Maria Bergson (1914 – March 19, 2009) was an American

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

er, industrial designer, and

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best known for revolutionizing commercial office design. She specialized in the design of commercial interiors including offices, banks, hotels, hospitals, stores and the design of furniture and lighting fixtures. She was the first woman designer to be published in

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(1956). In 1990, she was inducted in ''

Interior Design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

'' magazine's Interior Design Hall of Fame and recognized as a pioneer in contract interiors and speaking out of the importance of professionalism.

Early life and education

Born in Vienna in 1914, she came to America in 1940. She is the daughter of Egon Bergson and Therese Bergson. She was an actress prior to moving to America.

Work

In 1944, Bergson began her career in commercial interior design after working as a secretary at

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She spoke openly to executives about how the office set-up could be improved and expressed her opinions based on her first hand experience. When the office moved into a new space, an executive asked for advice from Bergson. Her plans made sense to the executive and asked her to draw up and execute her ideas. Soon after she started her own company, Maria Bergson Associates (MBA) with locations in New York and Los Angeles. She specialized in the design of offices, banks, hotels, hospitals, stores and other commercial interiors, along with the design of accompanying furniture and lighting fixtures. In 1949, she devised 64 square foot partitioned modular work stations that provided a maximum of work surface within arm's reach. She designed a modular workspace that included ten units that could be rearranged in 46 customizable arrangements to fit an individual's need. The design included compartments for files, books, letters, pencils, cigarettes, and paper clips. She designed and patented a typewriter desk – United States Patent 2545253. It was filed on April 1, 1948, and published on March 13, 1951. Her innovations in hospital design giving thought to patients and staff, included private areas for patients and indirect diffused lights were widely adopted in the United States and Sweden. Her clients included:

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, Citibank, DuPont, IBM,

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, the

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, Prudential Insurance Co., U.S. Borax & Chemical Co., Union Bank & Trust Co., and Owens-Corning Fiberglass.

Exhibits

*''Office Furniture Design'' at The Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, Pennsylvania, March 30 – April 25, 1948.

Awards

*Interior Design Magazine's Hall of Fame (1990)

References

External links

Maria Bergson Associates, National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, 1954. Photographs by Julius Shulman.Maria Bergson Associates, National Sugar Refining Company, 1954. Photographs by Julius Shulman.Maria Bergson Associates, North Shore Hospital (Long Island, N.Y.), 1953. Photographs by Julius Shulman.Maria Bergson Associates, U.S.I. Corporate Offices (Stamford, Conn.), 1982. Photographs by Julius Shulman.Maria Bergson Associates, United States National Bank (Denver, Colo.), 1956. Photographs by Julius Shulman.

Maria Bergson
(in German) from the

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergson, Maria 1914 births 2009 deaths American interior designers American industrial designers 20th-century American architects American women interior designers 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States