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Ruhlmann’s Deco-look puts down roots in a property. It suggests a level of commitment and permanence that doesn’t exist with the latest low-slung sofa from the Salone del Mobile. The materials used – or originally used – are extravagant and an investment: ebony, amboyna, rosewood and amaranth, shagreen, ivory, tortoiseshell and lacquer. It may read as classic as well as luxe, but Deco comes from a time of huge industrial advancements, which is why the shapes of so many of the pieces are so directional and overtly progressive. Ruhlmann’s console tables with incredible tapered legs and round mirrors would have looked sci-fi experimental at the time. In the 1920 and 1930s craftsmen were able to develop new materials, and work with them in new ways. One of the reasons why mirrors feature as prominently as marquetry in Deco furniture is that there were so many new possibilities. “Mirroring was a very important part of Art Deco styling,” says Rupert Bevan, whose workshop creates bespoke pieces for interior designers. “The manufacturing process was developed and advanced during the period, and it was also a way to create light to sumptuous effect.”
Has there been another design movement as alluring as well as powerful as Art Deco? It’s difficult to think of one that comes close. It’s romantic without being twee, full of muscular machine-age flourishes. The Chrysler Building is its beacon of inspiration. Even the edgiest of aesthetes succumb to its charms. Rick Owens, the fashion and furniture designer who fills his catwalk shows with the sound of the most aggressive industrial music imaginable, and who has based whole fashion collections on Brutalist architecture, loves it. He has borrowed from the silhouettes of Ruhlmann and the other Deco masters for his own limited edition furniture designs. He finds the whole thing intellectually stimulating as well as emotional. “That linear modernism is very appealing,” he says. “There’s a simple elegance but also a yearning to it, it’s quite melancholy. The aspirational aspect is about looking for a perfection that will always be out of reach.” Out of reach, perhaps, but as close to design perfection as we may ever get.
Thanks to: Accouter Design accouterdesign.com | + 44 20 3651 3325