Terence Conran: Making Modern Britain

This is the first exhibition in Japan to explore the figure of Terence Conran (1931-2020), whose belief in ‘Plain, Simple, Useful’ led to a major change in British lifestyle culture and helped trigger a design boom. Conran began his career as a pattern designer of textiles and tableware soon after the war. In the 1960s, he demonstrated his entrepreneurial skills by establishing the innovative ‘Habitat’ chain of home styling shops. The concept of select shops at The Conran Shop, which he developed in the 1970s, radically changed the global design market, including Japan.

Other projects he was involved in included furniture and other product design, book publishing and an urban renewal project that transformed a disused warehouse district in London. He also ventured into the restaurant business and was involved in more than 50 restaurants, from casual cafés to fine dining. He helped to establish a new cooking style 'Modern British' in British food culture. Another of his major achievements was the establishment of the world's first design museum in 1989.

This exhibition showcases more than 300 items, including early products such as pattern-designed tableware and textiles, maquettes for furniture design, items for shops and restaurants, favourite items that were also the source of inspiration, books, photographs and films, to reveal a variety of Conran's portrait.

The way that design can enhance our lives has always been of the highest importance to me.
―Terence Conran, My Life in Design

• 1. Terence Conran's Designer Beginnings
• 2. Retail Expansion: From Habitat to The Conran Shop
• 3. Conran as Restaurateur
• 4. Barton Court, a Country Home in Berkshire
• 5. The Joy of Craft: Benchmark and Product Design
• 6. Regenerating Architecture and Urban Areas
• 7. Projects in Japan
• 8. Looking Ahead

Born in Esher, Surrey, south-west London. He was exposed to the philosophies of the Arts and Crafts movement and the Bauhaus school, and studied textile design under Eduardo Paolozzi at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central Saint Martins). While taking on pattern design commissions for textile and tableware, he became interested in entrepreneurship and ran successful lifestyle shops 'Habitat' and 'The Conran Shop'. He succeeded also as a restauranteur, publisher and urban developer. In 1989, he established the Design Museum in London to encourage design and contribute to society. In 1983, he was knighted for his services to British design, and became Sir Terence. This year marks 30 years since the first landing of The Conran Shop in Japan.