Raymond Loewy

Raymond Fernand Loewy (5 November 1893 – 14 July 1986) was one of the best known industrial designers of the 20th century. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States where he influenced countless aspects of North American culture. Among his many iconic contributions to modern life were the Shell and former BP logos, the Greyhound bus, the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 and S-1 locomotives, the Lucky Strike package, Coldspot refrigerators, the Studebaker Avanti and Champion, and the Air Force One livery. His career spanned seven decades.

The Roanoke Visitors Center is locaed in the old N&W passenger station that was re-styled by Raymond Loewy in 1949.

Entrance to the Loewy Gallery

Floor to celing Portrait of Mr. Loewy

Mr. Loewy had a vision of a widespread integrated public transit system involving both Busses and Trains filling short and long haul needs. To this end, he designed four landmark Motor Coaches for the Greyhound Corporation.

Raymond Loewy's Bus Designs for Greyhound to Complement Train Service (left to right) D113,009, D129411, D127114, and 2,563,917 The Loewy Bus, as featured in a February, 1949 Advertisement in Holiday Magazine

In general, efforts at shrouding produced memorable images, but went nowhere. A steam locomotive is a complicated mass of valves, rods, gears and wheels, all of which tend to break down or need adjustment regularly. The steam engine also emits a LOT of smoke. The shroud interfered with maintenance and that nice smooth laminar flow (top figure, bottom right) kept the smoke hugging the exterior of the train. Most shrouded locomotives ran with the sheet metal for photo ops but the same glorious exterior was slowly dismantled by the maintenance staff. They never really solved the smoke problem.

Raymond Loewy leads off this section because he was the only "designer" to be involved in ground-up streamlining. Other efforts were done by the engineering staff of the various railroads. First up is the S-1, a beautiful but flawed lady. The PRR S1 class steam locomotive (nicknamed "The Big Engine") was an experimental locomotive that was the largest rigid frame passenger locomotive ever built. In 1937, Pennsylvania Railroad officials decided to build a new passenger locomotive to replace its aging K4 locomotives. In a collaborative effort, the Pennsylvania Railroad, Baldwin Locomotive Works, the Lima Locomotive Works and the American Locomotive Company contributed to the experimental S1 design. The streamlined Art Deco styled shell of the locomotive was designed by Raymond Loewy.

Mr. Loewy's Patent 2,128,490 for the S-1 Locomotive

The S1 was displayed at the New York World's Fair of 1939, after which it was assigned to passenger service on the main line between Chicago, Illinois and Crestline, Ohio. The S1 was used by the PRR for publicity purposes as well.

Loewy modernized the traditional Coke bottle, as well as designed its new larger sizes and "no deposit, no return" bottles and cans. His countertop dispenser for restaurants and soda fountains is an icon of postwar Americana.

Loewy made this preliminary sketch for the Cornell-Liberty Safety Car, designed for the Cornell Aeronautical Research Laboratory and the Liberty Mutual Life Insurance Company, in 1956.

Loewy also created this 190s Charcoal line china for Rosenthal.

Loewy designed this classic bedroom set for Mengel Furniture.

Loewy created this prototype store for a bakery chain in New York in 1937. The white porcelain-covered steel siding and semicircular window endings gives it an air of "Radio Deco."

Raymond Loewy became a U. S. citizen in 1938 Raymond Loewy became a U.S. citizen in 1938. Loewy retired in 1980 and returned to his native France. Loewy died in his Monte Carlo residence in 1986 at the age of 93. He was survived by his second wife Viola and their daughter Laurence. In 1992 Viola Loewy and British American Tobacco established the Raymond Loewy Foundation in Hamburg, Germany. The foundation was established to promote the discipline of industrial design internationally and preserve the memory of Raymond Loewy. An annual award of 50,000 Euros is granted to outstanding designers in recognition of their lifetime achievements. Recent grantees include Phillippe Starck and Dieter Rams. In 1998 Laurence Loewy established Loewy Design in Atlanta, Georgia to manage her father's continued interests in the United States. Laurence died on October 15, 2008 and is survived by her husband David Hagerman and their son Jacque Loewy. David Hagerman continues to manage Loewy Design and the Loewy Estate, which includes Laurence Loewy's vision for the establishment of a Raymond Loewy Museum of Industrial Design.