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Modern Furniture
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Modern Furniture Lets begin by defining what we mean by - Modern Furniture One way to define it is by saying what it is not: Modern furniture was a tremendous departure from all furniture design that had gone before it. The use of new materials, such as steel in its many forms; moulded plywood, such as that used by Charles and Ray Eames; and of course plastics, were pioneering, even shocking in contrast to everything else that was then known. Dark carved wood and richely patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering simplicity and geometry of polished metal. Before these new designs emerged, furniture had a sense of visual weight. Modern furniture produced one of visual lightness. Before there was an emphasis on furniture as ornament, now the emphasis shifted to function and accessibility. Before furniture was intended to convey an idea of permanence, a connection with tradition and history, the modern furniture movement rang the changes in more ways than one, these stunningly different forms spoke of newness, of technological innovation, of the present and the future. Before there was an aesthetic preference for the baroque and the complex. The length of time a piece took to create was a measure of its value and desirability. Later an appreciation for simplicity and accessibility developed, greatly expanding the scope of what might be considered valuable and desirable. So modern furniture is defined by its visual lightness and simplicity, by its materials, by its newness and its innovative nature. Examples are too numerous to list, but include the Bertoia wire chairs, the Le Corbusier chaise lounge, the Isamu Noguchi coffee table and the Eileen Gray side table to name just a very few. Chronologically the design movement that produced modern furnture design, began earlier than one might imagine. Many of its most recognizable personalities were born at the end of the 19th or the very beginning of the 20th centuries. These, now famous designers were teaching and studying in Germany and elsewhere in the 1920s and 30s. The furniture that was produced during this era is today known as Modern Classic Furniture. For example the Barcelona Chair was designed in 1929, the Eileen Gray Side table in 1927, and the Le Corbusier / Perriand LC2 Grand Comfort and B306 chaise were designed in 1928. Obviously not all furniture produced since this time is modern, for there is still a tremendous amount of traditional design being reproduced for today's market and then of course there is also an entire breed of design which sits between the two, and is refered to as transitional design. Neither entirely modern or traditional, transitional design seeks to blend elements of both, some leaning more towards the contemporary and others more towards older styles. Today contemporary furniture designers and manufacturers continue to evolve design. Still seeking new materials, with which to produce unique forms, still employing simplicity and lightness of form, in preference to heavy ornament. And most of all they are still endeavoring to step beyond what has gone before to create entirely new visual experiences for us. The designs that prompted this paradign shift, were produced in the middle of the 20th century, most of them well before 1960. And yet they are still regarded internationally as symbols of the modern age, the present, and perhaps even the future. Modern Classic Furniture became an icon of elegance and sophistication. |
About Furniture
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