Post Modernism/Contemporary Design

Post Modernism was a style to replace the International Style which increased speed of communication by the use of magazines, books and the television.  Because of this effort, design work became an international profession.  Louis Kahn was an American architect who worked in the international style until his 50's when he became one of the most influential architects of the 20th century.  Cesar Pelli was also an American architect who designed some of the worlds tallest buildings such as, U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the NNT Building in Tokyo and the World Financial Center at Battery Park City in New York.  He also designed the tallest buildings in the world, Twin towers of Pelli's Petronas Center in Malaysia.




Contemporary Design introduced steel, concrete and glass as the basis for modern design.  Richard Buckminister Fuller,  Charles Eames, Norman Foster, James Stirling, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers are a few designers/architects and engineers of this time, just to name a few.  The Centre Pompidou is one of the best known hi-tech projects of this time. 




The New York Five refers to a group of NYC architects (Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk and Richard Meier).  These 5 guys devoted the color white into almost all of their projects.

Deconstructivism emerged in the 1980s and 1990s seemingly breaking apart elements that were torn apart and reassembled in chaos.  Bernard Tschumi, Peter Eisenman, and Frank Gehry are a few architects and designers who were apart of the deconstructivism period.  Frank Gehry was the most important architect of our age.  The Dancing House in the Czech Republic is one of my favorite structures because it is so unique. 


Here is a video showing a few more examples of Deconstructivism design:

Modern Applications:

 

 

Discussion:

I looked at Emily N's blog and liked how she connected her trip to California with the school to buildings we talked about in class.  She also showed progressive steps of how some of the buildings were built in her pictures.  I also looked at Samantha's blog.  I watched her video about expanding on Contemporary design and thought it was a nice addition to her blog.

The Rise of the Decorator

 

This is the green room at the Emmy's designed by
Dorothy Draper Designs.

Dorothy Draper was born in 1889 and passed in 1969.  She was the type of decorator to use traditional furniture, but turn it into something unique and use in a non-traditional ways.  Her style was fun and appealing with a funky overall feel.  She was known for dramatic use of black and white on walls, floors and fabrics but clear vivid colors on most other aspects.  Her success led her to be on the cover of Time and Life magazine as well as become a writer of a well known news column.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cafeteria was one of Draper's famous interiors but her most famous was probably the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia.  This happens to be one of my favorite designs of all time.  I have previously heard about the Greenbrier, yet didn't realize the intensity of the project or that Dorothy decorated the whole interior.  I hope to some day visit the hotel to see the interior decorating myself.
 

Many of us have an opinion about the difference between an Interior Decorator and Interior Designer but back in 1925, the profession of Interior Decorators was the only way to go. The rise of decorators becoming more prominent began in Paris during the Art Deco period.  At this time, they were known as Ensemblier or decorateur.  There were many decorators of this time such as Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper and Billy Baldwin, but Dorothy Draper is who caught my attention. 


Elsie de Wolfe Interior

Now that I have talked about Dorothy, here are a few facts about Elsie de Wolfe and Billy Baldwin.  Elsie was originally an actress who pursued interior design.  She started out restoring Victorian interiors into light and bright spaces using French furniture.  She was an individual who helped interior design become a separate profession from architecture.  Billy Baldwin lived from 1903 - 1983.  He designed for the middle class and many famous people.  He only used a specific color scheme and believed that "Color is like icing on the cake.  I never begin with a color scheme, I end with it."




Modern Applications:

Entrance Hall Kips Bay Show House 2007 by Beale-Lana Interior
Design inspired by Dorothy Draper

Billy Baldwin Modern Interior

Modern Living Room inspired by Dorothy Draper




Discussion:

For this topic, I looked at Natalie L's blog and Katie K's blog.  I enjoyed their blogs because it is interesting to see how we all think differently and similarly about the designers of this time.  Both of  them used very cool pictures and Natalie's video was interesting to watch since I'm a fan of the Greenbrier hotel.

 

Modernism in America

 

 

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest designers of Modernism in America.  He already put his work out there in earlier eras, but now was his time to shine.  The Hollyhock House was built in 1921 in Los Angeles California.  This was one of Wright's monumental structures that was completely poured concrete with cast geometric ornament and had elaborate terraces and garden.  Wright's most successful houses of this time was La Miniatura, also in California.  This house was also made of that stable concrete block with a repeated pattern on the walls.  Wright's most famous house, and my favorite piece of his collection is Fallingwater in Pennsylvania that was built for the Kaufmann family.  This piece of architecture was a staple in Frank Lloyd Wrights career. 



Wright also did non-residential buildings.  The S.C. Johnson Company Office Building in Racine Wisconsin shows great use of daylight and detail with all the spindles throughout. 

Rudolph Schindler once worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, but eventually parted ways.  The Schindler House was a cooperative live and work space for two families.  Schindler and Richard Neurta lived in the house together with their families.  Neurta was also a designer who built the Lovell House after he establishes his own practice in 1926.  Neurta loved working with glass, steel and stone and that's exactly what he used to build the Lovell and Kaufmann House.
Philip Goodwin and Edward Stone designed New York's Museum of Modern Art which made modernism visible to people in New York.  Walter Gropius makes another appearance in AMerica other than in Art Deco style.  He started his own firm that allowed the first modern buildings on the Harvard Campus. 

One of my favorite homes of this time is the Glass House designed by Philip Johnson.  This house was influenced from Mies Van Der Rohe's Farnsworth House.  It is an all glass-walled box with brick used for accents.

Here is a comparison between the Glass House on the left and the Farnsworth House on the right.



The Glass House

The Farnsworth House

 

Here is a quirky video that talks about moving into the Modernism era!

 

 

Current Applications:

 



 

 

 

 

Discussion:

 

I looked at Emily N's blog for Modernism.  I like how she focused on talking about Frank Lloyd Wrights style and design and talked about how she preferred his designs to others.  The video was also a nice touch.  I also looked at Megan Yee's blog.  She picked out a few of the most important designers of this time and focused on those.  I really like her current application pictures as well.

 

You can view their blogs here:

Emily N: http://history1ean.blogspot.com/

Megan Y: http://history2mcy.blogspot.com/





Art Deco

Jean Dunand handmade screen

Eileen Gray collage of work

The Art Deco era started mainly in France and came to the US and other European countries at the beginning of World War II.  Art Deco was strongly influenced by Art Nouveau, was fashion oriented style, included skyscraper furniture, and was strongly decorative.  Art Deco consisted of  chevron shapes, zig-zags, African tribal art, large mirrors and the use of lighting fixtures called attention to modern materials.  Furniture design was a major factor in Art Deco design.  Ebony, zebrawood with inlays of ivory, tortoise-shell, leather, polished metals, mirrors and glass all make up the rich materials of furniture.


Jean Dunand was an artist who moved towards geometric forms establishing a factory that  produced screens, cabinets, chairs and tables.  Maurice Dufrene was also a well known art figure who designed furniture, textiles, glass work, metal work and interiors.  Jean-Michel Frank moved Art Deco design towards modern art and surrealism designing interiors for wealthy clients.  Eileen Gray was an expert in lacquer who designed highly original furniture that was cubist in character. 



Film Guild Theater

The United States had many influential people of the Art Deco era.  Paul Frankl introduced the use of plywood for furniture rather than solid wood and Joseph Urban designed the New School for Social Research which showed his talent in stage design.  Frederick Kiesler was also a stage designer in Vienna who designed one of the first modern interiors for the general public; The Film Guild Cinema on 8th street in New York.
Britain was also a place of influence for Art Deco.  Art Deco was typically shown in theaters, hotels and restaurants.  Gordon Russell was a spokesman for British design responsible for an exhibition room at the Paris Exposition of 1937. 


Scandinavian designs were influenced by classical styles.  Gunnar Asplund designed the Senna Chair which had a high back, stubby arms and a smoothly curved seat. Kaare Klint was the leader in the development of furniture based on human proportions and human needs, otherwise known as ergonomics. 

Senna Chair

Industrial Design created an interest in industrial production which created less emphasis on aesthetic goals.  Some important events of the Art Deco era include the invention of the radio, the design of the Rockefeller Center in New York as well as Radio City Music Hall and the Chrysler Building.  Raymond Loewy designed the Streamlined automobile as well as ships, retail stores, offices and passenger cars.  Gilbert Rohde introduced Modernism to Herman Miller in the 1930's.  Russell Wright was well known for tableware also called "American Modern." 


Interior of Radio City Music Hall

 

 

Here is an interesting video describing the difference between Art Deco and Art Nouveau

Current Applications:



 

 

 

 

 

Discussion:

I looked at Megan S blog for Art Deco.  I like how she talked about aspects of this time that she liked and considered to be her favorites like the textile design.  I also reviewed Allison's blog.  I chose her blog because we talked about similar Art Deco moments like the difference between Art Deco and Art Nouveau as well as the Senna Chair.  She also used similar modern applications of what Art Deco is now like I did.

 

You can view their blogs here:

Megan S: http://history1mes.blogspot.com/

Allison: http://history2as.blogspot.com/

 

 



The Emergence of Modernism

 This era took design to a whole new direction.  There were four major architects of this "modern movement".  Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Mies Van Der Rohe were the four men who changed how we now look at this modern era. 

Frank Lloyd Wright began his career in 1920 designing over 1000 structures and building 532 works.  His focus was on "Organic Architecture" and in 1893 he started his own practice in Oak Park, Illinois where he studied architecture and design. Throughout his many successes, the Unity Temple in Oak Park Illinois is the only surviving public building from his Prairie period. 



This temple was made of complete concrete and had a cubist theme.  Some of the other residential accomplishments of Wright include, The Rookery in Chicago, the Winslow House in River Forest Illinois and a Prairie House in Kankakee Illinois.  He also did many commercial style buildings.  These include the Larkin Company in New York, Avery Coonley and the Imperial Hotel in Japan. 
Wright first introduced the grid system, that we still use today, to allow him to build and design better. The Imperial Hotel was built so well that it survived a huge earthquake and World War II bombing allowing Wright to have much more respect and authority.















De Stijl was a period of expressing spiritual harmony and order.  The use of vertical and horizontal lines were used a lot more.  The Schroder House is a great example of showing how lines were used during this time. The red-blue chair and Z chair are very famous pieces of art within the De Stijl period.








Walter Gropius established his own architectural in 1911.  He was the director of the schools of fine art and of applied art at Weimer which eventually merged together to form the Bauhaus.  Due to economic and political problems, the Bauhaus close in Weimar and later on a new one was built in Dessau the school was forced to close in 1933.  The F 51 Armchair, Cesca Chair, and Wassily Chair are all famous furniture pieces from this era.
Mies van der Rohe was another influential man of the emergence of modernism.  He believed that "Less is more."

Here is an interesting video of the Gropius House that shows it built in 3D as well as the interior finishing's. Take a look!

Current Applications:

 

 

 

Discussion:

 

I looked at Natalie's blog and she did a good job talking about Frank Lloyd Wright and showing the interior and exterior of the Unity Temple.  I also like her video of Wrights Robie House and how it takes you on a tour.  I also looked at Paige's blog. She was very descriptive introducing the era and talking about each artist in depth.  She used lots of pictures to help the reader understand the style.





Deutscher Werkbund Movement

The Deutscher Movement was founded in Munich, Germany in 1892 by Herman Muthesius. This movement translates to German workshop and is very similar to the Arts and Crafts movement.  Germany wanted civilians to protest against the artistic establishment and set the stage for International style and Art Deco style.  German design needed to become more modernized so there was a collaboration between design professional and product manufactures to improve competitiveness. 

 

 

The workshop provides the opportunity to assess recent scientific advances and exchange ideas on the theory of infinite state systems.  A few year later in 1903, the Vienna workshop was established.  Otherwise known as the Vienna Secession, this workshop partnered with the Werkbund workshop and influenced the Bauhaus Designers. 

 

 

This exhibition building, shown above, designed by Josef Olbrich, was symbolic of a "proto-modern" building.  The style was very geometric with curvilinear artwork.  Speaking of artwork, Gustav Klimt was a famous Austrian painter and made a huge impact during the Vienna Secession.

 

Otto Wagner was an architect who designed furniture to resemble his architecture.  The Austrian Postal Savings Bank was one of his most famous buildings with cube shaped furniture. Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser were three other important designers and architects whose furniture style influenced this movement. 

This video shows some example of Koloman Moser's work as an artist and designer!

 

 

 

Current Applications:

 

 



Discussion:

I looked at Sammy's blog and I like how informative she was about this movement and her pictures really went well with her descriptions.  I also looked at Katie K's blog.  She really captured my attention with all of her pictures, especially with her current applications.  She went into depth about this movement starting from the early times and showed how it grew from person to person.

You can view their blogs here:
Sammy: http://history2sev.blogspot.com/
Katie: http://history2krk.blogspot.com/

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is a French phrase that means "new art".  This period took place from 1890-1910, just ten years after the Arts and Crafts Movement.  Art Nouveau was a time of economic growth and supported new and experimental directions of designs compared to the Arts and Crafts period.  One of the most important factors of this time was that Art Nouveau rejected academic models and traditional design.  Japanese art became a popular style and was used by artists such as Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Gauguin and Aubrey Beardsley. 

Art Nouveau in Belgium
Many countries were effected by Art Nouveau but Belgium and France were the leaders of the movement.  Victor Horta, a Belgian architect and designer, was a major influence of art.  He used conventional architectural motifs, unique iron railings, stenciled walls and ceilings and mosaic tile patterns.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Van de Velde was also a Belgian practitioner.  He designed his own house in 1894 as well as many other furniture pieces, cookware and table silver. 

Henry Van de Velde's house
 

Art Nouveau in France

Hector Guimard was the most significant figure in Paris.  He used decorative elements that could be reproduced for sale as products.  I'd have to say that Guimard's most well known and popular success was the Metro Subway Station.  He designed the entrance kiosks and detail elements making them tie in with nature.

Art Nouveau in Spain
Antoni Gaudi was a dominate figure in Barcelona, Spain.  Like the other architects and designers, he used flowing curves and unusual decorative details.  Casa Batllo was a significant building for Gaudi.

 

 

 

Here is video you should take a few minutes to watch!!

 

 

Current Applications:

 

Discussion:

 

Rachael's blog, like myself, talked about the difference and similarities between the Art Nouveau period and the Arts and Crafts period.  She really focused on the iron work and details of this movement and showed them throughout her pictures.  I also looked at Nichole's blog.  I learned all of the different terms that "Art Nouveau" goes by depending on the country.  I also like how she used different images that most other blogs that I read. It allowed me to become more interested in what she was saying.

 

You can view their blogs here:

Rachael: http://history2rap.blogspot.com/

Nichole: http://history2nk.blogspot.com/