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Kenneth Grange

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Kenneth Grange in October 2016 with an InterCity 125 power car, the nose cone for which he designed in the 1970s.

Sir Kenneth Henry Grange CBE PPCSD RDI (17 July 1929 – 21 July 2024) was a British industrial designer, renowned for a wide range of designs for familiar, everyday objects.

Early life

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Kenneth Henry Grange was born on 17 July 1929, in east London.[1] His mother, Hilda (née Long), was a machinist and his father, Harry, a policeman.[2] The family moved to Wembley, north London at the outbreak of the second world war, where his father was bomb disposal officer. Following the move, Grange changed schools from a fee-paying school (where he had a scholarship) in the City of London offering a classical education, to one where "making and creativity" were prioritised and, in 1944, he attended the Willesden School of Arts and Crafts, being awarded a scholarship to study commercial art; lettering and drawing.[2][3][4]

Grange's father was a banjo player in the Metropolitan Police minstrel band and Kenneth, who had developed a keen interest in jazz and big-band music, went dancing weekly at the Town Hall in Wembley.[3] His father, after retiring from the police force, took a job with a brewery and the family moved to Marylebone and then Elephant and Castle.[5]

During National Service, between 1948 and 1949, Grange was posted in the Royal Engineers as a technical illustrator producing instruction manuals.[3] He also worked as a scene painter for the BBC at Alexandra Palace.[3][6]

Career

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Grange's career began in the early 1950s, where he worked as an assistant to a series of architects; Arcon; Bronek Katz and R Vaughan; Gordon and Ursula Bowyer; and, from 1952, he took on a role as a drafting assistant with the architect Jack Howe.[3][6][7] In 1951, Grange took part in the Festival of Britain, while working for Gordon and Ursula Bowyer on the Sports Pavilion for the South Bank exhibition. [7]

In 1956, Grange set up his own design consultancy, with many of his early commissions coming from the Council of Industrial Design, such as, in 1958, a design for Britain’s first parking meter, the Venner.[7] Then in 1972, Grange, along with Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Theo Crosby and Mervyn Kurlansky, was a founding partner in Pentagram, an interdisciplinary design consultancy.[7][8]

Grange's career spanned more than half a century, and many of his designs became – and are still – familiar items in the household or on the street. These designs include the first UK parking meters for Venner, in 1958, kettles and food mixers for Kenwood, razors for Wilkinson Sword, cameras for Kodak, typewriters for Imperial, clothes irons for Morphy Richards, cigarette lighters for Ronson, washing machines for Bendix, pens for Parker, Reuters computers, and regional Royal Mail postboxes.[9]

In 1968, Grange was also responsible for the aerodynamics, interior layout and exterior styling of the nose cone of British Rail's High Speed Train, the InterCity 125.[10] Having initially only been commissioned to redesign the paintwork, he presented a restyled exterior design to the British Rail board, who accepted the more efficient design, and, following production, was launched in 1976.[6]

In 1993, he designed the Adshel bus shelter.[3] Grange was also involved in the design of the 1997 LTI TX1 version of the famous London taxicab.[11] He carried out many commissions for Japanese companies.[12]

One quality of much of Grange's design work is that it is not based on just the styling of a product. His design concepts arise from a fundamental reassessment of the purpose, function and use of the product. He also said that his attitude to designing any product was that he wanted it to be "a pleasure to use".[13]

Kenneth Grange's Kodak Instamatic camera (c. 1963)

After retiring from Pentagram in 1997, Grange continued to work independently. This work included door handles for Ize Ltd., desk and floor lamps for Anglepoise,[14] and a chair for the elderly for Hitch Mylius.[15]

From 2005, Grange had been a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art.[16]

Almost 40 years later, the first production HST power car, 43 002, was repainted by Great Western Railway in the original British Rail Inter-City livery and named in honour of Grange. The train was revealed, by Grange, on 2 May 2016 at St Philip's Marsh GWR HST depot in Bristol, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first passenger services of the Intercity 125.[17] Grange later visited York in October 2016, and 'signed' power car 43 185 using spray paint.[18]

Personal life and death

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Grange married Assunta Santella in 1952 and Philippa Algeo in 1971.[3] Both marriages ended in divorce.[7] In 1984, Grange married Apryl Swift in London.[3]

Grange bought his home in Hampstead, north London in 1969, previously living in Highgate.[5] In 1997, after retirement from Pentegram, he bought and spent the next five years renovating a stone-built barn in Coryton, Devon into a home.[7] He shared his time between Devon and London, commuting weekly.[6][7][19]

In an interview with The Times in 2020, Grange was asked what his most curious design was. He answered: "My coffin. When my mother died, we had to choose from a photo album of coffins. I couldn't leave Apryl to bury me in one of them, so I made my own. And that's what we've got standing in the hall in Devon, serving as a bookcase until I go."[5]

Grange died on 21 July 2024, at the age of 95.[20] He was survived by his wife, Apryl.[21]

Honours

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Grange was awarded CBE in 1984[3] and knighted for services to design in the 2013 New Year Honours.[22][23] Grange's designs won ten Design Council Awards, the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 1963, and in 2001 he was awarded the Prince Philip Designers Prize[24] – an award honouring a lifetime achievement. He won the Gold Medal of the Chartered Society of Designers, and in 1986 was made a member of the Royal Society of Arts' élite Faculty of 'Royal Designers for Industry'.[7] Grange was awarded honorary Doctorates by the Royal College of Art,[7] De Montfort University, Plymouth University,[25] Heriot-Watt University, and the Open University.[12]

Grange was the Honorary President of the 125 Group which aims to preserve operational examples of the subsequent production HST vehicles.[26] The very first HST, number 43002, was renamed as "Sir Kenneth Grange" in 2016 and was subsequently given to the National Railway Museum Collection in York, in September 2019 after withdrawal from service and went on permanent display in the Great Hall.[26][27]

The Design Museum held a major retrospective exhibition of Grange's work, July–October 2011.[28] The RSA has an audio recording of Grange in a discussion of his work.[29]

In media

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In April 2022, Grange was featured in the BBC Two series Secrets of the Museum.[30]

He co-wrote two books, Living by Design and The Compendium and wrote the foreword to 125 – The Enduring Icon, Kenwood: The Ultimate Guide To Kitchen Tech: Part One: 1947–1976 and The Industrial Resolution: New thinking on closed loop product design and manufacturing.[2]

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Selected products designed by Kenneth Grange
  • Bantam Post Box, 1999.
    Bantam Post Box, 1999.
  • Kenwood Chef model A701a, 1960. This version from 1981.
    Kenwood Chef model A701a, 1960. This version from 1981.
  • The London-Taxi LTI TX4, built in 2007.
    The London-Taxi LTI TX4, built in 2007.
  • High Speed Train 125 (HST 125) power car 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange, 'Steam' museum, Swindon.
    High Speed Train 125 (HST 125) power car 43002 Sir Kenneth Grange, 'Steam' museum, Swindon.
  • Photo camera. Kodak, Brownie 44A.
    Photo camera. Kodak, Brownie 44A.

References

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  1. ^ "People of Today Index, People of Today, People | Debrett's". Debretts.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Times, The (24 July 2024). "Sir Kenneth Grange obituary: industrial designer". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Obituaries, Telegraph (23 July 2024). "Sir Kenneth Grange, doyen of industrial designers who ranged from Kenwood mixers to the InterCity 125 – obituary". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Kenneth Grange the Hampstead designer who finds beauty in the useful". Ham & High. 8 August 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Burroughs, Katrina (23 July 2024). "Sir Kenneth Grange interview: "I designed my coffin. It's standing in the hall"". www.thetimes.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Cooke, Rachel (16 July 2011). "Kenneth Grange: half a century at the forefront of British design". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i MacCarthy, Fiona (26 July 2024). "Sir Kenneth Grange obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  8. ^ Cross, N (2001) "Achieving Pleasure From Purpose: the methods of Kenneth Grange, product designer", The Design Journal Archived 17 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 48–58.
  9. ^ Kenneth Grange at the Boilerhouse: An Exhibition of British Product Design, The Conran Foundation/Boilerhouse Project (V&A Museum), London, 1983.
  10. ^ Julian May "The 125 at 30" Archived 21 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 15 September 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  11. ^ "Kenneth Grange's greatest hits – in pictures". The Guardian. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Variset W 75". V&A. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  13. ^ Cross, N (2011). Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work, Berg, Oxford and New York, chapter 3.
  14. ^ "Sir Kenneth Grange". Anglepoise. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Kenneth Grange".
  16. ^ "Glasgow School of Art: Archives & Collections". gsaarchives.net. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  17. ^ "43002 Livery Unvailing @ SPM Open Day 02-05-16". YouTube. 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Sir Kenneth Grange 'signing' 43185... Almost". YouTube. 2 October 2016. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  19. ^ inFeatures, Hugo Macdonald published Contributions from Jonathan Bell (23 July 2024). "We remember Kenneth Grange, the British industrial designer, who has died aged 95". wallpaper.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Sir Kenneth Grange obituary: industrial designer". The Times. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  21. ^ "In Memory of Sir Kenneth Grange, 1929–2024". Archived from the original on 22 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Knights Bachelor" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 29 December 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  23. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 1.
  24. ^ Prince Philip Designers Prize Archived 21 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Design Council
  25. ^ "Renowned designer shares his expertise". Plymouth Unversity. 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Tribute to Sir Kenneth Grange". Rail Business Daily. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Intercity 125:Sir Kenneth Grange". National Railway Museum. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  28. ^ The Design Museum (2011) Kenneth Grange: Making Britain Modern, Black Dog Publishing, London.
  29. ^ [1] Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ "Secrets of the Museum".
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