Alexander Kostellow

Alexander Jusserand Kostellow (; – September 1, 1954) was an Iranian-born American industrial designer and educator. He is best known for his work developing the industrial design academic programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute. Kostellow also worked as a WPA-era muralist, painter, and in advertising.

Early life and career Alexander Jusserand Kostellow was born around 1897, in Isfahan, Qajar Iran (now Iran). When World War II broke out, Kostellow refused to join the German Nazi army, and fled the country through Holland.

Painting and mural career In 1922, Kostellow taught briefly at the Kansas City Art Institute, before the couple returned to New York City, where he continued to study, teach, and create art. While teaching at Carnegie, he continued to paint, exhibiting his work in the Museum of Modern Art and the 1934 Whitney Biennial. In 1933, his work was awarded a prize from the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. and the Somerset-Farm Scene (1941), oil on canvas in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Industrial design career Although Kostellow had been hired as a painting instructor at Carnegie, he had been heavily influenced by his time in construction and engineering, as well as Peter Behrens, whom he had studied under in Europe.

Along with John Vassos, Kostellow worked to formalize the industrial design program at Pratt and beyond in the early 1940s; he served on the education committee of the American Designers' Institute, which produced a template for four-year industrial design degrees in 1944.

In 1952, Kostellow established the Experimental Design Laboratory at Pratt, Following the death of her husband, Reed took over the position of chair of Pratt's Industrial Design department, where she would remain until 1966.