David Whitfield Lewis (19 February 1939 – 8 November 2011) was a British industrial designer. He is best known for his work for Bang & Olufsen. He was a distinguished member of Royal Designers for Industry. Several of the products he designed are included in the MoMA permanent collection of design.
Contents
Life
David Whitfield Lewis was born in London. He wanted to become a furniture designer, but the class at London's Central School of Art and Design was full. So instead, he decided on education as an industrial designer. He had a keen interest in Danish design and architecture.
He met a Danish au pair, who would later become his wife. The couple moved to Denmark in the 1960s.
Design
Lewis founded David Lewis Designers in Copenhagen, and from this studio, would design a range of products. In the early 1980s, Bang & Olufsen made David Lewis their chief designer. This freelance relationship resulted in numerous international designs. Lewis showed creativity in the projects. His colleagues said he was known for looking at problems differently and searching for new ideas. He worked hard to challenge traditional ways of doing things and to find new methods in his field.
Selected products
Beocenter 2200 (1983), Hi-Fi system
Beovision MX 2000 (1985), TV designed like a monitor. ID Award in 1986
Beolink 1000 (1985), Remote control. ID Award 1986
Beovox Red Line (1985), Loudspeaker
Beovision LX 2800 (1986), TV
Beosound Ouverture (1991), Hi-fi system that presented inserted CDs upright
Beolab 6000 (1992), loudspeaker. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993
Beolab 8000 (1992), loudspeaker looking similar to an organ pipe. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993
Beosound Century (1993), Hi-Fi upright standing. Awards: ID 1994, Good Design Japan 1994
Beolab LCS 9000 (1993), Active loudspeaker Award: Good Design Japan 1994
Beo 4 (1994), a very slender remote control
BeoVision Avant (1995), TV with video tape
BeoLink Passive (1995), amplifier
Beosound 9000 (1996), the iconic "6 CDs in a row" Hi-fi system
Beocenter AV 5 (1997), TV with a radio and CD player
BeoLab 4000 (1997), active loudspeaker. Awards: IF 1998, Good Design Japan 1998
Awards
David Lewis is currently represented with three Bang & Olufsen products in the permanent design collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He received several other awards and prizes:
2007: Honorary fellow, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects
2003: Danish Design Council Annual Prize
2002: Knight of the Dannebrog, Denmark
1995: Royal Designer for Industry, London
1994: The Danish ID prize
1994: The Japanese G-mark Design Award
1993: The Japanese G-mark Design Award
1992: The Japanese G-mark Prix
1991: The Japanese G-mark Design Award
1990: The Danish ID prize
1990: The Japanese G-mark Design Award
1989: The Japanese G-mark Design Award
1982: The Danish ID prize
1976: The Danish ID prize