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Design Research Unit Exhibition

Formed in London in 1942, the Design Research Unit was responsible for some of the most important design produced in post-war Britain. It pioneered a model for group practice, being the first consultancy in the country to bring together expertise in architecture, graphics and industrial design. By the 1970s it was one of the largest and most established design offices in Europe.

The exhibition is the first of its kind, mapping the history of the group and the impact of their designs. It identifies key examples of their work and documents an approach that was shaped by inter-war developments in artistic discourse and post war trends in industry and communication; in particular the accelerated demand for corporate design.

Initially under the charge of the poet and art critic Herbert Read and operating from the offices shared with Mass Observation, the Design Research Unit was founded by advertising entrepreneur Marcus Brumwell with designers Misha Black and Milner Gray. Following Read’s essay, Art and Industry (1934) and the literature of International Constructivism the group outlined intent to combine creative intelligence with technical research into materials and markets, seeking to bring ‘artists and designers into productive relation with scientists and technologists.’

Dome of Discovery exhibition, Festival of Britian, Southbank Exhibition, showing the 'Outer Space' and 'Sky' sections 1951 (photograph: Millar and Harris, courtesy of Scott Brownrigg)

The exhibition spans more than four decades of the group's work, focusing on some of their most significant projects and charting their ambition to bring elegant and functional design to all sections of society. It will cover three phases of activity; the group’s early origins and founder members, initial work in exhibition design and the Unit’s role in devising some of the first and most comprehensive corporate design schemes commissioned for British industry.

Highlights of the exhibition include: Documentation of an initiative to commission the sculptor Naum Gabo to design the body and interior of a car for Bradford-based company, Jowett (1943). The exhibition also features photographs relating to exhibitions for the wartime Ministry of Information, the Council of Industrial Design’s Britain Can Make It (1946) and their major contribution to the Festival of Britain (1951).

There is also substantial material relating to experimental work for the Watney Mann brewery that resulted in a total scheme to ‘update’ traditional English public houses (from beer bottles to interior furnishings). Other iconic corporate identities include their work for British Rail (1965), the London Transport network, photographic company Ilford and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).

The exhibition also features the Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers extension for the Design Research Unit's Aybrook Street offices, that Richard and Su Rogers began working on whilst they were associates of the Design Research Unit (1967 – 71).

Corporate Identity Programme for Watney Mann Limited, Ponsford Arms, London NW5, c. 1961 (photograph: Alexander Gibson, courtesy of Scott Brownrigg).

The Design Research Unit became part of the architectural practice, Scott Brownrigg in 2004 and this exhibition and forthcoming publication is realised with their support. The exhibition is based on original research to be published within a new book designed by APFEL – A Practice For Everyday Life and published by Koenig Books later this year.

Design Research Unit: 1942-72 is a Cubitt Gallery touring exhibition, curated by Michelle Cotton.

City of Westminster street name plate, designed by Misha Black, 1968 (photograph: Christopher Ridley, courtesy of Scott Brownrigg).

Main Image: Watney public house interior (photograph: John Maltby, courtesy of Scott Brownrigg).