Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Beogram Memories

In this month's Belle, in an interview with designer Jasper Morrison, responsible for items like this:



(chair for Cappellini) 


and this:

(part of the Crate series)

he reveals the following in response to the question about how his uncle's study inspired his design aesthetic:

'Flashback to the year 1964 in a foggy wet England and imagine a young boy, suffocating from the over upholstered interiors of the typical English home, suddenly finding himself in a room with plenty of daylight, wooden floors, white rugs, modern Danish furniture and a record player designed by Dieter Rams and you'll understand why the first experience of that room made such an impression on me.  The atmosphere of that room changed my whole attitude to life, if a 5 year old can have an attitude to life.  I understood that design could bring about these powerful changes of atmosphere that could lift the spirity and make life more rich and that's why I decided to become a designer.' 

(A record player designed by Dieter Rams looks like this:




When I was little I spent a lot of time in my parents library room, which was filled with shelves of books like this:


and this:



but the best thing about that room was this record player owned by my parents:



(Bang and Olufsen Beogram 3400, in production from 1975 - 1979)


This man certainly got a good airing on this record player.  I guess sleepless nights as a 7 year old are okay if you have to listen to Neil. 



The Beogram was the first truly modern thing I can remember seeing.   I couldn't believe its smooth silveryness.  And the turntable was not just black rubber, but an optical illusion of black and silver circles.    It didn't turn me into a world famous designer, but it certainly made me love all things modern and clean lined.   

(Image of Beogram from beophile.com) 

8 comments:

Cath @ chunkychooky said...

love love love that chair. one day. maybe.

Pinecone Camp said...

Oh, that chair is beautiful. So simple yet stunning.
My husband has a turntable in his "music" room - I love it. Your parents sound pretty cool. I can just hear Neil now ;)
By the way, do try yo-yos. The first time I tried them was in your fabulous country. Dee-licious.

brismod said...

How gorgeous is that record player! Love it.

Amanda (Small Acorns) said...

I think my parents were channelling your parents. Same turntable and same Neil! Except on a Sunday when Bach's toccata and fugue on the organ was played at full blast, because that was my father's warped sense of humour to wake me up. I think fondly of Neil. Not so of Bach.

jane said...

we have a b and o stereo and phone. we got them years ago, but they never seem to lose there style. i´m a huge fan... big hugs jane in australia!

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

Dear Jane,
His style has come right back, hasn't it ? I feel that he was a little before his time and designed some beautiful innovative items. XXXX

Laura said...

That record player is incredible! We actually just got one as my beloved has turned into one of those vinyl-loving hipsters apparently, but it is not nearly so stylish.

Julie@beingRUBY said...

Hi Jane
Well we had Neil in our house also.. haha.. but our record player wasn't anywhere near as flash... very basic budget in our house growing up... funny though... i think my mum would have loved these designs... thinking back she really liked streamlined non-fussy things....

Hope you're having a great week... it finally stopped raining here... a bit.. xxx Julie

Related Posts with Thumbnails