-eminent British post-war designers, Ken Garland had a long and distinguished career as a commercial designer but was also passionate about ethics, particularly the use and abuse of imagery for advertising purposes.
Robert Opron, auto designer and engineer (1932 – 2021)
1973 Citroën DS21, one of the last examples to be made
Perhaps more than any other designer, Robert Opron’s work came to embody the qualities of idiosyncrasy and individuality in French car design, helping set the output of the country’s factories at odds with convention. Our article celebrates his genius.
Etel Adnan, writer and artist (1925 – 2021)
The American-Lebanese artist and writer at home in her studio workshop on 8 April 2015 in Paris, France.
Etel Adnan was an acclaimed writer, trailblazing artist and pioneer in Arab-American culture. Her prolific, wide-ranging and ever-evolving practice continued throughout the final decade of her life, and for Wallpaper’s October 2021 25th Anniversary issue, she was selected by Michèle Lamy as one of her five creative pioneers.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, architect (1928 – 2021)
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, photographed in 2010 for Wallpaper*
Paulo Mendes da Rocha was one of the world’s last great modernists, as well as one of Brazil’s most important architects to date.
Zeev Aram, founder of Aram Designs (1931 – 2021)
Zeev Aram, founder and chairman of Aram Designs.
Our article remembers and celebrates Zeev Aram, a hugely influential design personality who championed creativity and fresh talent.
Dennis Gilbert, architectural photographer (1951 – 2021)
Warwick Junction, Durban, South Africa, by Asiye eTafuleni
Architectural photographer Dennis Gilbert, founder of View Pictures, one of the foremost agencies for architectural imagery, and an honorary fellow of RIBA, helped shape our perception of contemporary architecture.
Chris Wilkinson, architect (1945 – 2021)
Architect Chris Wilkinson.
We remember British architect Chris Wilkinson, of WilkinsonEyre, who brought a rare humanity and sense of art to architecture in all its forms.
Ruy Ohtake, architect (1938 – 2021)
Pages from our 2001 interview with Ruy Ohtake, photographed at the Tomie Ohtake Residence, which he designed in 1968. Interiors editor: Kelly Russell. Interiors assistant: Ana Stecca
To honour the memory of Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake, a master of Brazilian modernism, we revisit the Tomie Ohtake Residence, which he designed in 1968 for his parents and named after his mother, abstract painter Tomie Ohtake. Our interview from the Wallpaper* archive was first published in 2001.
Gottfried Böhm, architect (1920-2021)
Gottfried Böhm’s Pilgrimage Church near Cologne, its roof made up of complex folds of concrete.
To mark the passing of Pritzker Prize-winning German architect Gottfried Böhm, we revisit a story from the Wallpaper* archives (2007), celebrating the geometric shapes of his 1968 Pilgrimage Church near Cologne.
Umberto Riva, architect, designer and painter (1928-2021)
Italian architect, designer and painter Umberto Riva was a much loved figure of Milanese architecture and design, a discreet creator with an artist’s vision and ‘a curiosity that cuts across boundaries’.
Owen Luder (1928 – 2021)
Tricorn Centre, Portsmouth (completed in 1966, demolished in 2004), by the Owen Luder Partnership.
Owen Luder was the pre-eminent exponent of raw concrete architecture in the UK, a pioneer whose influence continues to be felt.
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Meet artist Michael McGregor, using hotel stationery as his canvasMichael McGregor unveils an exclusive postcard set made with notepads from The Luxury Collection properties in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Savannah
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A nature-inspired Chinese art centre cuts a crisp figure in a Guiyang parkA new Chinese art centre by Atelier Xi in the country's Guizhou Province is designed to bring together nature, art and community
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William Kentridge's fluid sculptures are a vivid addition to the Yorkshire landscapeWilliam Kentridge has opened the first major exhibition to focus on his sculptures outside of South Africa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
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Remembering Yrjö Kukkapuro, Finnish grand master of design (1933-2025)Almost everyone in Finland has sat in a chair by designer Yrjö Kukkapuro, writes Wallpaper’s Emma O'Kelly, who met him at his studio in 2020 and here pays tribute to a design legend
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We remember Kenneth Grange, the British industrial designer, who has died aged 95Kenneth Grange was a colossus of post-war design. With a career spanning six decades, his mission for improvement touched everything from trains to fountain pens, taxis to toothbrushes
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Design world mourns Gaetano Pesce (1939-2024), the ‘most radical of radicals’We remember Gaetano Pesce, the rule-breaking Italian design visionary, who has died in New York aged 84
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In memoriam: celebrating the lives and work of those we lost in 2023We honour and remember some of the influential creatives lost during 2023, through the Wallpaper* tributes that ran throughout the year
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In Memoriam: Maria Pergay (1930 – 2023)We remember design dame Maria Pergay, who died on 31 October 2023 aged 93
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In Memoriam: Andrea Branzi (1938 – 2023)We remember Italian design radical Andrea Branzi, who died on 9 October 2023
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In Memoriam: Rodolfo Dordoni (1954 - 2023)We remember Italian designer and architect Rodolfo Dordoni, who died on 1 August 2023
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In memoriam: Thomas Eyck (1964 – 2023)We remember Dutch design entrepreneur Thomas Eyck, a champion of craft, materiality and beauty who helped elevate many of the Netherlands’ contemporary design stars
