This book delves into the numerous facets of Eileen Gray and her career. It is a series of short essays from specialists in Eileen Gray, or those who met her, talking about her input into the design scene at the time and its legacy in the present. The book focuses on E 1027, one of her few architectural feats and the ‘many lives’ that interacted with the building.
Andrew’s contribution discusses his interview with Eileen Gray in Paris in 1973 when she was 93 years old. Andrew describes her as ‘shy, gentle and charming’. He was able to record the interview, and it is this document that has formed the basis of the film ‘In Conversation with Eileen Gray’ that has been shown at the Bard Graduate Centre in New York and at the Design Museum in London.
The essay touches on her earlier work designing rugs and furniture, then a recollection of the house and reference to Le Corbusier’s vandalism of the walls with painted frescos. The book is an ode to one of the greatest designers of the modernist movement and for many designers and architects, she is a great example of someone who challenged the status quo.
