Walter Dorwin Teague
Encyclopedia
Walter Dorwin Teague was an American
architect
, designer and one of the most prolific American industrial designers in terms of volume of completed work. Teague's name and vision lives on through the legacy of his company
.
, the son of a Methodist
minister, and left for New York City in 1902. For five years he painted signs and drew for mail-order catalogues while he attended the Art Students League of New York
at night with the idea of pursuing a career in magazine illustration. He then joined the art department of Calkins and Holden
and produced commercial magazine illustration. In 1926, while in Europe, he discovered the work of Le Corbusier
and decided to design or restyle products for manufacturers. Returning to New York, he joined a group of individuals interested in establishing industrial design as a separate occupation.
In 1927, he was contracted by Eastman Kodak
to design camera
s. Kodak would remain his client for 30 years. Between 1934 and 1937 Teague designed several models of streamlined
Texaco
gas stations, and the company had built 500 of these buildings by 1940. These porcelain
-clad Texaco stations became an Art Deco
icon of war-era America, as much as the original Polaroid
Land Camera
. Over 20,000 of the stations had been built worldwide by 1960.
His company's work with Boeing
began in 1946 with the design of the Stratocruiser's passenger aircraft interior. This relationship with Boeing has lasted more than 60 years with Teague's Aviation Studios work on every Boeing aircraft including the 707
, 737
, 747
, 777
and 787.
Teague's son, Walter Dorwin Teague, Jr. (1910–2004), joined his father's firm in 1934. Together they made contributions to many basic industrial and consumer products, including the A.B. Dick Mimeograph to Cold War
missiles like the Lark and Loki. Teague's son won an award from the Industrial Designers Institute for a fully reclinable dentist's chair, which allowed dentists to sit while working on patients. His firm's Steinway
Peace Piano, built for the 1939 New York World's Fair
, is now at the Smithsonian.
Teague's architecture
work included the Texaco exhibition hall at the 1935 Texas Centennial Exposition
in Dallas, Texas
, the Ford
pavilion for the California Pacific International Exposition (1935)
in Balboa Park in San Diego, structures in the Soviet Union
for the United States Information Agency
, and the 1961 Civil War Centennial Dome
in Richmond, Virginia
. In 1940 he articulated his own view of the industrial design profession, Design This Day.
, which remains an important industrial design
consultancy. Based in Seattle, Washington, Teague has worked with clients such as Hewlett-Packard
, Microsoft
and Boeing
.
Teague's product designs are in major museums around the world including the Wolfsonian and Cooper-Hewitt. In Virginia Roanoke
’s Art Museum of Western Virginia
held an exhibition, sponsored by Norfolk Southern, that included the firm’s work.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, designer and one of the most prolific American industrial designers in terms of volume of completed work. Teague's name and vision lives on through the legacy of his company
Teague (company)
Teague is a design consultancy headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1926 by industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. Rooted in the discipline of industrial design, the company’s offering has evolved over the past eight decades to include interaction design, mechanical design and...
.
Biography
Teague was raised in Pendleton, IndianaPendleton, Indiana
Pendleton is a town in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the son of a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
minister, and left for New York City in 1902. For five years he painted signs and drew for mail-order catalogues while he attended the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
at night with the idea of pursuing a career in magazine illustration. He then joined the art department of Calkins and Holden
Earnest Elmo Calkins
Earnest Elmo Calkins was an American advertising executive who co-founded the Calkins and Holden advertising agency. He pioneered the use of art in advertising, of fictional characters, the soft sell, and the idea of "consumer engineering"...
and produced commercial magazine illustration. In 1926, while in Europe, he discovered the work of Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
and decided to design or restyle products for manufacturers. Returning to New York, he joined a group of individuals interested in establishing industrial design as a separate occupation.
In 1927, he was contracted by Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
to design camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
s. Kodak would remain his client for 30 years. Between 1934 and 1937 Teague designed several models of streamlined
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
gas stations, and the company had built 500 of these buildings by 1940. These porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
-clad Texaco stations became an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
icon of war-era America, as much as the original Polaroid
Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
Land Camera
Land Camera
Land cameras are instant cameras with self-developing film named after their inventor, Edwin Land, manufactured by Polaroid between the years of 1947 and 1983. Though Polaroid continued producing instant cameras after 1983, the name 'Land' was dropped from the camera name since Edwin Land retired...
. Over 20,000 of the stations had been built worldwide by 1960.
His company's work with Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
began in 1946 with the design of the Stratocruiser's passenger aircraft interior. This relationship with Boeing has lasted more than 60 years with Teague's Aviation Studios work on every Boeing aircraft including the 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
, 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
, 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
, 777
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet and is commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven". The aircraft has seating for over 300 passengers and has a range from , depending on model...
and 787.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
missiles like the Lark and Loki. Teague's son won an award from the Industrial Designers Institute for a fully reclinable dentist's chair, which allowed dentists to sit while working on patients. His firm's Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
Peace Piano, built for the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
, is now at the Smithsonian.
Teague's architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
work included the Texaco exhibition hall at the 1935 Texas Centennial Exposition
Texas Centennial Exposition
The Texas Centennial Exposition was a World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836. More than 50 buildings, for which "George Dahl was director general of a group of architects who designed the buildings ", were...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, the Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
pavilion for the California Pacific International Exposition (1935)
California Pacific International Exposition (1935)
The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936...
in Balboa Park in San Diego, structures in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
for the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
, and the 1961 Civil War Centennial Dome
Centennial Dome
The Centennial Dome, also known as the Virginia Centennial Center, was designed by Walter Dorwin Teague to serve as a focus for Virginia’s efforts to publicize Virginia’s Civil War history. It is one of the most modern structures ever built in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Built for the 1961 Civil War...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. In 1940 he articulated his own view of the industrial design profession, Design This Day.
Teague
Teague's legacy continues today as his company TeagueTeague (company)
Teague is a design consultancy headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1926 by industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. Rooted in the discipline of industrial design, the company’s offering has evolved over the past eight decades to include interaction design, mechanical design and...
, which remains an important industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
consultancy. Based in Seattle, Washington, Teague has worked with clients such as Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
.
Teague's product designs are in major museums around the world including the Wolfsonian and Cooper-Hewitt. In Virginia Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
’s Art Museum of Western Virginia
Art Museum of Western Virginia
The Taubman Museum of Art, formerly the Art Museum of Western Virginia, is an art museum located in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.A..-Location:...
held an exhibition, sponsored by Norfolk Southern, that included the firm’s work.