American architect and designer Alexander Girard was born in New York in 1907 and raised in Florence. He trained in architecture in London and Rome, and returned to the United States to practise in New York and Detroit, before settling in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1953.
Girard is renowned for bringing colour, pattern and folk art into American Modernism. From 1952 he led Herman Miller’s textile division, producing joyous fabrics at a time of restraint. His interiors for the Miller House in Columbus, Indiana, with Eero Saarinen, and the La Fonda del Sol restaurant in New York, are remembered for their total vision. His playful Wooden Dolls, designed for his own home, are now made by Vitra, and Knoll produces a coffee table of his.
Girard died in 1993. His huge folk art collection is held by the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, and his love of ornament has only grown in influence.
Alexander Girard (1907–1993) was an American architect and designer, raised in Florence and later based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Alexander Girard is known for textiles for Herman Miller, the Miller House interiors, La Fonda del Sol in New York and the Wooden Dolls made by Vitra.
Alexander Girard brought colour and folk art into American Modernism. His collection is held in Santa Fe, and his love of ornament has grown in influence.
est living features two designs by Alexander Girard, from Vitra. Browse them on this page, where each product links to where you can buy it or enquire.
