Oct 15 2021
Episode 4: Carl Gustav Magnusson
In this episode of The ICFF Podcast, associate content editor Meghan Dwyer sits down with Carl Gustav Magnusson to discuss the industrial designer's acclaimed career, which spans studying under Charles and Ray Eames to a three-decade career as director of global design for Knoll. Recognized as one of the most acclaimed industrial designers, Swedish born and educated in architecture, Magnusson has dedicated his career to the profession of design. During his time at the Eames Office, Magnusson worked on projects ranging from the IBM Mathematica exhibit to the Eames Chaise, after which he opened his own studio in Rudolf Schindler's House in LA. At Knoll, as director of global design in the USA and Europe for three decades, Magnusson commissioned designers such as Richard Sapper, Ettore Sottsass, Mia Linn, Ross Lovegrove, and Frank Gehry. Magnusson established the Knoll Design Symposium at Cranbrook Academy and co-founded The Knoll Museum. His New York-based firm, CGM Design has created products for Knoll, Spinneybeck, Teknion, MoMA, BMW, and the City of St. Moritz. CGM Design has won 40 plus design awards since 2005. Magnusson has written on design, book chapters, and magazine articles, and photographed for Domus. He has lectured at universities and museums such as Yale and Neue Pinakothek, Munich; and curated exhibits for BMW in Stuttgart and Berlin. Magnusson serves as a board member of The Bertoia Foundation and Madworkshop.