Sir Basil Spence was one of the leading British architects of the 20th century, whose monumental or ''brutalist'' style came to define modern architecture in Britain.
Noted commissions include designs for several exhibitions including the Sea and Ships Pavilion for the Festival of Britain (1951), Sussex University (1962), Glasgow Airport (1966), and Coventry Cathedral (1954-1962), for which he received a knighthood. In 1947 Neil Morris of manufacturers Morris of Glasgow asked Spence to collaborate on a range of plywood furniture he was working on, which was to include his Bambi chair and celebrated Cloud table. The result was the Allegro dining suite, which was awarded a diploma by the Council of Industrial Design in January 1949.
The development of plywood furniture in the 20th century is focussed on wartime innovation. The American designers Ray and Charles Eames designed prize-winning furniture for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941. Their work displayed the new technique of wood moulding, originally developed by Alvar Aalto in Finland, that the Eames would go on to develop in many moulded plywood products, including splints and stretchers for the US Navy during World War II. From this work many of their iconic furniture designs were developed.