Why is Ward Bennett’s Rich Minimalism so Exciting?

Why is Ward Bennett’s Rich Minimalism so Exciting? – The first and only monograph to celebrate Ward Bennett, the leading American interior and furniture designer.

Ward Bennett (1917-2003) was a leading American designer whose career spanned more than five decades. Born in New York, he left home at thirteen and got his start in the city’s garment district. He eventually left the fashion world and began to reinvent himself as the Ward Bennett we know today: designing architecture, interiors, furniture, textiles, and objects, all with his vision for simple form paired with elegant materials.

His reputation earned him some of the day’s most affluent clients: David Rockefeller and Chase Manhattan Bank, Gianni and Marella Agnelli, Tiffany & Co., and Rolling Stone magazine cofounders and publishers Jann and Jane Wenner, among others. Even after his death, his signature rich minimalism continues to be recognized and awarded. This, the first and only comprehensive monograph covering Bennett’s career, brings to life his work through previously unpublished materials, including an interview with Bennett.

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Elizabeth Beer and Brian Janusiak are principal partners of Various Projects, Inc., a multidisciplinary creative agency based in New York City.

Pilar Viladas writes about design and architecture. The former design editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, she is the author of several books, and has written for Architectural Digest, Town & Country, W, and Surface, among other publications.