| Rosalie Stafford (homepage lifeloom.com) rosalie_stafford@yahoo.com office hours by appointment |
AR263 |
| Week 9 | 6
June 2008 |
RECAP: CONCEPTS
DESIGNERS "William Morris (1834-1896) was among the most creative artists Britain has ever produced. His accomplishments are extraordinary in their range and depth. He was a revolutionary interior designer and book printer, a staunch socialist, a famous and prolific poet, a weaver, embroiderer, dyer, calligrapher, translator, businessman, and architectural preservationist.... His influence extended from the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late nineteenth century to the organic modernism of Frank Lloyd Wright in America and the stark functionalism of the Bauhaus in Europe." ("The Beauty of Life: William Morris and the Art of Design" http://www.huntington.org/ArtDiv/Morris2003/Morris2003.ht ml) Drawing for Golden Lily wallpaper produced by Morris & Company, detail, circa 1897. Watercolor and graphite on paper. Printed wallpaper. C.F.A. Voysey (1857-1941)
"Voysey's early
work was as a designer of wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings in a simple
Arts and Crafts style, but he is renowned as the architect of a number
of notable country houses. ("Charles Voysey (architect) - Wikipedia"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Voysey,_architect)
"... C F A Voysey (1857-1941) was one of the most successful and renowned British Arts and Crafts architects. His elegant, white-rendered houses with stone window dressings and sweeping green-slate roofs combined clarity with a sensual appreciation of natural materials. A designer of all things domestic, as well as an architect, he was often involved in every aspect of a house's interior from wallpaper, curtains, and furniture to fire grates. Moreover, the fluid curves of his decorative designs and the elongated simplicity of his furniture prove him to be a vital historical link between the Arts and Crafts and the Modern movements." ("CFA Voysey" http://www.phaidon.com/Default.aspx/Web/c-f-a-voysey-9780 714837123) "[Voysey] was one of the first people to understand and appreciate the significance of industrial design... Although Voysey was influenced by the work of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau, he was concerned with form and function rather than ornamental complexities. His furniture designs were simple and functional, and only sparingly decorated... He eschewed the complexities identified with late Victorian design." ("Charles Voysey (architect) - Wikipedia" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Voysey,_architect) Louis Henry Sullivan (1856 - 1924) "With this early influence and his talent for drawing, Sullivan developed a style of ornamentation that reflected nature through symmetrical use of stylized foliage and weaving geometric forms. He was also heavily influenced by Asian design traditions, which also focus on geometric abstraction and linear design. "Some typical features of his ornament are: bold geometric facades dotted with arched openings, walls with highlighted low-relief sculptural elements of terra cotta, flat rooflines and deep projecting eaves, buildings segregated into distinct zones and separated by vertical bands of decoration, vertical alignment of windows, highly decorated friezes, and extensive use of ornamental vines and foliage. "American and European architects alike are inspired by his intricate designs, which express the building’s structure and ornament as one idea. Sullivan believed that ornamentation was not just an afterthought, but was integral to the building’s overall design. Many a critic and scholar have weighed in on the importance of ornamentation in Sullivan’s work. Sherman Paul, author, Louis Sullivan: An Architect in American Thought, wrote, 'Ornament and structure were integral; their subtle rhythm sustained a high emotional tension, yet produced a sense of serenity. But the building's identity resided in the ornament. It was the spirit animating the mass and flowing from it, and it expressed the individuality of the building…' "Some scholars and critics felt that Sullivan’s use of classical and Renaissance design was leading too much toward a revival of a Victorian ideals, which focus heavily on ornamentation. These criticisms did not deter Sullivan from pursuing his individual style and displaying ornament as a major element of his buildings." ("Louis Sullivan at 150: a comprehensive six-week schedule of public programming leading up to the symposium" http://www.chicagohistory.org/sullivan150/about/ornament.p hp) Purdue State Bank (West Lafayette, Indiana, 1914) "Sullivan's work strongly reflects the importance of organic ornament ... and the honest expression of structure and materials.... His own work departs from historicism, emphasizing the structure of the building and the properties of steel, brick and terra cotta cladding, and ornamental metals used in the development of skyscrapers and fireproof buildings. Major technological advancements the new architecture of Chicago, as it rebuilt from the Chicago Fire and grew quickly to become the major commercial center of the Midwest, enabled Sullivan to produce buildings of modern design, but intricate surface ornament both exterior and exterior was always integral to his work." ("Merchant's Bank" http://www.burrows.com/bank.html) Sullivan quotes:
Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) "In 1907, Behrens and ten other people (Hermann Muthesius, Theodor Fischer, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Bruno Paul, Richard Riemerschmid, Fritz Schumacher, among others), plus twelve companies, gathered to create the German Werkbund. As an organization, it was clearly indebted to the principles and priorities of the Arts and Crafts movement, but with a decidedly modern twist. Members of the Werkbund were focused on improving the overall level of taste in Germany by improving the design of everyday objects and products." ("Peter Behrens - Wikipedia" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Behrens) Gustave Stickley (1857-1942)
"Gustav Stickley established his own firm in 1898, designing and making his own furniture in Syracuse, NY. He introduced his first line, called The New Furniture, at the Grand Rapids Furniture Show in 1900. The style was extremely plain and functional, compared with most Victorian furniture. "In 1901, Stickley changed the name of his company to Craftsman... He also began publication of a magazine, The Craftsman, promoting his new design concept of simplicity, durability, and quality, and regarding his work as his personal mission." ("IDSA: Settle by Gustav Stickley: 1909" http://www.idsa.org/absolutenm/templates/?a=306&z=62) Michael Thonet (1796-1871) "Gebruder Thonet, the Austrian company founded in 1853 by German cabinet maker Michael Thonet (1796-1871) and his five sons, had 52 factories in Europe by 1900, making bentwood furniture. The Vienna Café chair No. 14 is probably the most successful example of Thonet bentwood furniture. Certainly it is the most simple and prolific. It was produced starting in 1859, as a chair for mass consumption, and by 1930, more than 50 million had been produced. It is assembled from six pieces of wood held together with screws and nuts, with a caned seat. "In fact, it expressed a complete rejection of decorative art, but within five years would greatly influence the direction of the modern movement, because of its emphasis on making the home a more efficient place, rather than the soon-to-be outdated emphasis on stylistic decor." ("IDSA: Vienna Cafe Chair: 1925" http://www.idsa.org/absolutenm/templates/?a=301&z=62 ) Le Corbusier (1887 - 1965)
"In 1928, Le Corbusier began designing furniture for his buildings, in part collaborating with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. The team created a series of steel furniture that would later become iconic pieces of the 20th century. The series, entitled Equipment for Living, included the 'B 302' swivel chair, the 'B 301' armchair and the 'B 306' chaise longue (above), which Le Corbusier called the relaxing machine." ("Le Corbusier: Architects & Designers: architecturaldigest.com" http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/features/2007/12/lecorbusier_s lideshow_122007?slide=4) 
Womb Chair,
1947 "In 1937, Eero Saarinen began a collaboration with Charles Eames which culminated in a series of highly progressive and prize-winning furniture designs for The Museum of Modern Art´s 1940 Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition. He later produced several highly successful furniture designs for Knoll International." ("Eero Saarinen http://scandinaviandesign.com/Eero_saarinen/) Charles Eames (1907-1978)
VISIONARIES
Claude Nicolas Ledoux, Ideal City of Chaux "Claude Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806) was a French neoclassical architect. Known as a Utopian, he hoped that urban design and architecture could lead to an ideal society. Despite this, his great works were funded by the French monarchy and came to be seen as symbols of the ancien regime. His career was thus curtailed by the French Revolution. In 1804 he published a book on his works titled L'Architecture considérée sous le rapport de l'art, des mœurs et de la législation. "His most ambitious work was the uncompleted Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, a utopian town showing many examples of architecture parlante. " He also designed about 60 elaborate toll gates on the Wall of the Farmers-General around Paris." ("Essential World Architecture Images- Claude Nicolas Ledoux" http://www.essential-architecture.com/ARCHITECT/ARCH-Ledoux.htm) Ledoux's Design, Royal Saltworks (Arc-et-Senans,1779)
"The Royal Saltworks (Saline Royale) at Arc et Senans, built in 1779 by Claude Nicolas Ledoux, was a factory for the production of salt by heat evaporation of salted water. The complex consists of 11 buildings, not only workshops but also workers home, and is laid out in a semicircle around the Directors House. It was part of a bigger, unrealised plan of a circle containing the factory as well as other buildings of the ideal city of Chaux. The factory was in production until 1895." ("France, Royal Saltworks of Arc et Senans" http://leonardfrank.com/Worldheritage/ArcetSenans.html)
 
|
Voysey fabric and wallpaper designs
"Through the use of ornament, Sullivan believed, the architect could
establish an organic connection linking the practical and rational aspects
of building design and demonstrating the underlying similarities between
the simple geometries of science and the curvilinear configurations
of nature." ("The Art Institute of Chicago: Exhibitions"
Clock designed by Peter Behrens, who is considered
the world's first industrial designer. 
Craftsman settle, 1909
"The Vienna Café chair No. 14 achieved
a permanent place in modern design history when it was included in an
innovative housing exhibit called L'Esprit Nouveau at the Paris Exposition
Internationale in 1925. Virtually un-noticed at the time, the exhibit,
designed by French architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965--born as Charles
Edouard Jeanneret Gris ) and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret (1896-1967),
was an essentially bare and undecorated home interior, with metal file
cabinets, bistro wine glasses, laboratory flasks as vases, industrial
equipment, and commercial furniture (the Thonet chair) as part of the
decor. 
The “B
306” chaise longue, crafted with steel and leather 
Paimio
chairs
Stackable stools
Paimio
chair,
manufactured by Artek
Tulip Chair, 1956
"The first successfully mass-produced molded plastic chairs,
these were molded in fiberglass reinforced polyester and designed by
Charles Eames (1907-1978) in 1948. They were introduced in 1951 by the
Herman Miller Furniture Company and were produced in a variety of individual
variations through 1995." ("IDSA: Eames
Fiberglass Chairs: 1948" 
Today
Unité
d'Habitation (Marseille, 1945) 
"Le
Corbusier formulates his ideas for the future, designing a
contemporary city for three million inhabitants. In
1922 the principles are clear. This city is dense, rational, organised;
to put it in a nutshell - urban.
Broadacre City model
Jacobs
House plan