Robert Dudley Best – A Design Legend

Robert Dudley Best – A Design Legend

 

Robert Dudley was born to a family who were the proud owners of the lighting factory that was founded in 1840. He was born in 1892 to the great family. Despite his legacy, he felt that most of the lamp designs that were manufactured at the factory were outdated. In 1925, Best visited one of the largest international exhibits of design in Paris and noticed that most of the designs were influenced by Le Corbusier and Mies Van Der Rohe. Getting inspired by the great designs, Best started his studies of industrial design in Paris and Dusseldorf and it is here where he met Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus movement. During this time, he had made some of his signature designs that got to become famous as the iconic Bestlite design. Bestlite brand has been producing actively since 1930 and it is one of the brands that Winston Churchill had used. The design of Bestlite was conceived by Robert Best who was influenced by the Bauhaus.  Bauhaus was a design school that combined fine arts with the practical crafts and got famous for the concepts that it taught and publicized. Bauhaus one was one of the design centers that exerted great influence over the interior design, industrial design, graphical and art and architecture. It had the greatest influence on the modernist architecture and conventional designs. Running eighty years ahead in time, the Bestlite brad still has roots closely attached to the industrial revolution and original design. The Victoria Museum, Albert Museum and the Design Museum of London all hold Bestlite collections at their esteemed exhibits. Today Bestlite enjoys an iconic status and is loved by design aficionados, architects and designers of the world. Who knew that the brand that faced so many glitches would turn into a success in the future? It was also said that the first version of lights launched in the market were not approved by Robert's father due to their difference from the designs prevalent then. Some of the iconic products produced by Best are the Best floor lamp, wall lamp, table lamp and the pendant lamp that are still used by many today. It is said that Robert had great expectations from the Bestlite lamp collection, but they initially didn't sell that well. So, they were sold to the auto repair shops and the Royal Air Force and got great reviews on functionality from both the users. Some of the lamps found their way to the visionary architects’ desks. As a result of this, the lamps from Bestlite got featured in the most popular design magazine,” Architect's Journal”, where it was portrayed as the first Bauhaus manifestation from Great Britain. The first boost that the Bestlite brand received was when Winston Churchill decided to use Bestlite for his desk in Whitehall and then from there on there was no looking back. Currently Bestlite lighting products are used by most of the hotels, restaurants and last but not the least, homes of London. It has become a brand to reckon with in the lighting world today.