Examples include the Irwin Miller House in Columbus, Indiana (1953; architect Eero Saarinen) and the legendary restaurant La Fonda del Sol (1960) in New York. Girard designed furniture, small objects and fabrics, worked for companies like Herman Miller and Braniff International Airways and collaborated with such designers as Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson. This major retrospective of Girard’s oeuvre draws on the Vitra Design Museum’s holdings from his private estate and presents furniture, textiles and sculptures as well as numerous sketches, drawings and collages never shown before.

In addition to his own designs, it presents the creative universe from which Girard took his inspiration: folk art from all over the world, which the designer collected throughout his life. A selection of 300 objects from his collection is also featured in the exhibition.