
Biography of Alexander Hayden Girard
Alexander Hayden Girard was born on May 24, 1907 in New York City. His parents, Carlo Matteo Girard, an Italian with French roots, and Lezlie, née Cutler, an American, raised their children bilingually (Italian and English). Alexander, named 'Sandro' by his parents, initially grew up with his brother and sister on the family estate 'La Lucciola' near Florence. Girard's father trades in antiques in Florence. The idyll is suddenly over when ten-year-old Alexander is sent to an English boarding school. The Bedford Modern School in the town of the same name, the capital of the English county of Bedfordshire north of London, consists of an elementary school, which Girard attends in his final year, and a secondary school for eleven to eighteen-year-olds.
Exotic artifacts
The half-mile swimming race from Bedford Town Bridge to Bedford Suspension Bridge, held at the boarding school at the time and contested by the pupils, is daunting for most of them. The school's own Prichard Museum, on the other hand, from which the Bedford Museum emerged, aroused Girard's interest. At the time, it consisted largely of a collection of objects from around the world sent to the school by former pupils, as well as part of George Witt's collection of exotic artifacts.
Republic of Fife
Girard would later also become a collector of exotic, primarily ethnic artifacts from Central and South America and Asia, which served as the basis for his work. But at boarding school, Girard first took refuge in his imagination and the 'Republic of Fife', a country he invented with a flag, currency, maps and postage stamps of his own design, which he based on heraldic motifs from Renaissance Florence, among other things.
Study architecture
At the age of 17, Girard began studying architecture at the London Architectural Association School of Architecture, which he completed with distinction five years later. This was followed by two years at the Scuola Reale di Architettura in Rome and, from 1932 to 1935, studies at New York University, which allowed Girard to work as a practicing architect in the USA.
At the beginning of his studies in New York, Girard had already opened a design office in the New York borough of Manhattan and by 1937 was selling furnishings to a clientele consisting of private individuals as well as retailers and restaurant owners. Girard had already discovered his passion for interior design in 1929 when he designed the exhibition rooms of the Guild of Artisans in Florence as part of the World Exhibition in Barcelona, for which he received an award.
Cheers at Café Trouville
Girard was immediately enthusiastic when he was commissioned to design the 'Café Trouville' at 112 East 52nd Street in New York in 1934. French-Italian cuisine is served against a backdrop of European cities, the views of which adorn the walls. Café Trouville is air-conditioned and is making a name for itself as a restaurant, bar and cocktail lounge. International guests will find the toast "Prosit" in twenty languages on glasses and tables.
Of tortillas and tenderloin
In the course of his career, Girard contributed to a number of interior design projects for retail and restaurants, whereby it is noticeable that Girard - as previously during his school days in England - created his own worlds into which the customer or guest was literally immersed. In this context, the restaurant 'La Fond del Sol' in the Time & Life Building, which offered the best of Central and South American cuisine "from tortillas to tenderloin" in New York City from 1960 to 1971, deserves special mention. In addition to the motif of the sun in every conceivable design, geometric patterns - squares, circles, diamonds, stripes, etc. - adorn napkins, matchboxes and the staff's clothing. An adobe house integrated into the restaurant is reminiscent of Girard's own house in Santa Fe. It is hard to beat in terms of authenticity and uniqueness.
The Miller House
Among Girard's interior designs for private residences, the house of Joseph Irwin Miller, President of the engine manufacturer "Cummins Incorporated", and his wife Xenia Simons Miller are particularly noteworthy. On the one hand, because it was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2000 and was donated to the Indianapolis Museum of Art after Mrs. Miller's death in 2010. Secondly, because the design of Girard's house pays tribute to the most famous and influential patron of his home town of Columbus. For it was Miller who established the "Cummins Foundation" in 1954, a foundation that from 1957 onwards paid all architectural fees for public buildings in Columbus, which is why Columbus was named the sixth most important city in America in terms of architecture by the "American Institute of Architects" in 1991. As a result of this underwriting by the Cummins Foundation, buildings were designed by world-renowned architects such as Eero Saarinen, Gunnar Birkerts, Kevin Roche, Ieoh Ming Pei, Richard Meier, César Pelli, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Harry Weese. For many of these buildings, it is Girard who is commissioned to design the interiors and can thus build up a substantial portfolio of reference projects.
Inside Miller House
In the Miller House, one of the best-known American homes in the Mid-Century Modern design style, the clear and straightforward architectural style of the building envelope is continued inside. At the same time, the textiles, lights, furniture and ornaments selected and used by Girard skillfully break up this straightforwardness and make the Miller House a comfortable and homely home for the Miller family, who are involved in the interior design and find themselves reflected in it. The cushion for the dining chairs, for example, are decorated with the initials of the family members. Symbols based on family preferences and family history are immortalized in a carpet. A 15-metre-long built-in wall, consisting of bookshelves, niches and cupboards, offers both space for objects that are to be exhibited and objects that remain hidden from the view of visitors. The idea for a "conversation pit" instead of a seating area in the living room is attributed to Girard. This pit consists of a square set into the floor, which encloses the benches that have been "lowered" in this way. No pompous sofas and armchair, but benches set into the floor that reinforce the linearity of the architecture. Girard is said to have suggested them to the Millers so as not to obstruct the view of the garden. The garden is also an example of unusual and elaborate landscape architecture, for which the landscape architect Dan Kiley is responsible.
Living lab in Santa Fe
In the same year that construction of the Miller House began, Girard moved to Santa Fe. The capital of the US state of New Mexico is known for its creative scene, consisting of artisans, painters and musicians. Here, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, in a neighborhood of Spanish-Mexican architecture and pueblo-style buildings, Girard would live until his death in 1993. Here, he spent his most creative years in a 200-year-old adobe house, which he bought in 1953, lived in and used as a kind of "living laboratory". Over the forty years, Girard repeatedly redesigned his house, changing the interior design, home accessories and wall color. To this day, Girard's residence in Santa Fe is a unique artifact of creative living and pictures of it can be found in numerous architecture, interior design and fashion magazines. At the same time, Girard used his style as a template for a number of other projects, including the private residence of director Billy Wilder in Los Angeles in 1957.
Furniture manufacturer Herman Miller
While still in Michigan, Girard took over the management of the textile department at the American furniture manufacturer Herman Miller in the fall of 1951. The first textile collection for which he was responsible was launched a year later. This was followed by around 300 designs for wallpapers and fabrics of all kinds over a period of twenty years. The high-quality and hard-wearing decorative and poster fabrics are characterized by colour blocking and the combination of strong colors such as red, purple and orange - which was rather unusual at the time. Ethnic symbols, letters, classic patterns and simple geometric shapes such as squares, circles and triangles are also sometimes combined. Classic patterns such as "Pepita", "Checker" and "Minicheck" are still produced in part by the New York textile manufacturer "Maharam" and are still available today as yard goods and processed into home accessories.
During his time at Herman Miller, Girard worked with designers such as George Nelson and Ray and Charles Eames. Many of these encounters went beyond his work for Herman Miller. In 1957, for example, Girard supported the Eames couple in their production of a documentary film on the Mexican "Dia de los Muertos".
Collector of folk art
Alexander Girard and his wife Susan are fanatical collectors of ethnic folk art. This passion began in the late 1930s and only ended with Girard's death. On extensive travels through Central and South America and Asia, the Gerards collected well over 100,000 artifacts from around one hundred countries: Figurines, fabrics, jewelry, toys, decorative objects and much more, which they initially exhibited in their home in Santa Fe. In 1962, the Girards established the Girard Foundation for this collection, which, among other things, donated around 100,000 objects to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Girard designed a new museum wing especially for his collection, as the donation meant that the museum had quintupled its holdings in one fell swoop and therefore needed more space. The wing is opened in 1982 and displays around 10,000 objects from the Girard Collection.
Arts of India
In 1955, Girard arranged the exhibition "Textiles and Ornamental Arts of India" for the Museum of Modern Art in New York using souvenirs from a trip to India in 1954. The eye-catcher was a 17-meter-long water basin framed by twelve golden columns and covered with lengths of fabric. With 300,000 visitors, the exhibition was a success and the Indian government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru took notice of Girard. This was followed in 1965 by the traveling exhibition "Nehru: His Life and His India", commissioned by the Indian government to showcase modern India.
Murals and panels
In 1961, Herman Miller opens his "Textiles & Objects" store in New York. Girard is entrusted with the furnishing of the store and again presents his fabrics, decorative items and objects of folk art. Although the store remains open for only two years, Herman Miller and Girard reach a large audience thanks to a large number of press reports.
In 1962 and 1964, Girard installed three-dimensional murals, a form of wall painting, at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, now America's largest greeting card manufacturer, and at the agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere in Moline, Illinois. Girard equips an approximately 60-meter-long and three-meter-high glass display case with advertisements, photos, letters and other exhibits depicting the company's history since 1837. In 1965, Girard developed the corporate design for Braniff International Airways. Aircraft shells, interiors, lounges, furniture, playing cards, napkins - all of this bears Girard's signature. The uniforms of the stewardesses, designed by fashion designer Emilio Pucci in an astronaut look, attracted particular attention.
Finally, in 1971, Girard presented his so-called "Enviromental Enrichment Panels". These are a type of screen, elements covered with fabric that are intended to give certain areas of a room privacy. A year later, for Valentine's Day, the "Love Heart" design followed, which has enjoyed great popularity ever since.
Happy Honeymoon
During his time in New York, Alexander Girard met and fell in love with Susan Needham, three years his junior. The couple married in 1936 and had two children together, son Marshall and daughter Sansi (1945). Shortly after the wedding, the couple moved from New York to Detroit, where Girard initially got a job with interior designer Thomas A. Esling in 1937. In 1945, Girard opened a store in the Detroit suburb of Glosse Pointe, where he exhibited and sold decorative figurines and toy figures. From here, Girard realized several prestigious interior design projects and exhibitions: Canteen and housing for radio sets for the radio manufacturer "Deutrola" in Dearborn (1943), office furnishings for the Ford Motor Company also in Dearborn (1943), cafeteria for the Lincoln Motor Company in Detroit (1946). Girard also planned his first house in Detroit, which he moved into with his family in 1948. The following year, the exhibition For Modern Living at the Detroit Institute of Arts was a success with 150,000 visitors. Among other things, the Plywood Chairs by Ray and Charles Eames are shown here for the first time. In addition to the Eameses, George Nelson and Eero Saarinen developed a friendship.
The four elements
Girard finally found a permanent base for the rest of his life when he moved to Santa Fe. All the elements are alive in this place: the "crystal clear, fresh air" (element air), the hot sun and fires "that smell of incense" (element fire), the legendary Rio Grande (element water) and the ochre-colored soil and adobe houses (element earth). It was here, on New Year's Eve 1993, that Girard's journey ended when he died in his adopted home of Santa Fe. Three years later, in 1996, his wife Susan followed him.
What remains is his collection, some of his fabrics and home accessories and a quote that sums up Girard's motivation: "I believe we should preserve these testimonies of the past, not as a model for sentimental imitation, but as food for the creative spirit of the present."