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{{short description|American interior designer, industrial designer, and architect}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Maria Bergson
| image = Maria bergson.jpg
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| alt =
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| birth_date = 1914
| birth_place = [[Vienna, Austria]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|03|19|1914|01|01}}
| death_place =
| nationality = American
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'''Maria Bergson''' (b.1914 - March 19, 2009) was an American [[interior design]]er, [[industrial design]]er, and [[architect]] best known for revolutionizing commercial office design.<ref name="New York Times Deaths">{{cite news|title=New York Times Deaths|accessdate=8 March 2015|publisher=New York Times|date=April 1, 2009}}</ref> She specialized in the design of commercial interiors including offices, banks, hotels, hospitals, stores and the design of furniture and lighting fixtures.<ref name="interiordesign.net">{{cite web|title=Maria Bergson: 1990 Hall of Fame Inductee|url=http://www.interiordesign.net/articles/detail/36191-maria-bergson/|website=www.interiordesign.net|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> She was the first woman designer to be published in [[Who's Who in America]] (1956).<ref name="interiordesign.net"/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ladies Gaining Ground in 'Who's Who'|journal=St. Petersburg Times|date=February 28, 1956|accessdate=8 March 2015}}.</ref> In 1990, she was inducted in [[Interior Design]] magazine's Interior Design Hall of Fame and recognized as a pioneer in contract interiors and speaking out of the importance of professionalism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marian|first1=Kristi|title=Interior Design Magazine's Hall of Fame Award: What Does the Hall of Fame tell us about the interior design profession? (Masters Thesis)|date=2009|publisher=Washington State University}}</ref>▼
 
▲'''Maria Bergson''' (b.1914 -– March 19, 2009) was an American [[interior design]]er, [[industrial design]]er, and [[architect]] best known for revolutionizing commercial office design.<ref name="New York Times Deaths">{{cite news|title=New York Times Deaths|accessdate=8 March 2015|publisherwork=New York Times|date=April 1, 2009}}</ref> She specialized in the design of commercial interiors including offices, banks, hotels, hospitals, stores and the design of furniture and lighting fixtures.<ref name="interiordesign.net">{{cite web|title=Maria Bergson: 1990 Hall of Fame Inductee|url=http://www.interiordesign.net/articles/detail/36191-maria-bergson/|website=www.interiordesign.net|accessdate=9 March 9, 2015}}</ref> She was the first woman designer to be published in [[Who's Who in America]] (1956).<ref name="interiordesign.net"/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ladies Gaining Ground in 'Who's Who'|journal=St. Petersburg Times|date=February 28, 1956|accessdate=8 March 2015}}.</ref> In 1990, she was inducted in ''[[Interior Design (magazine)|Interior Design]]'' magazine's Interior Design Hall of Fame and recognized as a pioneer in contract interiors and speaking out of the importance of professionalism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marian|first1=Kristi|title=Interior Design Magazine's Hall of Fame Award: What Does the Hall of Fame tell us about the interior design profession? (Masters Thesis)|date=2009|publisher=Washington State University}}</ref>
==Early life and education==▼
 
▲==Early life and education==
Born in Vienna in 1914, she came to America in 1940.<ref name="New York Times Deaths"/> She is the daughter of Egon Bergson and Therese Bergson.<ref>{{cite web|title=1940 U.S. Census|url=http://www.archives.com/1940-census/maria-bergson-ny-57367091|website=www.archives.com|accessdate=8 March 8, 2015}}</ref> She was an actress prior to moving to America.<ref name="Life - Bersgon">{{cite journalmagazine|title=Flexible Desk: Austrian actress revolutionizes familiar features of U.S. Offices|journalmagazine=Life|date=April 26, 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0EEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dqq=Maria+Bergson&sourcepg=bl&ots=Isu0pTo9jI&sig=l4lMUmfErmQ24SkyLsFhWt63Qr8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qgH9VLrKENCJsQSZ44LADg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Maria%20Bergson&f=falsePA107}}</ref>
 
==Work==
In 1944, sheBergson began her career in commercial interior design after working as a secretary at [[Time, Inc.]]. 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zurosky|first1=Ann|title=Positive Approach Pays Off|journal=The Pittsburgh Press|date=March 22, 1964}}</ref> Soon after she started her own company, Maria Bergson Associates (MBA)<ref name="New York Times Deaths"/> with locations in New York and Los Angeles.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last1=Norman|first1=Anne|title=NewDesigner YorkBrings TimesCheer DeathsInto Offices, Gives Employees Lift|journal=NewLos YorkAngeles Times|date=AprilMay 124, 20091957}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.interiordesign.net/articles/8396-maria-bergson/|title = Maria Bergson: 1990 Hall of Fame Inductee}}</ref>▼
 
She designed a modular workspace that included 10ten 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.<ref name="Life - Bersgon" />▼
▲In 1944, she began her career in commercial interior design after working as a secretary at [[Time, Inc.]]. 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zurosky|first1=Ann|title=Positive Approach Pays Off|journal=The Pittsburgh Press|date=March 22, 1964}}</ref> Soon after she started her own company, Maria Bergson Associates (MBA).<ref>{{cite journal|title=New York Times Deaths|journal=New York Times|date=April 1, 2009}}</ref>
 
She designed and patented a typewriter desk. (– United States Patent 2545253). It was filed on April 1, 1948, and published on March 13, 1951.<ref>{{cite web|title=Free Patents Online|url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2545253.html|website=www.freepatentsonline.com|accessdate=8 March 8, 2015}}</ref>▼
▲She designed a modular workspace that included 10 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.<ref name="Life - Bersgon" />
 
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.<ref name=":0" />
▲She designed and patented a typewriter desk. (United States Patent 2545253). It was filed on April 1, 1948 and published on March 13, 1951.<ref>{{cite web|title=Free Patents Online|url=http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2545253.html|website=www.freepatentsonline.com|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>
 
Her clients included: [[Time, Inc.]], [[American Airlines]], [[Citibank]], [[DuPont]], [[IBM]], [[New York Telephone]], the [[U.S. Post Office]] and, [[Independence Air]], Prudential Insurance Co.<ref>{{cite, web|title=MariaU.S. Bergson:Borax 1990& HallChemical ofCo., FameUnion Bank & Trust Co., and Owens-Corning Fiberglass.<ref Indcutee|urlname=http":0" //www.interiordesign.net/articles/detail/36191-maria-bergson/|website><ref name=www."interiordesign.net|accessdate=9 March 2015}}<"/ref>
 
==Exhibits==
*''Office Furniture Design'' at The Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th Street, Pennsylvania, March 30 -– April 25, 1948.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Do You Want to Exhibit?|journal=Design|date=March 1, 1948|volume=49|issue=7|page=19|accessdatedoi=8 March 201510.1080/00119253.1948.10742730}}</ref>
 
==Awards==
*Interior Design Magazine's Hall of Fame (1990)
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
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*[http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2004r10/job6099 Maria Bergson Associates, U.S.I. Corporate Offices (Stamford, Conn.), 1982. Photographs by Julius Shulman.]
*[http://hdl.handle.net/10020/200E4r10/job2235 Maria Bergson Associates, United States National Bank (Denver, Colo.), 1956. Photographs by Julius Shulman.]
* [https://www.mediathek.at/atom/200457F4-151-00064-00002061-2003E59D// Maria Bergson] (in German) from the [[Österreichische Mediathek]]
 
{{authority control|VIAF=500122424|ULAN=500225931}}
 
 
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergson, Maria}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:American interior designers]]
[[Category:American industrial designers]]
[[Category:191420th-century birthsAmerican architects]]
[[Category:2009American deathswomen interior designers]]
[[Category:20th-century American architectswomen]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States]]
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