George Fejer 1912 – 1996
Overview
Obituary of George Fejer which appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 5 February 1996
​​It is difficult to look at one's father's life with anything like objectivity. He died when I was relatively young, and like most young people preoccupied with my own concerns rather than those of my parents. To us, his family, he was always Daddy. He was always modest and it wasn't until after he died that I became fully aware of his contribution to design in the 20th century.
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Over the past year I have been researching his archives, and trying to tell his exceptional story.
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He was resolutely positive and always looking to improve people's lives through his work. He continued to write articles and to be engaged with the world until the day he died.
Early Life
George Fejér was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1912.
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In 1931 George entered the prestigious Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich where he trained as architect. Having completed his architectural studies, he pursued a postgraduate course and submitted a thesis on constructions using translucent materials.
In 1937, George suddenly had to give a hand in running his father’s antique shop in the heart of Budapest. The first thing he did was to redesign the stationery. This card is part of the project. The text reads Antique Furniture and Objects D’Art.
In 1939, George returned to Switzerland as a stepping stone to emigration, due to the political situation in Hungary. He continued his research into translucent materials and created a new material which he called Iso-lumen.
He came to the UK because he had met a teacher called Ena, who he married. He showed his new material to The Ministry of Aircraft Production and was allowed to stay in the UK.
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In 1940 Iso-lumen was manufactured by Pharoah-Gane & Co. Ltd. who employed George as a consultant. The material was used for repairing bomb damage. But then the factory at which Iso-lumen was manufactured was destroyed by bombing, and production ceased.
Patent for Isolumen 1940
Selection Engineering and Prefabs
In 1943 George became a consultant to the Selection Engineering Co and he was involved with creating prefabs for people who needed housing during and after the war. George brought with him ideas about streamlined kitchen design and appliances.
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The bombing of towns and cities resulted in a desperate need for housing. A speedy and economical solution was the manufacture and installation of prefabricated homes. Planned to be a temporary fix, many prefabricated homes lasted longer than originally intended. In 1942 the Government set up the Burt Committee to 'consider materials and methods of construction suitable for the building of houses and flats, having regard to efficiency, economy and speed of erection'. It led to the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944 and the Emergency Factory Made Housing Programme, and which became known as the Temporary Housing Programme. The Act set out to construct at least 300,000 homes during a two-year period and provided for the construction of temporary, prefabricated housing. Made by the Selection Engineering Company, the Uni-Seco prefab was constructed using a timber frame and asbestos cement. The Uni-Seco was a highly versatile prefab. Designed in a kit, it could be assembled in a variety of combinations to suit its location.
Attribution: Prefabulous
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George would use a modular prefabricated approach when he created his own bungalow house in Wimbledon in 1964.
Post-War Reconstruction
After the war, George was naturalised as a British subject, became a member of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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He designed furniture for the 'Britain Can Make It' at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1946, and worked for Venesta, a manufacturer of plywood products, from 1946-49.
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For the Festival of Britain, which took place on the South Bank in 1951. in 1951, he designed the Plastics, Rubber and Commerce sections for the Power and Production pavilion.
He was involved with the plastics, rubber and commerce displays in the Power and Production Pavilion.
George Fejer acted as a consultant designer for Guy Rogers between 1955 – 1971 where he worked closely with Guy Rogers’ resident designer, Eric Pamphilon, to create the upholstered furniture which was so iconic of the period.
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Here is one of George's original drawings for a a convertible couch dating from 1956
A Guy Rogers brochure from 1958
This is the Sapele group shown in the 1958 brochure and a photograph from George's archives.
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"The bed settee is fitted with a Dunlopillo mattress on Dunlop webbing. The back is sprung and has storage space for bedding held in position by two sliding trays.
The frames on the whole of this group are made of the best quality sapele. The bed settee breaks down into 2 arm sections, one back section, one mattress and one base section for ease of movement into and out of houses or shops."
Caption from photograph.
Guy Rogers
Beverly Hills
This catalogue photograph shows the Beverly Hills range of furniture which was one of the most successful of George's designs. It was manufactured from 1961.
Original drawing from 1964, and prototype chair from the designer's own home.
Sombrero Chair
As the 60s became the 1970s, styles began to change. The gambit in the Beverly Hills designs endured. George developed the Sombrero chair from moulded plastics.
Original drawing from 1968, prototype, and catalogue from 1970
Everything from and for the kitchen sink
George had a view on how to improve the design of more or less everything in the home from the kitchen sink to the bedroom cupboard. He was keenly interested in ergonomics and concerned to make using everyday objects easier for people.
Between 1955 and 1972, George worked for a manufacturer called Corfield-Sigg which produced stainless steel saucepans with plastic handles under the brand, Crown Merton.
George Fejer's Some of His Writings
His Death and Legacy
Obituary of George written by Richard Crisp for Kitchens & Bathrooms Magazine.
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Richard also gave the eulogy at my father's funeral.
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