BIID announces new President
The BIID (British Institute of Interior Design) has announced that Charles Leon will be its new President for 2017-18.
Leon, founder of Leon Black Architectural Interior Design and BIID Council Member, was inaugurated into the role at the BIID Annual General Meeting on 6 July, succeeding current BIID President, Susie Rumbold.
Leon is a highly experienced member of the BIID council, joining in 2013 as the organisation merged with the Interior Design Association (IDA) where he was formerly Chairman.
He now leads the Professional Practice Committee, working with both students and interior designers through the BIID Professional Pathway. As an Associate of the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) and guest lecturer at Middlesex University, Leon is a renowned speaker and an expert in his field.
Beginning his career as a set designer for the National Theatre and the English National Opera, he worked on productions both in the UK and abroad. He then moved into film design, working for Golan Globus and Working Title on a number of feature productions. In 1988, he was invited to join the UK’s foremost international hotel design company where he remained for five years, working on luxury hotels across Europe.
In 1994, Leon established his own design practice, Charles Leon Associates, specialising in hospitality and residential design. After partnering with Nicholas Black in 2014, the company became known as Leon Black, offering a comprehensive design service and unique solutions to the hospitality and residential sectors.
Regularly leading talks and discussions on design theory at events across the country and internationally, Leon spoke most recently at the BIID’s Inside Knowledge Conference. A strong believer that design is a behavioural, emotional and practical skill, he aims to fuse design across other domains including technology, science and art.
“I feel privileged to be chosen as the next President of the BIID following such a successful year led by Susie Rumbold,” he comments. “As BIID President, I will ensure our members are supported as a community of designers, in developing their professional skills and encouraged in their creativity. I am looking forward to the year ahead and will continue to work closely with the BIID council in raising the profile of the Institute’s work with interior design professionals.”
