Serge Chermayeff facts for kids

Serge Ivan Chermayeff (born Sergei Ivanovich Issakovich) was a famous architect, industrial designer, and writer. He was born in Russia but became a British citizen. He also helped start important groups like the American Society of Planners and Architects. Serge Chermayeff lived from 1900 to 1996.

The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea

Early Life and Education

Serge Chermayeff was born into a wealthy family in Grozny, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time. Today, Grozny is in the Chechen Republic in Russia.

When he was young, his family moved to England. There, he went to several schools, including Peterborough Lodge Preparatory School, the Royal Drawing Society School, and Harrow School.

Training and First Jobs

From 1922 to 1925, Serge Chermayeff studied at different schools in Germany, Austria, France, and the Netherlands. To support himself during this time, he worked as a journalist.

Later, he became the chief designer for a company called E. Williams, which decorated homes and buildings. In 1928, he officially became a British citizen. That same year, he and a French designer named Paul Follot took charge of the decorative arts section at a large store called Waring & Gillow.

Becoming an Architect

After working in architecture for three years, Serge Chermayeff teamed up with a German architect named Erich Mendelsohn in 1933. They started their own architecture firm together.

They designed important buildings in Britain using a style called modernist architecture. This style focused on clean lines, simple shapes, and new materials like steel and glass.

Some of their famous buildings include:

• The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, East Sussex.
• Cohen House in London.
• Shrubs Wood in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire.

Serge Chermayeff also designed Shann House in Rugby and Gilbey House in Camden. Gilbey House was an office and factory for a company that made gin.

These buildings are now known as Listed Buildings. This means they are important historical buildings that are protected. The De La Warr Pavilion is Grade I, which is the highest level of protection. Cohen House, Shann House, and Shrubs Wood are Grade II*, and Gilbey House is Grade II.

Chermayeff also designed Bentley Wood, a modernist house in the countryside of Sussex, which was finished in 1938. In the 1930s, he also designed radio cabinets made from a type of plastic called bakelite for a British company called EKCO.

Moving to the United States

In 1940, Serge Chermayeff moved to the United States. He worked with architect Clarence W. W. Mayhew and helped design Mayhew's own home.

Chermayeff taught at the California School of Fine Arts for a couple of years. Then, he moved to Brooklyn College, where he led the design department until 1946. From 1941 until he passed away, he lived in Wellfleet, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.

In 1946, a famous architect named Walter Gropius suggested that Chermayeff become the president of the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago. There, he was a close friend and mentor to Robert Brownjohn. From 1949, he helped the Institute merge with the Illinois Institute of Technology before he left in 1951.

After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a year, he became a professor and led the architecture department at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1953-1962). He then taught at the Yale University School of Architecture (1962-1971). Even after he retired, he briefly taught at Harvard again in 1974.

Books and Awards

Serge Chermayeff wrote several books about architecture and community design. These include Community and Privacy with Christopher Alexander in 1964, and The Shape of Community with Alexander Tzonis in 1971.

He passed away in 1996 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. His architectural drawings, project records, photos, letters, teaching papers, and research files are kept at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.

In 1980, he received the Sir Misha Black award and was added to the College of Medallists.

His Family

Serge Chermayeff's family continued his legacy in design and architecture:

• His son, Ivan Chermayeff, was a well-known graphic designer. He helped start a design studio in New York called Chermayeff & Geismar.
• Another son, Peter Chermayeff, is also a famous architect. He is best known for designing aquariums. He was a founding partner at Cambridge Seven Associates and later at other firms, and now runs Peter Chermayeff LLC.
• His grandson, Sam Chermayeff, is an architect and furniture designer who works in Berlin.

See also

In Spanish: Serge Chermayeff para niños