Johnny Grey

Johnny Grey (born 1951) is an architect, designer and author.

Background

Grey trained as an architect at the London Architectural Association School of Architecture. After graduating in 1977, he set up a design studio and furniture workshop. He wrote a manifesto on design and began to explore a new way of designing kitchens after a chance encounter with a client who wanted a Gothic "punk" kitchen.

His ideas have influenced the world of design, demonstrating both his practical vision and his skills as observer and thinker. His aunt was Elizabeth David, the doyen of British food writers who had a big influence of his interest in kitchens.

Kitchen Design

In August 1980 the UK Sunday Times wrote a story entitled "why this awful fixation with fitted Kitchens" which featured Grey. In 1987 Grey's concept of the "Unfitted Kitchen" was licensed to Smallbone, an English kitchen company. Grey was selected as one of the UK’s most influential designers of the 20th century by UK House and Garden magazine in 2000 having been featured editorially twenty years in a row. He has also been voted the kitchen designer’s kitchen designer by Homes and Gardens magazine as well as having over two hundred articles written about him in the press. He has been called the"World’s best kitchen designer" by the New York Times and Metropolitan Home magazine, as well as being chosen as one off America’s top one hundred designers.

Bibliography

Grey published his first book, "The Art of Kitchen Design" in 1994 which has sold 100,000 copies worldwide. In 1997 he published "The Hard Working House". "The Kitchen Work Book" spearheaded a new series of home design books by Dorling Kindersley and has now sold 175,000 copies around the globe. In 2004 he published "Kitchen Culture".

Research Projects

Grey has undertaken Neuroscience research projects at Salford University with Professor John Zeisel include research into well being and architecture.

Charitable and NGO work

Grey contributed to Sarah Brown’s book for Piggy Bank Kids, "Moving on up", raising awareness about mentoring for single parent families. Grey has also contributed to Project Open Hand in San Francisco, a charity for meals on wheels for aids sufferers, and to the Edible Schoolyard Project for Alice Waters in Berkeley, California.

Grey is a founder member of the South Coast Design Forum along with Wayne Hemingway.

References

* [http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/interiors/article701603.ece Fantasy kitchens (The Times)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE4DA103FF931A35751C1A965958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss 'Soft Geometry' In Kitchen Design (New York Times)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E0DE1E3DF93BA25752C1A96F958260 Food in a Custom Setting (New York Times)]
* [http://www.amazon.com/s?search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Johnny%20Grey Books at Amazon.com]

External links

* [http://www.johnnygrey.com/ Johnny Grey website]