Interior Design in the 1920s and 1950s
Have you ever asked yourself how the twentieth-century design came about? How did people come up with modernism? What affected designers to create modern furniture designs and used different materials instead of wood? Famous in the 1920s, Marcel Breuer is a great example of modernism. Also in the 1950s, Finn Juhl was famous for introducing Danish furniture. Both of these designers are icons of the twentieth-century. They have contributed much of their creativity and talents to the world of design.
Marcel Breuer is a key exponent in the history of Modern architecture and furniture design. He was also the most famous student of the Bauhaus university, where he enrolled at the age of eighteen. As he rapidly rose through the ranks of his classmates, he was appointed to a position of teaching staff in 1923. In 1925, Breuer became the head of the Bauhaus carpentry workshops where he produced much of the furniture he designed. Known for his early mass-production of furniture, tubular steel and plywood chairs, he became an influential figure of the International Style. Breuer began to design furniture in 1921, and by 1925 he was working on tubular steel furniture. It wasn’t until 1932, that he started to work with aluminum furniture and in 1935 incorporated plywood into his design philosophy. In the mid-1920s, furniture manufacturers like Thonet, Standard Mobel, Wohnbedarf, and Isokon were selling his designs. Breuer’s furniture could be described as hard and rectilinear. The parts that supported the body were soft and rounded. As Breuer’s work progressed, his furniture became softer and more comfortable. According to Karl Mang, Breuer got his idea to use steel tubing for furniture from his firs...
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One can see that the design perspective of Breuer and Juhl have greatly influence modern approaches to furniture and interior design. They can be said to be revolutionary in their approach to furniture and interior design. Their passion can be seen in their works, but what makes them great is that they are daring and bold in their ideas and constantly seeking to challenge the existing trend in furniture and interior design concepts. The fact that their ideas are so influential at different stages in modern history is a testament to the fact that ideas that are unique and individual can withstand the test of time. No matter if you have a chair that is designed by Breuer in the 1920s, or a table that Juhl created in the 1950s, each piece still has a timelessness about it that makes the art of furniture and interior design resonate forever.
Interior Decorators such as Elsie de Wolfe, Eleanor McMillen Brown, and Dorothy Draper helped to pave the way for the Interior Design profession today. Their influential decisions to stray away from the Victorian style of design helped guide both the interior decorating profession, as well as architects who no longer wanted to design in the bulky and cluttered Victorian Style. Elsie de Wolfe designed during the Victorian movement, however “had adopted the 1890’s preference for Neoclassicism” (Smith, 22). Unlike the cluttered and dark interiors of an average Victorian interior, her interiors were, “in the words of one visitor, ‘[models] of simplicity’” (Smith, 20).
The success of the Van Nelle Factory as an icon of modern architecture was due to its functional design concepts fused with the principles of progressivism and idealistic concepts. The flexible interior, the large amounts of penetrating light, the elegance of clean and healthy functionalism, and the weightless mass were the strongest attributes for the complex. With Brinkman’s, Van der Vlugt’s, and Van der Leeuw’s combined education of modern architecture they were able to employ their design ideologies to create one of the most renowned factories in Europe. Paul Bromberg wrote that the Dutch architects soon “… realize[d] that even the most utilitarian buildings can and should be beautiful. Building should always be architecture, even when it is ‘only’ a factory.”
Though the interiors he designed were created to be useful spaces, his focus was more on aesthetic than function . Within his individual objects of art such as chairs, tables, drawers, staircases and many others he focused more on the form of the object than on its intended use. Instead, Kuramata appeared to want the presence of the piece to surpass its function, something that is only possible when there is a symbolic value . One of the best examples of a work of art fitting these stipulations was his design of the Miss Blanche armchair (fig. 3) in 1988 . The chair is made of acrylic resin and embedded with artificial roses and aluminum . Kuramata’s title of the work, choice of materials, color contrast, process of creation and simple aesthetic combine to create a piece of work that forces the viewer to question whether or not it can even be considered a chair. This work of art allows the functionality to disapp...
Bauhaus is a German term meaning the house of construction and commonly understood by many as the school of building and operates from the year 1919 to the end of 1933 . The institution was founded by Walter Gropius and was located in Weimar. This paper shall critically analyze whether Bauhaus succeeded in merging art with mass production and technology what challenges they went through and if at all their ideals were limited to design for an elite.
Le Corbusier’s Vers Une Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) is focused on the architectural qualities of “the machine”. He states that “the house is a machine for living in,” where the principles of architects should be to make the house suited for its purpose, as if it was a machine. This restates the argument that functionalism is more important than appearance, and that progress comes from architects abandoning the concept of traditional styles and decorative effects. Le Corbusier understood that architecture has nothing to do with various styles because functionality will always come before the subjectivity of appearance; he saw the aesthetic, not as just another style but the substance of architecture. In which he drew parallels
Mies created established characteristics that became essential for modern architecture. “Less is more”. These three words really jump started the modernist movement in architecture and embodies the philosophy of minimalism. Stripping away the ornament and décor to get to the essence of a building. Mies van der Rohe changed architecture through these radical ideas. Many of these concepts we still see today in modern and minimalist styles. The simple and open plan has been replicated
The world is developing every day and we continue to discover new and innovative ways to better our quality of life. A trend that everyone seems to be focused on is saving the environment, which is also known as sustainable living. Not only does this apply to our lifestyle and environment, but it also translates into design. Sustainable living is becoming more popular around the world and is a lifestyle using skillful and sensitive design. It eliminates negative environmental impact and requires renewable resources. We each have decided to research different furniture companies to broaden our knowledge of the innovative practices used in each company. Throughout our paper we will introduce each of our companies and the products and practices they use to produce sustainable furniture. Our research will show that sustainable furniture design is beneficial to consumers by allowing them to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle as their manufacturers develop innovative ways to make renewable furniture.
Workshops designed by Gropius in 1925. The incredible, intricate design of the opera house is a wonderful illustration of everything that the modernist wanted to stray away from; the gold statues and carefully carved stone existed as nothing more than beauty for the sake of being beautiful. However, working in an era still feeling the staggering tolls of the Great War, Gropius designed his workshops to be very straightforward. Not only was there no need for these superfluous adornments, there was also a scarcity of resources, which lead Gropius to use cost-effective materials such as glass and concrete for the majority of his buildings. However, there was still beauty in such a simplified work. From the shine of the glass to the sharp and precise geometry, there was still art to be found for everyone wh...
Thesis: Gottfried Semper and Karl Friedrich Schinkel are two of the most notable names in architecture and architectural theory from the 19th Century. Both of these men practiced architecture during the 1800’s in Europe and both men held strong convictions regarding their personal answers to the question of what architecture is and should be. By critically examining the works and writings of these men, discerning the similarities and differences of beliefs and practices, delving into the historic contexts and reasoning behind their beliefs, we as architects gain a better understanding of the art of designing the built environment.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret is an internationally known influential Swiss architect and city planner, whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold, sculptural expressionism. He belonged to the first generation of the so-called International school of architecture and was their most able propagandist in his numerous writings. In his architecture he joined the functionalist aspirations of his generation with a strong sense of expressionism. He was the first architect to make a studied use of rough-cast concrete, a technique that satisfied his taste for asceticism and for sculptural forms.
Jencks believes “the glass-and-steel box has become the single most used form in Modern Architecture and it signifies throughout the world ‘office building’” (27). Thus, modern architecture is univalent in terms of form, in other words it is designed around one out of a few basic values using a limited number of materials and right angles. In...
Interior design is one of the most important professions. When thinking of design and architecture industry, it is necessary to keep in mind that the professionals emphasis on matters of everyday life when commencing a project. Important sectors of interior design consist of: residential, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, education and corporate designs. Thus, the field deals with numerous factors and affects almost everyone in some way. Design is goal-oriented– it strives to achieve a certain purpose. An essential goal of interior design is to create functional spaces that convey a specific mood for an audience using design elements, thus outlining a design for communities versus individuals.
Interior design is a complicated profession. It is sometimes referred to as interior architecture and often confused with interior decorating. It involves the design, organization and planning of an interior structure rather than just refinishing and furnishing existing interior spaces. It involves managing a business, hopefully meeting the desires of the client and delivering to them an interior environment that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot more to interior design than first meets the eye.
In the past, there have been many famous artists, but few of them contributed their artistic skills to the design of the home. Michelangelo was a famous interior designer who created the most magnificent places for the richest of people. He made quantum use of his beautiful sculptures and paintings to create a rich ambiance. This is how interior design first began as a career. Years later, furniture, draperies, and wall coverings were included. Elsie de Wolfe was the first to practice interior design in the 1950s. Adam and Louis Comfort Tiffany, two American brothers, began a company to create beautiful furnishings and art, especially stained glass.