Jacques Cooper may be the father of the original TGV bullet train, but Roger Tallon made it beautiful. Our friends at Oobject have collected nine of Tallon’s most striking works.
You should also take a look at these 12 classic designs by Raymond Loewy , these pieces by Pininfarina, or these 12 by Harley Earl.
Helicoid Stair Case Model M400 C1964
Possibly Tallon’s best work. A shame, however, that this classic design became an over-expensive trophy ornament rather than a ubiquitous design.
TGV Atlantique
When Tallon died recently, he was named as the designer of the TGV, which seems to be only part of the truth. The original design being by Jacques Cooper who left TGV manufacturer Alsthom in 1987. As the Atlantique, the second generation TGV, is a refinement rather than a new direction, I’d be interested in knowing the full story.
Teleavia P111 Portable Television, 1966
Very nice the way the controls are part of the same cover as the screen rather than in a separate console.
Derny Taon 125, 1955
LIP Mach 2000 Watch
Perhaps the best known Tallon watch, designed in the 70s.
Tallon Posing With His 1954 8Mm Duplex Camera
Module 400 Chair
This is one of my least favourite Tallon designs because it doesn’t seem to be able to decide whether its going to be ruthlessly geometric all the way through, giving up with a curvy base. These things fetch more than an original Eames chair, today, (c. $US10,000), largely because of their obscurity.
TGV Interiors
As with the design of the train itself, Jacques Cooper seems to have done the original designs. Tallon, however did have a significant input on the interiors, such as this beautiful TGV seat. You seem to be able to buy originals from the site linked to here, however the annoying ‘price on application’ maybe indicates that the price won’t be worth it.