Compact Design Portfolio: Eileen Gray

Contemporary design used to be an elitist subject. Despite the crusading populist idealism of the early Modernists, it never catapulted to the masses. Until now. Each book in the Design Briefs series contains short essays, penned by stylish writers with real knowledge and fresh enthusiasm on the subject. The essays address the designer's life, work, and influence, and are followed by numerous pages of illustrations for ongoing reference. Design Briefs: Eileen Gray covers a key pioneer of modernism. She was also one of the first women to be taught at the Slade School of Art in London. In 1902, she moved to Paris where she began her artistic career producing lacquerware. She applied numerous coats of lacquer to re-create folding screens, panels, furniture, bowls and plates, and even discovered new colors for her Japanese-style domestic objects. She also set standards in the use of neon light with her Prophetic lights, while her houses E-1027 and Tempe a Pailla in the South of France were considered futuristic for the time. Gray's initial passion for precious furnishings gave way to a more sober functionalism. She experimented with tubular steel, and she designed chairs and tables in chrome and glass, which still look very modern today.

Penelope Rowlands has written for several magazines, including Architectural Digest and Vogue, and her work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in Northern California. Penelope is also the author of Weekend Houses (0-8118-2543-4).

Raul Cabra is the principal of Cabra Diseno, a San Francisco design firm.

Marisa Bartolucci is former executive editor of Metropolis magazine and the author of several critically acclaimed design books. She lives in New York City.