PORTAVIA P111

ROGER TALLON

In 1963, just as televisions were becoming part of the everyday domestic landscape, Roger Tallon decided to give them a makeover. Until then, the sole preoccupation had been with their technical performance, and those sets in their solid-looking wooden units, typically bourgeois in style, were anathema to him. Roger Tallon invented a compact, portable model, with an anti-UV screen filter. Attractive to look at, it was aimed at a young, modern clientele. Its base resembled a neck – an idea suggested by the French artist César – and its tinted screen merged harmoniously with the whole set. The Portavia P111 was presented to the public with the accompanying slogan “aesthetics are important too”.

Born in Paris, ROGER TALLON [1929-2011] is regarded as the father of French industrial design. After graduating with a degree in engineering at the age of 21, he joined Technès [a design office specialising in technical and aesthetic research] in 1953. He developed his career within the firm, becoming its Director in 1959. Known for his 25-year collaboration with French railway company the SNCF, Roger Tallon championed the use of plastics. In his opinion, they gave objects a more homogenous, better appearance, and enabled them to be produced in greater numbers. In 1957, he also began teaching at the School of Applied Arts in Paris. In addition, he was involved in creating the Department of industrial design at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1963.

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