David Lewis

David Whitfield Lewis (19 February 1939 – 8 November 2011) was a British industrial designer. He is best known for his work for Bang & Olufsen. He was a distinguished member of Royal Designers for Industry. Several of the products he designed are included in the MoMA permanent collection of design.

Life

David Whitfield Lewis was born in London. He wanted to become a furniture designer, but the class at London's Central School of Art and Design was full. So instead, he decided on education as an industrial designer. He had a keen interest in Danish design and architecture.

He met a Danish au pair, who would later become his wife. The couple moved to Denmark in the 1960s.

Design

Lewis founded David Lewis Designers in Copenhagen, and from this studio, would design a range of products. In the early 1980s, Bang & Olufsen made David Lewis their chief designer. This freelance relationship resulted in numerous international designs. Lewis showed creativity in the projects. His colleagues said he was known for looking at problems differently and searching for new ideas. He worked hard to challenge traditional ways of doing things and to find new methods in his field.

Selected products Beocenter 2200 (1983), Hi-Fi system Beovision MX 2000 (1985), TV designed like a monitor. ID Award in 1986 Beolink 1000 (1985), Remote control. ID Award 1986 Beovox Red Line (1985), Loudspeaker Beovision LX 2800 (1986), TV Beosound Ouverture (1991), Hi-fi system that presented inserted CDs upright Beolab 6000 (1992), loudspeaker. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993 Beolab 8000 (1992), loudspeaker looking similar to an organ pipe. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993 Beosound Century (1993), Hi-Fi upright standing. Awards: ID 1994, Good Design Japan 1994 Beolab LCS 9000 (1993), Active loudspeaker Award: Good Design Japan 1994 Beo 4 (1994), a very slender remote control BeoVision Avant (1995), TV with video tape BeoLink Passive (1995), amplifier Beosound 9000 (1996), the iconic "6 CDs in a row" Hi-fi system Beocenter AV 5 (1997), TV with a radio and CD player BeoLab 4000 (1997), active loudspeaker. Awards: IF 1998, Good Design Japan 1998 Beovision 1 (1999), TV Beolab 1 (1999), active loudspeaker. Beocenter 6 (2003), free standing television on a stand with an iconic silhouette Beosound 3 (2006-2012) Beosound 8 (2010), dedicated iPod speakers Serenata, mobile telephone with loudspeaker

Awards David Lewis is currently represented with three Bang & Olufsen products in the permanent design collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He received several other awards and prizes:

2007: Honorary fellow, RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects 2003: Danish Design Council Annual Prize 2002: Knight of the Dannebrog, Denmark 1995: Royal Designer for Industry, London 1994: The Danish ID prize 1994: The Japanese G-mark Design Award 1993: The Japanese G-mark Design Award 1992: The Japanese G-mark Prix 1991: The Japanese G-mark Design Award 1990: The Danish ID prize 1990: The Japanese G-mark Design Award 1989: The Japanese G-mark Design Award 1982: The Danish ID prize 1976: The Danish ID prize