David Whitfield Lewis was a British industrial designer. He is best known for his work for Bang & Olufsen. He was a distinguished member of Royal Designers for Industry. Several of the products he designed are included in the MoMA permanent collection of design.
Life
David Whitfield Lewis was born in London. He wanted to become a furniture designer, but the class at London’s Central School of Art and Design was full. So instead he decided on an education as an industrial designer. He had a keen interest in Danish design and architecture. He met a Danish au pair, who would later become his wife. The couple moved to Denmark in the 1960s.
Design
Lewis founded David Lewis Designers in Copenhagen, and from this studio he would live to design an impressive range of products. In the early 1980s, Bang & Olufsen made David Lewis their chief designer. This unique freelance relationship resulted in numerous international design icons. Lewis was the man of the studio, with his sparkling creativity and vitality always very involved with projects. His fellow claim that he had the ability to turn things upside down and chase the yet unseen. He brought a tireless desire to change the conventions and to go new ways. 'He never asked “Why?” but always “Why not?”'
Selected Products
Beocenter 2200, Hi-Fi system
Beovision MX 2000, TV designed like a monitor. ID Award in 1986
Beolink 1000, Remote control. ID Award 1986
Beovox Red Line, Loudspeaker
Beovision LX 2800, TV
Beosound Ouverture, Hi-fi system that presented inserted CDs upright
Beolab 6000, loudspeaker. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993
Beolab 8000, loudspeaker looking similar to an organ pipe. Awards: MOMA 1993, IF 1993
Beosound Century, Hi-Fi upright standing. Awards: ID 1994, Good Design Japan 1994
Beolab LCS 9000, Active loudspeaker Award: Good Design Japan 1994
Beosound 9000, the iconic "6 CDs in a row" Hi-fi system
Beocenter AV 5, TV with a radio and CD player
BeoLab 4000, active loudspeaker. Awards: IF 1998, Good Design Japan 1998
Beovision 1, TV
Beolab 1, active loudspeaker.
Beocenter 6, free standing television on a stand with an iconic silhouette
Beosound 8, dedicated iPod speakers
Awards
David Lewis is currently represented with three Bang & Olufsen products in the permanent design collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He received several other awards and prizes:
