The Thousands

That commonplace ‘what do you do?’ question can be as tedious to answer as job titles can be ill-fitting and unnecessary. Alexander Girard is a perfect example. A renaissance man (or someone with a serious case of attention deficit) throughout the 50s and 60s, Alexander Girard worked in everything from interior design, curation and architecture to designing textiles, radios, kitchenware, graphics, corporate logos and a lot of other stuff. For businesses and individuals, he was a one-stop re-branding shop.

I first saw Girard’s work when my boyfriend and I toured the mid-century modern Miller House (AMAZING), for which Girard selected and custom-made a mind-boggling array of items. The Miller House is just one knockout featured in Alexander Girard alongside memorable designs for Braniff Airlines, NYC’s La Fonda Del Sol restaurant and many, many more.

As well as a prolific designer, Girard was a passionate collector, and some of his extensive collections (which have been exhibited occasionally) are included herein. My only problem with this book is it’s so big that it’s kind of hard to carry and to read on your lap. I’d say it weighs as much as a large pumpkin, a small pitbull or a car engine. So, sit at a table. Or better yet, design a special table to put it on. That’s what Girard would have done.