Designer
Ray Wilkes
Ray Wilkes was born in Surrey, England, and studied design at the Royal College of Art. He came to New York in the early 1960s on an RCA grant and joined George Nelson's office, later working full time for Herman Miller in Michigan.
Biography
Background
Ray Wilkes was born in Surrey, England, and studied design at the Royal College of Art. He came to New York in the early 1960s on an RCA grant and joined George Nelson's office, later working full time for Herman Miller in Michigan.
Signature Style
He designs for simplicity of form and of making: in his words, minimalism isn't just straight lines, and the most important thing is the form and the simplicity of making it.
Notable Works
The Wilkes Modular Sofa Group (1976), the Soft Seating of 1974 and the Rollback Chair of 1977, plus a coffee table made to complement the sofa group.
Legacy
After he left Herman Miller he consulted for companies in England, Europe and the United States, and his 1976 sofa group returned to production in 2021.