Adrian Knapp b. 1 January 1926

  • Designer (Industrial / Product Designer)
Knapp was an industrial designer. He studied in Leerdam, Holland, immigrated to Australia and in 1952, won the Beetle Elliott Prize for a moulded radiogram. He was a foundation member of Society of Designers for Industry, President SDI 1965-1966. He was a designer for Ferris Industries Australia, Crown Crystal Glass & HMV. Later he was a principal of Knaap-Theon Associates and Displaycraft, Sydney.

Adrian Knaap was born in the Netherlands in 1926 and trained at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag (Royal Academy of Art, The Hague) and the Leerdam Glass School, near Utrecht. The glass school, founded by the industrial designer A.D. Copier in 1940, was the first of its type in The Netherlands.

On completing his training, Knaap continued to work at the Leerdam glass works until he immigrated to Australia, arriving in 1950. He was employed by Crown Crystal Glass, Waterloo NSW on arrival but as designer Charles Furey caustically observes, their design department was, in fact, the “drawing office” of ACI Engineering and “…interpreted the requests of sales personnel, […] mainly based on overseas samples of illustrations.”

No doubt disappointed with this approach to design, Knaap soon left Crown Crystal Glass to establish an industrial design partnership with Martin Theon called Knaap Theon Associates in Asbestos House (the former James Hardie Building), York Street, Sydney. Together, they also formed Displaycraft Australia specializing in retail display stands. Knaap Theon proved to be a short-lived partnership. Adrian then worked as a sole practitioner as Adrian Knaap and Associates and carried out independent design work for Rheen, Roden (after 1968) , Clark appliances and others.

Adrian Knaap and Associates developed a significant reputation in the manufacture of radio receivers and broadcasting equipment. His clients included EMI (ca.1959) (broadcasting equipment and magnetic tape recorders), STC, Singer, HMV and other, as yet unidentified clients. In 1952, Knaap was awarded what is considered to be Australia’s first design award for a “tablegram housing”, the Beetle Elliott Prize awarded by Beetle Elliott Plastics (est. ca 1937), the Rozelle NSW subsidiary of British Industrial Plastics. The company was noted for its pioneering work in urea formaldehyde mouldings and moulding powders.

By the end of the 1950s, he was involved in the increasing professionalisation of design, becoming a founding member of the NSW chapter of the Society of Industrial Designers of Australia (SIDA). The first meeting of the NSW group is a roll call of the state’s prominent industrial designers: Charles Furey, Ted Healy, John Holt, Harry Widmer, James Riley, Bill Moody, Paul Schremmer. In 1958, Knaap was the group’s treasurer.

Family interviews and Knaap’s meagre documentation suggest that after 1960, he joined Ferris Bros. as their senior industrial designer, later becoming the head of their industrial design and development section. It is not clear if he was salaried or consulting. An Adrian Knaap-designed radio for Ferris was exhibited in the Australian Pavilion at Expo ’67 in Montreal, Canada. Many illustrations of his work for Ferris survive in the Knaap papers and other publications such Design ’65, an illustrated exhibition catalogue of the SIDA members. He also continued to work as Adrian Knaap and Associates and received a number of “Good Design” awards from the Industrial Design Council of Australia.

After his work for Ferris, he re-established a consultancy in 1968, Industrial Design Research, working from his home in Cremorne. Knapp continued to design for a range of industrial clients. He also remained active in SIDA, serving as president of the NSW chapter in 1967-1968 and lecturing in industrial design at the Sydney Technical College, Randwick with David McCall.

“Adrian Knapp.” [Training at the Academy of Art, The Hague and Leerdam] The Arts Festival. (Guide to the Exhibitions). Melbourne Olympic Games, Olympic Organising Committee, 1956, p.164. See also Robert Curedale, The development of industrial design consulting in Australia. Masters of Design thesis, University of Technology, Sydney, 1990, pps.207-208.

Jonathan Woodham, editor. A Dictionary of Modern Design, Oxford University Press.

Reino Liefkes. A.D. Copier: Glass designer. Waanders Uitgevers, 2nd edition 2006.

Charles Furey. The Commercial Effectiveness of Products resulting from Industrial Designing in Australia. Design Institute of Australia, 1986.

Interview with Lynette Knaap, 29 March 2011. Theon was also a Dutch immigrant.

Interview with Lynette Knaap, 8 April 2011.

Unattributed newscutting in Adrian Knaap papers, 1968.

Correspondence in Adrian Knaap papers, 1959.

Beetle Elliott developed the Henselite bowling ball, still in production. “New Plastics.” The Argus, 6 March 1947, p.10. See also www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/British_Industrial_Plastics. 7 April 2011. The Adrian Knaap papers contain a 31 March 1953 letter from Beetle Elliott Ltd identifying him as the 1st winner of a prize of 100 guineas.

ends/

27 April 2011

Writers:

Michael Bogle
Date written:
2012
Last updated:
2020