Wednesday 7 December 2011



The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 within the short period of democracy that Germany experienced through the Weimar Republic, the school mainly operating from 1918-1933. The work they produced then was very nostalgic and almost medieval, it reflected attitudes of war, very reminiscent of past decades.




Dem antiakademischen Charakter des Bauhauses entsprechend schrieben sich Studierende mit sehr unterschiedlicher Vorbildung ein: neben dem Volksschüler konnte durchaus ein Akademiker arbeiten.
Um allen eine gemeinsame Arbeitsgrundlage zu vermitteln und sie in die der Schule eigenen Grundsätze der Gestaltung von Gegenständen einzuführen entwickelte das Bauhaus eine besondere Vorlehre, in der sowohl in der Umgang mit Materialien geschult wurde als auch die Eigenschaften von Farben und Formen eingehend erörtert wurden.
Dieser Unterricht wurde von den bekanntesten am Bauhaus wirkenden Persönlichkeiten wie Paul Klee und Wassily Kandinsky gegeben.
The character of the Bauhaus antiakademischen accordingly wrote to students with very different backgrounds a: besides the Volksschuler could well be an academic work. 

In order to give all a common basis for work in the school and you own design principles of objects to introduce the Bauhaus developed a special pre-apprenticeship, in which both in the handling of materials has been trained as well as the properties of colors and forms were discussed in detail. This teaching was of the best-known at the bauhaus-acting personalities such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.

Ein Grundsatz der Albers-Pädagogik war die weitgehende Selbständigkeit des Studierenden, mit dem Albers 'Finden' und 'Erfinden' anregen wollte. Sein Unterricht versuchte, auf die Einübung einer Arbeitsmethode zu verzichten, der Albers-Vorkurs lieferte keine 'Rezepte'. Stattdessen sollte der Studierende selbst 'Suchen' und selbständig ?Finden'. Derartige Vorgaben führen zu einem Unterrichtsstil, der starke Elemente des Selbstunterrichts aufweist.

A principle of Albers-Padagogik was the large degree of autonomy of the students, with the Albers 'find' and 'Inventing' wanted to stimulate. His teaching, to try to refrain from introducing a method, the Albers-Vorkurs did not 'recipes'. Instead of the students themselves should be 'Search' and self- ?Find'. Such targets would lead to a und mediative, the strong elements of the Selbstunterrichts.



THE SOMMERFELD HOUSE 


The Sommerfeld House was built in 1921, essentially developing the formal language of the Bauhaus. Consisting of spheres, triangles and rectangles Joost Schmidt and Walter Gropius were key figures at the school as it was primarily funded by Gropius himself. 

The curriculum at the bauhaus was based off of a very egalitarian mode of teaching, with artists and craftspersons working together in the workshop, there were often disputes ( artists considered themselves better then craftspeople) although disputes were worked through proving extremely beneficial for the result of the practices. These workshops were based around materials such as wood, copper, clay and stone as well as found objects. Students would learn about the scientific elements of a painting, it was a very calculated practice. Students were not informed of mass production. 

MARCEL BREUER & GUNTA STÖLZL
AFRICAN CHAIR

Breuer built the African Chair in 1921, a collaboration with Gunta Stozl who had designed the textile components. For the backrest, she had stitched abstract shapes made from a durable material by the wrap yarns using tapestry. 



THE WOMEN AT THE BAUHAUS

Many women applied to The Bauhaus, although Gropius did not believe women were apt to work in workshops. He did not see them fit to work with materials such as metal and stone, as he intended the workshops to be the domain of the male students. Women who were accepted to the school worked mostly in textiles. 

Marianne Brandt was one of the women accepted. She worked at the workshops and assisted in making a variety of products. Anni Albers was the wife of Joseph Albers, she created very linear style constructed fabrics as well as drawings. 

Both Marianne Brandt and Anni Albers worked collectively with partners, men would design the chairs while women would weave. 

 WEIRMAR

In 1924 Gropius reworked his idea of design. He began to concentrate more on industrial production instead of emphasizing the concepts of the artist // the designer. The school had a reputation of being a communist school at this time as well, it wasn't known for its productivity as it was known for it's radical political outlook. Gropius had to make compromises in order to keep the school running. He moved the school to a more industrial city ( Dessua)  and modified the structure. Reorganizing workshops around more functional utilities, for example the wood and metal workshops combined to create the department of furniture and household equipment. 

DESSAU

The Breuer Wassily Chair was built in 1925-1927, which demonstrated ideas of a more utilitarian purpose with an emphasis on visual effect although still extremely abstract. 


THE BREUER WASSILY CHAIR 

The school was closed in 1933 by Hitler even despite attempts to keep it open. The school had passed from Gropius to Mies Van Der Rhode, who turned it into a private school although Hitler still shut it down.


CAR CULTURE
MODEL T- FORD
MODEL A- FORD




Meanwhile, in North America, the United States were busy establishing their economic placement with the beginnings of the automotive industry in 1908 with the Model T. Invented by Henry Ford, it was the first automobile to meet mass production. It was only made in black to keep costs at a minimum, idealistically most obstacles would be reduced in the production of the car to keep assembly lines moving fast. 16 million Model T's were sold in the first 11 years, almost everyone could afford to purchase it. They sold so quickly that the workers were placed under high stress conditions in the factories. Many quit their jobs because they couldn't bear the fast pace, not being able to own a car and not being able to keep up with the times. Ford wasn't into this idea, because he couldn't afford to keep training new employees. He invented the five dollar day plan, where he increased the rate of pay ( almost doubling it) for factory employees. Society became more affluent around 1929 before the economy crashed, people were buying cars like hot cakes, some people even bought two as a symbol of status. 


GM started up with Alfred Sloan at their head, pushing to compete with Ford and launching cars quickly with Harley Earl in charge of design and colour sciences. Sloan came up with the origins of Planned Obsolescence.

Science was improving rapidly at this time, aerodynamics specifically were of interest as they provided the concept of streamlining to designers. Creating new revolutionary concepts, the technology revolutionized the design trends at the time, both in the automotive industry and otherwise. 


THE CHRYSLER AIRFLOW 


The Chrysler Airflow and the Union Pacific Streamline express are perfect examples of this new breakthrough in design quality.

The Chrysler Airflow eliminated the least amount of airflow resistance around the car, although it was too radical for the consumers at the time. The car was designed in collaboration with Norman Bel Geddes, who was an industrial designer who popularized the tear drop shape, it was the first American car to adopt the unified approach to the construction of the grill, hood and windshield. It was designed using the wind tunnel, which was an design made for aircraft but this was not appreciated by consumers because it was too advanced for the time. Additionally it was not fuel efficient and poorly executed. Chrysler capitalized on an innovative aspect of an aerodynamic shape of the train but the design was overall unsuccessful.




DYMAXION CAR

Buckminister Fuller invented the Dymaxion Car in 1933, which was extremely design based and essentially not marketed towards the mass populace. It was a three-wheel automobile prototype based on Fuller's principle of providing a maximum of human advantages using minimal energy and materials. This was also inspired by the tear drop shape and design. The fuel consumption was 30 miles per gallon, accelerating from 0 to 60 miles per hour in only three seconds. Unfortunately the car would not drive in a straight line and never met mass production, remaining a prototype.







VOLKSWAGEN BY PORSCHE

Volkswagen designed by Porsche for Hitler, as he requested a dream car for the German people. The car was inspired by aerodynamics and the tear drop shape. It was Never fully ass produced before WW2 ( 1939- 1942). It presented many characteristics similar to the Chrysler Airflow, also featuring a cool-air rear engine.

PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

When designers and manufacturers deliberately limited the life span of consumer products by changing the colour or making small cosmetic changes in the shape and form annually. By doing this, the existing product appears to be outmoded and customers are forced to buy the newer product in order to keep up to date. Durability and performance were overridden this way and aesthetic became prioritized. Unfortunately this provided the illusion of technological progress, in that companies became more preoccupied with the stylization and the visual appeal of an item and forgot to push technological and functional barriers. Planned Obsolescence became a way for companies to guarantee continual sales, and provide designers and advertisers with a way to make profit. 

The market is saturated with so many products, that companies are not able to sell their merchandise, thus planned obsolescence is the idea of creating something new by changing the look of a preexisting product. 

ZEPHYR CLOCK

K. Weber designed the Zephyr Digital Electric Clock in 1934, which was an example of streamlining as a fashion and a spread from moving objects to non-moving objects. There was a smooth casting as the shell of the clock, resembling a streamlining and suggesting a flowing of movement.

ELECTROLUX

The electrolux was a small streamlined vacuum cleaner. Made out of aluminum ( lightness ) and chrome-plated skids that would slide on the carpet. 

STREAMLINED SHARPENER

Lowey designed an streamlined and aerodynamic pencil sharpener, so that the consumer could easily sharpen their pencil with little to no air resistance.  This design caught heat from the MoMA, who were involved with curating " Good Design" in the 20th century. They disliked it ( obviously) because it was unreasonable to re-appropriate borrowed forms from unrelated modern machinery. This is an example of planned obsolescence. 



WARTIME INNOVATIONS

War and armed race fueled the design industry, pushing the evolution of the 20th century due to major collaborations with the American government. Projects largely correlated to the military contingencies, the progress transforming society through industry. The goal of a wartime economy is to produce more destructive material and weaponry in short peroids of time. Specialists work together under the guise of patriotic salvation to develop theoretical solutions, and pushing them into large scale projects. Iron, aluminum, alloy, tin and copper waste were all in high demand. There was a large urgency to recycle and reuse goods, pushing inventors to come up with new solutions to substitute for these materials. 

Government interventions ahd a fundamental effect during this time, as they placed more control on the civil liberties of the people and advertised life at home as luxury. Troubles at home were unacceptable and all concentration in society was focused on production to support the war.

Adjustments were made to the preexisting foundation of the country to make it more productive for wartime. Ford's automotive factory was turned into a tank factory, cadillac was to produce airplanes, and other factories changed their lines of production as well to meet the demands. 

THE JEEP

Willy's Jeep Model was invented and prototyped in a short period of time. The model was chosen to represent a perfect standardization of components as it was easy to build and could be subcontracted to different factories quickly and easily. The elements were totally interchangeable, and the vehicle was farily sturdy, it could hold alot of weight, suiting the militaristic outlook of American life. The jeep achieved an iconic level of popularity through advertising through and to GI soldiers and using the vehicles to liberate Europe.


PLASTIC IN THE HOME
1947


Other inventions encluded the development of an improved plastic. Plastic was the miracle material of the 20th century, used initiated by bakelite in 1907 which was a thermosetting plastic. It would bake into a hardness that could not be remelted. It was heavier then the plastics that we use today. Thinner and clearer plastics were invented for wartime such as plexiglass which was far more malleable. 

BAKELITE TELEPHONE
1907



Saran Wrap was also a new development, first used with machine guns on the front lines to avoid jamming. This is a perfect example of a domestic product that later was used at wartime and vice versa.  Melanin was a plastic component to a coffee maker, which was also later transformed into a domestic use. Melanin was intitally used by the navy to create break-proof dinnerware.


MELADUR DINNERWARE 
Made by Russel Wright in the Late 1940’s


By the end of the 1940’s, plastic was the miracle material for all consumers to have in their homes. When we think of plastic in that period we now think of TUPPERWARE, eg. Tupperware parties of the 40’s and 50’s. Earl Tupper was the creator of Tupperware. The marketing of this product and harnessing suburban wives into becoming promoters of the product was essential. The mentality still continues today. Tupperware agents would go door to door selling Tupperware, women would have Tupperware parties. Tupper offered a line of felixible containers, self sealing and airtight to prevent spilling and preserve freshness. This provided a sense of comfort in the storage of food, before and during the war people were not accustomed to this luxury, they would have to eat their food or throw it out. 


 PLYWOOD

Plywood was improved tremendously because of synthetic resin, it became possible to make fine quality plywood in sizes and shapes which were previously unattainable. In WWII, Charles and Ray Eames began to make splints and stretchers for wounded American soldiers out of plywood. 


SPLINT
Charles and Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames were also leading designers in furniture throughout the 20th century utilizing the technological developments in plywood to create new concepts of modern furniture.

THE ROLE OF MUSEUMS AND MANUFACTURERS IN THE PROMOTION OF GOOD DESIGN
1929

The MoMA in New York was founded in 1929, pushing advanced and avant-garde forms of art and design as well as architecture. This type of museum embraced paternalistic themes in an attempt to educate and improve the public, hoping to push an apprecieation of good design and its advantages. 



Organic Design in Home Furnishing Exhibition, 1941
 Organized by the MoMA, the exhibition showed inventive and creative entries by EAMES and the anticipated type of furnature adopted by large corporations after the war. The initial intention was to demonstrate the ability of design to meet the practical needs of moden living by using technology and modern methods of manufacture replacing weary forms and materials. They wanted to change the tradition of production in order to make it more modern, they pushed new models, designs and forms which would be accepted by consumers.

EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR
1940's 


 The Eames Classic Lounge Chair and Ottoman was one of the most iconic chairs in American design history. Made classic by film, TV shows and Hollywood, the chair appears often in popular culture as a status symbol. The invention of this chair brought immortality to Charles and Ray Eames, first appearing in the MoMA exhibition on organic furniture. The chair was considered a lounge chair, an alternative to the traditional armchair. The chair was made from 3 molded rosewood shells, black leather upholstery, and filled with foam or duck feathers. The ottoman was made from one curved plywood shell and was similarly padded. This item is still produced and is available for around $5000.00 although in the 40's and 50's it was sold for around $400.00. It was extremely expensive for the time as it required handcrafting and factory tooling it was also a departure from Eames' principle of creating affordable furniture for the public.

KNOLL
1938

Knoll was a company that had been sponsoring designer furniture since the beginning of the 1900's. Founded during World War 1, Florence Knoll Bassett worked and studied with a number of the artists involved with the Bauhaus, encluding Mies Van Der Rohe and Eliel Saarinen as well as Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Wallace K. Harrison. In 1938, Hans Knoll founded a furniture company in New York, but it wasn't till 1943 that Florence Schurst joined Hans in bringing business through collaborative work with architects and moving into interior design. They married in 1946 and became a full business partner founding Knoll Associates.
Saarinen designed the Woumb Chair for Knoll in 1958. The chair was made from fiberglass, and padded with foam. The chair was based on comfort, the concept of sitting, technological innovation, and individual self expression. Saarinen proclaimed that people sat differently in the postwar era rather than the Victorian Era. The chair was designed with flaring contours opposed to preprescribed positions of sitting determined by the traditional chair. The chair was extremely comfortable and welcoming although it did not loose its contemporary edge.

Saarinen also designed the Tulip Chair in 1956 for Knoll.

TULIP CHAIR 
1956
The chair appears to be a single form, but the pedestal is aluminum with a fiberglass shell painted white, the chair appears to be a unified structure although it is not. Saarinen's goal was to clean up the undercarriage of the chairs and tables that he referred to " The slum of the legs", unifying them to make the chair one again.

ISAMU NOGUCHI 
1947

Isamu Noguchi also designed for Knoll as well as Herman Miller. His boomerang coffe table was built from ebonized birch and glass. He was a designer, sculptor, and was primarily concerned with biomorphic forms. He combined his thinking with naturalist Japanese craftsmanship and melded it with the thinking of the Automatist Surrealists. The table is a functional object which is highly sculptural, which recalls the sculpture of Calder. 

HERMAN MILLER
1923
 

In Zeeland, Herman Miller furniture company began. Zeeland was a parculiar town of mainly Dutch descent which was formed by a Calvanist society. The hard work ethic made it the perfect backdrop for furniture making and factories. Herman Miller believed in utilitarian design with no frills, to suit the conservative Christian belief.

George Nelson was later hired by Herman Miller as a manufacturer. He was well known for his famous ball clock which reflected the atomic age. He was trained as an architect at Yale and had won the Rome Prix, gaining European experience. Nelson recommended a greater standardization, a move toward more architectural and corporate markets opposed to domestic markets.

GEORGE NELSON
Atomic Clock & Bench








At the same time as hiring George Nelson, Herman Miller also hired the Eames couple. He kept domestic furniture production but increased his office furnature production to keep up with the times. He marketed towards housewives and the latest trends of interior decoration with the concept of " Tomorrow's House".

Nelson Storeagewall Unit
1944, 1952


Nelson described the modern house as a unit that had to get rid of partitions and cubicles eliminating rooms. He believed that large rooms where storage was built into the wall units was most efficient. He created the storage-wall, which was part of the new architectural setting for the domestic environment. He promised to hold the post-war family's burgeoning supply of goods in a stylish and efficient manner. 
 Wall Unit
1950

Nelson also create the partition wall unit, using rods from floor to ceiling to hold the unit in place. This would not close off a room, as you would be able to see through the shelving unit if you desired to.
HOME OFFICE
1946
The home office was designed by Nelson in 1946, a rather modern design for its time. There was a very interesting combination between furniture spaces with desks + compartments, essentially creating something that offers a more uncluttered work and live space. Built into the desk was a drawer with a sliding door which was extremely innovative at this time. The desk was elevated on thin metal feet and the clutter was built out of sight with cavities and under-shelf voids. It was also very easy to clean, the perforated drawer saves material and still maintains its function. It holds the cabinets, and the holes allow for less material usage.

 KNOLL SHOWROOM
1950


The Knoll Company moved from Germany just before the war broke out and moved to America. They began manufacturing chairs, in a style of furniture typically described as international modernism which was promoted by MoMA.  Mies Van Der Rohe and Eames are both feature in the image above.

BRITISH MODERN DESIGN

England was trying to reorganize after the war, it had been damaged severely by the war. The Centennial exhibition was formed to celebrate the Crystal Palace exhibiton of 1951, 100 years later with the Festival of Britain in 1951.The festival suggested new, domestic furniture which promoted British manufacturing skills. It was an initiative to educate people about Good Design.

ROBIN DAY 

Robin day was a predominant designer in Britain during the 50's. His Hillestak Chairs were manufactured from plywood, with a beech frame and put together using new plastic glue. It was manufactured by Hille which was essentially the British equivalent of Herman Miller.



ROBIN DAY 
WALL STORAGE
1950


The beginning of a connection with an abstract shape. 



The austerity displayed at the Festival was enlightened with the fabric designed by Women such as M.Mahler with their fabric design such as floral forms which persisted through history. 


ANTELOPE CHAIR
1950 

Earnest Race had worked in the aircraft industry during the war. He wanted to use scrap material from war manufacturing to create furniture in the prevailing shortage of material. He designed this chair using the minimum material possible, while offering comfort and a colourful touch to add ‘ jazz’ to it. 
SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN burst onto the international market, capturing the imagination. Designers kept winning prizes and awards in international fairs such as the Milan Trienniale. 


KAARE KLINT 
SIDEBOARD


Kaare Klint not a well known international designer, but was an important Danish designer in therms of influence on later designers. He produced to meet the needs of perceived working class households and was disinterested in cold efficiency, nameless and faceless design but was instead interested in simple materials and simple wood finishes. Slight forms and natural materials communicated with warm and optimistic human aesthetic, more human then steel and plastic. 

AALTO 
SAVOY VASE
1936

Aalto made the Savoy Vase in 1936 and was formed in the shape of an amoeba, inspired by automatism surrealist painting. Aalto was a Danish designer, inspired by natural forms. He often blew glass in the middle of a wooden stick structure letting it swell into interesting shapes, the pieces were very artisanal, and resembled processes of production. 

AALTO
PAAMINO ARMCHAIR
1930


Aalto also designed the Paaimio Armchair in 1930. It was designed for people with tuberculosis. The design had to answer requirements of serial production and could not just be reduced to factors of utility or economy. The psychology and comfort were a major requirements. Aalto was anxious to provide seating which was welcoming and comfortable- he decided to work with tubular steel design chairs over an all-wood construction. This corresponded to the need to promote mass production which was in demand at hospitals at this point in time. The technological advancements of laminated wood usint local birch created free form curves for the seat and the back- the result is the expression of the free will of the artist and the employment of elasticity of the material.

The Student’s room in MIT for The Baker House in the late 1940’s was also designed by Aalto, although the bed has been redesigned but the principles are still the same. It makes the plumbing pole a sculptural component of the room, and uses the practicality of wood to create a storage space in the bed. It does not have the rigity of the Bauhaus mentality. 

The Y Chair 
1950


The Y Chair was designed by Wegner in 1950, wegner was a very important chair designer, characterized by attention to detail, structural complexity, visual likeness and the elegance and natural materials such as wood and rushes. SD is based on the use of teak – this wood comes from Asia and is not a native wood of Scandinavia. 

THE ANT CHAIR
1951


Jacobsen designed the Ant Chair 1951 which he named after the idea of a natural element, not intending to abstract the title. Jacob put Denmark on the map for international design with this chair. He also designed a dining chair, which is still very popular in its two versions with three or four legs, back and seat of pressed wood which is melded between two layers of veneer. The legs are tubular steel. 



L. JACOBSEN

EGG CHAIR
SWAN CHAIR
1958

Jacobsen is also known for L. Egg Chair and the R. Swan Chair ( 1958)
The swan chair is actually quite small- the national school of ballet uses them in Toronto. The chairs are oval and womblike, which is achieved through a manufacturing profess which included molded fiberglass and cast aluminum, with upholstering done in a new latex form with an emphasis on organic design with a bio-shape. 

ITALIAN DESIGN

Italy was strongly effected by the axis of evil in its participation in World War 2. The Reconstruction movement was supported by the Marshall Plan, which was the American implementation invested in the reconstruction of countries devastated by the war as a rebuilding program. Italy became a big modern industrial state, which was fueled by good design. 

VESPA
1940


The Vespa was named after a wasp which buzzes, similar to the veachle. It was designed by D’Asciano who had worked in the aircraft industry during the war, and had designed helicopters. There was a democratic vehicle for a society who did not use cars on a massive scale yet, much of Europe was not a car-culture based society like the U.S was. The vespa casting was a good example of how to create an appealing design within technological limits that were prevailing. Streamlining and a cutaway profile resembled the past decades and the design is overall very gracefull and sculptural, which was a good design for women who were wearing skirts who were sick of having to lift their legs over the bicycle seats. The advertising for the vespa relied heavily on Italian stars who were featured in films. 

LEXICON TYPEWRITER
1940



Nizzoli, Lexicon 80 in the late 1940s is another good example of streamlined design and is another solution that can be taken considering the limitations on technology at the time. This was essentially a sculptural form of a typewriter made by Nizzoli for Olivetti. Another important aspect of Italian Design is that they were supported by the government. Italian department stores supported their designers strongly, as did their magazines. The country did not have a very good reputation because of the war, but they rebuilt their esteem with efficient design capabilities and simulations of national industries of design. 

SUPERLEGERRA 
1957


Gio Ponti’s Superlegerra (1957) was built for Cassina. A beautiful chair that could be compared to Herman Miller’s work. It was designed with a simple timber ash for the structure and a seat made from cane. This modernized version of a vernacular country chair modernized traditional chararistics of a chair, in order to create a new version of the last. There must be a balance between strength and lightness, sturdiness and elegance. Italian designers were important early on in the process, understanding that designers must be involved in manufacturing. 



Gio Ponti’s Superlegerra ( 1957) was built for Cassina. A beautiful chair that could be compared to Herman Miller’s work. It was designed with a simple timber ash for the structure and a seat made from cane. This modernized version of a vernacular country chair modernized traditional chararistics of a chair, in order to create a new version of the last. There must be a balance between strength and lightness, sturdiness and elegance. Italian designers were important early on in the process, understanding that designers must be involved in manufacturing.

GERMAN DESIGN

Germany was completely devastated after WWII because they lost. Italy also lost, which is why they had to use the marshal plan in order to start all over again and essentially restructure their society with non-corrupt ideals. The Ulm school or the second Bauhaus came about with the Braun company. They quickly gained an international reputation. 

JAPANESE DESIGN

We usually don’t identify the Japanese designers names as we do in North American and European cultures. Designers tended to work in an anonymous way, and in teams rather than designers in the Western World. Sony’s Radio Transistor was a shirt pocketed size and was developed in the late 1950’s, it also brought the rights to the transistor design and insisted on miniature products due to the density of the cities. 


After World War II finished, Inge Scholl and her Father assisted in bringing the Bauhaus back into existance.




German Design was reestablished after World War Two under the Marshall Plan ( Assistance from the United States). The Bauhaus reopened and continued to work. The Hoschschule Für Gestaltung- HFG was opened in Ulm by former students of the Bauhaus, Inge Scholl  and her father were important designers during World War 2 and contributed to the HFG. Max Bill was the architect who had designed the school, it lasted from 1953 to 1968.




German Design emphasized a very democratic style of design to signify an emergence of new culture, the principles of the school were supported by the American Government. The materialistic interest built into the ideology of the school served the capitalist agenda. This was also the beginning of the Cold War, starting in 1946 and lasting till 1991 and was basically the West fighting ideals of Communism originating in Russia and its Satellite States. 


The staff and the students rebelled against the new mode designed to suit the American Consumerist system and ideals, searching for new ideals grounded in a systematic approach to design and looking for a stronger emphasis in science and technology with less artistic components.

SK4 
1956



Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot designed the SK4 Sound System in 1956, they nicknamed it Snow White’s Coffin because of its minimal and pure aesthetic. It represented the transition of early work coming out of the HFG. The sound system resembles the work of Joseph Albers, abstract paintings with clean lines which focus on function. The SK4 Sound system reflected a very scientific based way of designing, with an emphasis on sound technology and scientific measurement. It stood out from the heavier furniture that was being designed at the time, but it also stood out as more of an engeneering project opposed to a design project.


Transistor 1 was also designed by Dieter Rams, for Braun as a replacement for pre-war heavy radios. It was plastic, which was a much more compact design. It had pure geometric minimalism that later became the trademark for Braun. It also had clean lines replicating the concept of a more rationalistic approach that Rams had used in the SK4 System earlier that year. 


Thomas Maldonado was a precursor to the environmental designers that were later to come. His theories designed idolized and abstract shapes that later led to dead ends. He believed designers overlooked things in the name of science, which was a fundamental condradiction to the capitalistic society of the west that was developing in Europe although he was one of the first people to talk about design in a global and environmental context addressing issues such as hunger, disease and pollution. 

Brooks Stevens declared PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE as a summary to own something a little newer, a little better and a little sooner then necessary.

Vance Packard was a journalist who was writing about industrial design and advertisement as manipulation of of the public as consumers by creating false desires. He wrote the book Hidden Persuaders. 





CANADIAN DESIGN


Canadian museums participated in industrial design as it had become an important aspect of society. Canadian designers coninceded with the beliefs of their American neigbours, and educated consumers of good design and good taste jumping onto the “ Good Design “ bandwagon. The National Design Council was the first school of interior design, founded in Winnipeg and created a craft organization in the west coast. 


Knockoffs of Eames were common in these schools, as Eames had highlighted in the past week as one of the most important designers of the 40’s and 50’s with their veneer plywood chairs and storage units. Magazines participated in the shaping of consumer taste such as Western Home and Living for example interviewing the wives of Vancouver Architects for a grasp on good taste. 

JOHN STENE



John Stene was part of the Design Exhibition at the AGO in 1957. He was a Norwegian immigrant. He featured a chair and ottoman made of walnut with a woven seat which reflected his northern heritage.  His chairs, 57 and 58 were displayed and were weaves made out of craft paper. 


STEFAN SIWINSKI



Stefan Siwinski designed a 3 legged dining chair imitating the Eamses design, which was displayed at Milan Triennal in 1964, as well as the Jacobson Chair which they designed in 1951. Jacobsen also designed a chair similar to the Eames in 1951 which was a combination of Siwinski’s three legs and Eames’s manufacturing process and style. Things were beginning to loose their individuality and look more alike. 

COCONUT CHAIR - JAMES DONAHUE



James Donahue designed a coconut chair imitating Nelsons Coconut chair by Herman Miller. How embarrassing. This was because Canadian manufacturers could not compete with the American manufacturers. 




HIGH MODERNISM

High modernism took a while before it entered American Houses. Segram’s office was designed in the style. Herman Miller encorprated the use of ‘outside technology’ that was described as too expensive by the contemporaries. At production level, the innovative technologies were considered too inappropriate and too costly for retail markets by the small furniture industries.


The Aesthetic of high modernism was only exposed to middle class North Americans through museums and office spaces. They didn’t like it enough to reproduce the design in their houses. The house of the 1950’s was a mirror of their person’s individuality, a refuge from the world at large. If a chair were found in a public space like an office or a school, it probably wouldn’t be found in a home. Only the elite were prompted by good design in the combination of high and low modernism.




No comments:

Post a Comment