{{Short description|British architect (born 1951)}} {{for multi|other uses and other people with similar names|John Grey (disambiguation)|and|Johnny Gray (disambiguation)}} {{Multiple issues| {{Paid contributions|date=March 2023}} {{Advert|date=November 2023}} {{BLP sources|date=November 2023}} }} {{EngvarB|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
'''Johnny Grey''' (born 1951) is a British interior designer, author and educator, known for his work in kitchen design.
== Early life and education == Grey studied architecture at the Architectural Association from 1970 to 1976 (AA Dip Arch), with tutors Jeremy Dixon and Mike Gold.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Architect: Michael Gold |url=https://drawingmatter.org/architect/gold-michael?dm_architect=gold-michael |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=drawingmatter.org |language=en-GB}}</ref> One of the first kitchens he designed was for the food writer Elizabeth David, his aunt.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=2013-12-08 |title=The enduring legacy of Elizabeth David, Britain's first lady of food |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/08/elizabeth-david-first-lady-of-food |access-date=2024-08-06 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Early kitchen design === Whilst studying architecture, Grey focused on craft aspects of historic buildings. He also dealt in and restored 18th-century furniture alongside his brother. After graduating, he made furniture and kitchens in his family's barn in Sussex. His career took off after the publication of a ''Sunday Times'' article in 1980, titled "Why this Awful Fixation with Fitted Kitchens?".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-08-cl-38610-story.html|title='Unfitted' Kitchens Create Home Around the Range|last=KOENENN|first=CONNIE|date=2000-06-08|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/nooks-for-cooks-1.263021|title=Nooks for cooks|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Johnny Grey Studios === {{BLP unreferenced section|date=November 2023}}
Grey ran a showroom and studio at the ''San Francisco Design Center'' from 1990 to 1997. Over thirty projects by Johnny Grey Studios have been installed across the country, including showcase houses in San Francisco and New York.
With a focus now on socially aware design projects for corporate and charitable organizations, Grey is currently working with the ''4G Kitchen Consortium'' and the ''National Innovation Center for Ageing'' (NICA) and Newcastle University.
=== Design innovations === In the late 1970s Grey adapted the end-grain butchers’ block for domestic use, incorporating it into a piece of furniture, often with a drawer or two. He launched the Unfitted Kitchen concept in 1984. Made from freestanding furniture, this was an unorthodox idea for its time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=88561|title=The Hoosier Cabinet in Kitchen History|website=Indiana University Press|language=en|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/interior-designers/interviews/a558/meet-johnny-grey-51429/|title=Meet Johnny Grey|date=2008-09-11|newspaper=ELLE Decor|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-08-cl-38611-story.html|title=How to 'Unfit'|last=KOENENN|first=CONNIE|date=2000-06-08|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> The now-widespread use of willow baskets as drawers has been attributed to Grey's Unfitted Kitchen concept. Willow baskets in cabinetry were registered for copyright by Grey jointly with Smallbone in 1987, though Mark Wilkinson objected that basketry can be traced to historical African applications.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.kb-network.co.uk/kitchen-news/entry/five-questions-for-johnny-grey|title=Five questions for: Johnny Grey|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-GB}}</ref>
Grey includes a central island in his designs wherever possible.<ref>{{Citation|title=The center of the home: The kitchen island|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-center-of-the-home-the-kitchen-island/?lumiereId=50125000&videoId=6778477a-8bdf-11e2-9400-029118418759&cbsId=7409112&site=cbsnews|language=en|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref>
Grey incorporated Alexander Technique theory in kitchen design, with individually customized dimensions for counter tops and sink and dishwasher placement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.katherinesalant.com/columns/column224.html|title=Katherine Salant: Room-by-Room - Kitchen|last=Salant|first=Katherine|author-link= Katherine Salant|website=www.katherinesalant.com|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref> Dedicated work surfaces, or task-driven areas, further this approach.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/johnny-grey-s-top-10-tips-for-kitchen-design-1.1009889|title=Johnny Grey's top 10 tips for kitchen design|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/22382779/a-modern-country-kitchen-country-kitchen-hampshire|title=A modern country kitchen - Country - Kitchen - Hampshire - by Johnny Grey Studios.|website=Houzz|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref> Low-level counters for smaller appliances (and children's cooking) and raised-height dishwashers are now widespread in kitchens.<ref name="x13">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/10/AR2009041001405.html|title=Kitchens Where Every Last Detail Is Weighed and Measured|last=Salant|first=Katherine|date=2009-04-11|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Well-designed kitchen is welcoming for kids |url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20111111/well-designed-kitchen-is-welcoming-for-kids |access-date=2017-02-20 |newspaper=Sarasota Herald |language=en}}</ref>
'Soft Geometry' describes Grey's move towards curved furniture inspired by the relationship between peripheral vision and body movement.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/02/garden/soft-geometry-in-kitchen-design.html|title='Soft Geometry' In Kitchen Design|last=Landis|first=Dylan|date=1993-12-02|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2017-02-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.houzz.ie/ideabooks/61516231/list/kitchen-of-the-week-sinuous-curves-in-an-unusual-kitchen-design|title=Kitchen of the Week: Sinuous Curves in an Unusual Kitchen Design|newspaper=Houzz|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref> In the mid 2000s, his meeting with neuroscientist and sociologist John Zeisel focused on making kitchens into 'happy spaces'.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://arkitexture.com/interviews/johnny-grey-intelligent-design/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221010240/http://arkitexture.com/interviews/johnny-grey-intelligent-design/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 February 2017|title=Johnny Grey: Intelligent design - Arkitexture|newspaper=Arkitexture|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/analysis/happy-space-the-final-frontier-of-design-1-2485859|title='Happy space' the final frontier of design|website=www.yorkshirepost.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704693104575638641088853662|title=A Kitchen to Comfort Your Soul|last=Wilkinson|first=Tara Loader|date=2010-12-03|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2017-02-20|issn=0099-9660}}</ref> 'The living room in which you cook' (2014) restricts the culinary zone to leave room for other sociable activities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/adare-manor-five-bed-with-a-johnny-grey-kitchen-for-2-1m-1.1946957|title=Adare Manor five-bed with a Johnny Grey kitchen for €2.1m|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2017-02-20|language=en-US}}</ref> Eye contact as key to design was another neuroscience-inspired idea, alongside the identification of each kitchen's 'sweet spot' as the location for a key piece of furniture such as the central island.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Interiors:+Don't+worry,+be+happy;+In+association+with+smart...-a0192517357|title=Interiors: Don't worry, be happy; In association with smart newhomes.com Adding colour and curves to your home can lift your spirits. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/interiors/specialist/johnny-grey|title=How to plan a kitchen|access-date=2017-02-20}}</ref><ref name="x13"/>
== Author == Grey's first book ''The Art of Kitchen Design,'' published in 1994, includes the social history of the kitchen. In 1997 Cassell published ''The Hardworking House'', a collection of essays on the history of home design. In 1997 ''The Kitchen Workbook'' was also published in a series of home design books for Dorling Kindersley, later incorporated into DK’s The Complete Home Design Workbook (1998). Grey's ''Kitchen Culture'' was published in 2004 with English, American, Russian and Asian editions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kitchen Culture |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1408978.Kitchen_Culture_ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Goodreads |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grey |first=Johnny |title=Kitchen Culture |isbn=1903221285}}</ref>
== Education and teaching == In 2012 Grey became Visiting Professor of Design and Kitchen Culture at Buckinghamshire New University. He resigned from the university in October 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nottingham |first=Rebecca |date=2022-07-07 |title=Bucks Uni scraps kitchen design degree |url=https://www.kbbreview.com/47730/news/bucks-uni-scraps-kitchen-design-degree/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=kbbreview |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2017, Grey collaborated with Sevra Davis, director of education at the Royal Society of Arts, and Professor Peter Gore and Patrick Bonnet from the National Innovation Center for Ageing in Newcastle, to extend accessible design education into kitchen design and assist with changing the language of disability and ageing design to focus on multi-generational design. They developed the Student Design Challenge: Eat, Share, Live.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-05 |title=A kitchen that comes to meet you |url=https://www.thersa.org/blog/2018/06/a-kitchen-that-comes-to-meet-you |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=The RSA |language=en}}</ref>
== Awards == In September 2021, Grey was awarded a Special Achievement Award at the Kbbreview Retail & Design Awards.<ref name="Award Winners 2021">{{cite web |url=https://www.kbbreview.com/39935/news/who-won-at-the-kbbreview-retail-design-awards-2021|title=Who won at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2021?|date=15 September 2021 |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.johnnygrey.com/ Official website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Johnny}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Academics of the University of Salford Category:Architects from Sussex