The essence of design - Erzsébet Szeréna Zoltán

The essence of design

Erzsébet Szeréna Zoltán

The essence of design

Pécs 2020

The essence of design course material was developed under the project EFOP 3.4.316-2016-00005 "Innovative university in a modern city: open-minded, value-driven and inclusive approach in a 21st century higher education model".

EFOP 3.4.3-16-2016-00005 "Innovative university in a modern city: open-minded, value-driven and inclusive approach in a 21st century higher education model".

Erzsébet Szeréna Zoltán

The essence of design

Pécs 2020

A The essence of design. tananyag az EFOP-3.4.3-16-2016-00005 azonosító számú, „Korszerű egyetem a modern városban: Értékközpontúság, nyitottság és befogadó szemlélet egy 21. századi felsőoktatási modellben” című projekt keretében valósul meg.

EFOP-3.4.3-16-2016-00005 Korszerű egyetem a modern városban: Értékközpontúság, nyitottság és befogadó szemlélet egy 21. századi felsőoktatási modellben

THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN

THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN A STUDY GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND GREAT DESIGN _UNIVERSITY OF PÉCS _FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY _HUNGARY

THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN- A STUDY GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND GREAT DESIGN COURSE MATERIAL WAS DEVELOPED UNDER THE PROJECT EFOP 3.4.3-16-2016-00005 “INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY IN A MODERN CITY: OPEN-MINDED, VALUE-DRIVEN AND INCLUSIVE APPROACH IN A 21ST CENTURY HIGHER EDUCATION MODEL”.

THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN- A STUDY GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND GREAT DESIGN TANANYAG AZ EFOP-3.4.316-2016-00005 AZONOSÍTÓ SZÁMÚ, „KORSZERŰ EGYETEM A MODERN VÁROSBAN: ÉRTÉKKÖZPONTÚSÁG, NYITOTTSÁG ÉS BEFOGADÓ SZEMLÉLET EGY 21. SZÁZADI FELSŐOKTATÁSI MODELLBEN” CÍMŰ PROJEKT KERETÉBEN VALÓSUL MEG.

EFOP 3.4.3-16-2016-00005 “INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY IN A MODERN CITY: OPEN-MINDED, VALUE-DRIVEN AND INCLUSIVE APPROACH IN A 21ST CENTURY HIGHER EDUCATION MODEL”.

EFOP-3.4.3-16-2016-00005 KORSZERŰ EGYETEM A MODERN VÁROSBAN: ÉRTÉKKÖZPONTÚSÁG, NYITOTTSÁG ÉS BEFOGADÓ SZEMLÉLET EGY 21. SZÁZADI FELSŐOKTATÁSI MODELLBEN

THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN A STUDY GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND GREAT DESIGN

WRITTEN BY DR. ERZSÉBET SZERÉNA ZOLTÁN LECTOR DR. DONÁT RÉTFALVI GRAPHICS CREDITED TO DALMA HETESI BENJÁMIN LAKI DALMA LÁSZLÓ CECILIA MILANOVICS EDITED BY DR. ERZSÉBET SZERÉNA ZOLTÁN PUBLISHED IN 2020 UNIVERSITY OF PÉCS FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE RESPONSIBLE PUBLISHER PROF. GABRIELLA MEDVEGY - DEAN ISBN 978-963-429-604-1 (PDF) ISBN 978-963-429-605-8 (EPUB)

4

DR ERZSÉBET SZERÉNA ZOLTÁN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

00

_PREFACE

00_PREFACE 5 01_INTRODUCTION 7 02_DESIGN HISTORY BRIEF

11

03_DESIGN MATTERS

13

04_DESIGN MASTERS 21 4.1_MICHAEL THONET 22 4.2_CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH 26 4.3_JOSEF HOFFMANN 30 4.4_GERRIT RIETVELD 34 4.5_CHRISTIAN DELL 38 4.6_WILHELM WANGENFELD 40 4.7_MART STAM 42 4.8_MARCEL BREUER 44 4.9_LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE 48 4.10_MARIANNE BRANDT 52 4.11_EILEEN GRAY 54 4.12_LE CORBUSIER 56 4.13_LE CORBUSIER, PIERRE JEANNARET & CHARLOTTE PERRIAND 58 4.14_CHARLOTTE PERRIAND 64 4.15_WILLEM HENDRIK GISPEN 66 4.16_DONALD DESKEY 68 4.17_JEAN PROUVÉ 70 4.18_GEORGE CARWARDINE 74 4.19_ALVAR AALTO 76 4.20_POUL HENNINGSEN 80 4.21_FLORENCE KNOLL 84 4.22_CHARLES & RAY EAMES 86 4.23_EERO SAARINEN 92

4.24_ISAMU NOGUCHI 96 4.25_GEORGE NELSON 100 4.26_HARRY BERTOIA 104 4.27_ARNE JACOBSEN 108 4.28_SORI YANAGI 112 4.29_POUL KJAERHOLM 114 4.30_ACHILLE&PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI 118 4.31_VERNER PANTON 122 4.32_JOE COLOMBO 126 4.33_GAE AULENTI 130 4.34_EERO AARNIO 134 4.35_CINI BOERI 138 4.36_ETTORE SOTTSAS 140 4.37_SHIRO KURAMATA 142 4.38_TOSHIYUKI KITA 144 4.39_RICHARD SAPPER 146 4.40_MICHELE DE LUCCHI 148 4.41_MICHEAL GRAVES 150 4.42_PHILIPPE STARCK 152 4.43_JASPER MORRISON 156 4.44_MARC NEWSON 160 4.45_ANTONIO CITTERIO 164 4.46_RON ARAD 168 4.47_MARCEL WANDERS 172 4.48_PATRICIA URQUIOLA 176 4.49_TOM DIXON 180 4.50_KONSTANTIN GRCIC 182 4.51_RONAN & ERWAN BOURUOLLEC 186 4.52_JAMIE HAYON 190 05_REFERENCES 197 5

6

01

_VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM

_INTRODUCTION

DESIGN IS PART OF OUR EVERYDAY LIFE. A DESIGNER HAS CREATED ALMOST EVERYTHING THAT SURROUNDS US AT HOME OR WORK. WHETHER THE CHAIR WE SIT ON OR THE GLASS WE DRINK FROM, THE COMPUTER WE WORK WITH, OR EVEN OUR TOOTHBRUSH: SOMEONE HAS THOUGHT THROUGH EXACTLY HOW IT SHOULD LOOK, HOW IT SHOULD WORK, AND WHAT MATERIALS IT SHOULD BE MADE OF. SOMEONE MADE SKETCHES, DRAWINGS, AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CREATE THEM: THE WAY ALMOST ALL PRODUCTS ARE MADE TODAY. DESIGNERS SHAPE OUR ENVIRONMENT DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL, MAKING THEM ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE. THE TERM INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IS USED TO THE PRODUCTS OF THE POST-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION SOCIETY. BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, THE CONCEPT OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER - WITH THE TASK OF ADAPTING THE NEW PRODUCTS OF INDUSTRY TO THE MASS MARKET - DID NOT EXIST. ARTISANS AND CRAFTSMEN HAD THE TASK OF CREATING OBJECTS FOR THE HOME. THE DESIGNER’S PROFESSION GRADUALLY EMERGED DURING THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES WITH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. BEFORE THAT, MAINLY ARTISANS MADE EVERYDAY OBJECTS. DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, MORE AND MORE THINGS WERE BEING PRODUCED IN FACTORIES. DESIGNERS WERE EMPLOYED TO DEVELOP DESIGNS AND MODELS THAT WERE THEN MACHINE FORMED, CUT, PUT TOGETHER, AND 7

TREATED. WITH THE INCREASING PROSPERITY OF THE BOURGEOISIE, THE DEMAND FOR FURNITURE, LIGHTS, AND CUTLERY FOR HOUSEHOLDS AND OFFICES ALSO GREW. THIS IS HOW THE SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN DESIGNERS AND PRODUCTION COMPANIES DEVELOPED FROM THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. SOME DESIGNERS INITIALLY REJECTED MASS PRODUCTION, SUCH AS THE FOUNDERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ARTS AND CRAFT MOVEMENT, A DESIGN STYLE, AND AN ETHICAL MOVEMENT. THE LEADERS, AMONGST OTHERS JOHN RUSKIN, WILLIAM MORRIS, WALTER CRANE, R.W. LETHABY, ETC. HAD GRAND AMBITIONS TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY. THEY SAW INDUSTRIALIZATION ONLY IN TERMS OF LARGE, UGLY CITIES, POLLUTION, AND SLUM HOUSING, FEELING THAT INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DESTROYED THE TRADITIONAL VALUES. ANTIINDUSTRIALIZATION WAS AN INSTINCTIVE REACTION AGAINST THE HIGHLY VISIBLE EFFECTS OF THE INDUSTRY. DESPISING THE VALUES OF CAPITALISM THAT COULD RUIN THE QUALITY OF PEOPLE’S LIVES, WILLIAM MORRIS BECAME A COMMITTED SOCIALIST AND ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL THINKERS OF HIS GENERATION. HE PRESENTED HIS APPROACH IN A LECTURE TITLED ‚THE BEAUTY OF LIFE’: ‚IF YOU WANT A GOLDEN RULE THAT WILL FIT EVERYBODY, THIS IS IT: HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR HOUSES THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW TO BE USEFUL, OR BELIEVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL.’ ONE OF HIS MAIN PRINCIPLES WAS TRUTH TO MATERIALS. HE BELIEVED THAT EVERY MATERIAL HAS ITS OWN VALUE: THE NATURAL GRAIN OF THE WOOD, FOR EXAMPLE, OR POTTERY TEXTURE. HE REVIVED TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION METHODS, WHICH HAD BEEN REPLACED BY NEW INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES. THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT BROUGHT A REVIVAL IN BRITISH DESIGN, AND BY 1900, IT HAD HAD A GLOBAL IMPACT. IN GERMANY, FOR INSTANCE, THE DARMSTÄDTER KÜNSTLER KOLONIE (DARMSTADT ARTISTS’ COLONY) AND THE DEUTSCHE WERKSTÄTTEN FÜR HANDWERKSKUNST (GERMAN HANDICRAFT WORKSHOPS) WERE ARTS AND CRAFTS ENTERPRISES SHARING COMMON VALUES WITH THEIR BRITISH COUNTERPARTS. THE DEUTSCHE WERKBUND, THOUGH CONCERNED PRIMARILY WITH LARGE-SCALE 8

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, NUMBERED MANY CRAFTSMEN AND CRAFTSWOMEN AMONG ITS MEMBERS. IN 1919, THE BAUHAUS ALSO HAD STRONG ARTS AND CRAFTS AFFINITIES, RUNNING COURSES ORGANIZED AS WORKSHOPS: IN CERAMICS, METALWORK, WEAVING AND TEXTILES, AND WOODWORK. THEIR ENTIRELY PRACTICAL APPROACH TO STUDY DESIGN UNDOUBTEDLY DERIVED FROM ARTS AND CRAFTS EXEMPLARS. WITH THE FIRST WORLD WAR OUTBREAK, THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT’S ACTIVITIES CAME TO A STANDSTILL. THE MOVEMENT RAPIDLY DECLINED IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, BUT ITS IDEAS REMAIN SIGNIFICANT. THE DEBATES ABOUT CRAFT VERSUS MACHINE PRODUCTION, THE PURPOSE, AND FUNCTION OF DESIGN ARE STILL IMPORTANT. ARTS AND CRAFTS’ DEEP CONCERN FOR SOCIAL ISSUES IS ALSO RELEVANT. MORRIS HELD STRONG OPINIONS THAT THE DESIGNER HAS A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS THE GREATER GOOD AND SAW HIMSELF AS A SOCIALIST AND REVOLUTIONARY. ON THE CONTRARY, SOME DESIGNERS SAW INDUSTRIALIZATION AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE USEFUL AND ATTRACTIVE THINGS FROM MODERN MATERIALS USING NEW, FASTER PRODUCTION METHODS. LOOKING AROUND TODAY, WE CAN SAY THAT THE FRUITFUL COLLABORATION BETWEEN DESIGN AND PRODUCTION BROUGHT US INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS, TECHNICAL DEVICES. THE PERCEPTION OF DESIGN IS VERY INDIVIDUAL, BUT THROUGH KNOWLEDGE, YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR DESIGN-SENSITIVITY. THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE CLOSER YOU LOOK AND THE MORE EXCITING OR PLEASANT THINGS YOU DISCOVER. THIS STUDY MATERIAL SELECTS THE MOST FAMOUS AND ICONIC DESIGN CLASSICS OF THE LAST 150 YEARS, FROM THONET’S CLASSIC BENT WOODEN CHAIR TO THE LATEST CREATIONS BY THE BOUROULLEC BROTHERS, PATRICIA URQUIOLA JAMIE HAYON. IT IS NOT ONLY ABOUT CULT OBJECTS REFLECTING INDIVIDUAL GROUPS’ STYLE PREFERENCES, WHICH WAS A POPULAR CONCEPT IN THE 1980S WHEN A SERIES OF FASHIONABLE ITEMS EXPRESSED SPECIFIC LIFESTYLES. DESIGN CLASSICS REPRESENT PERMANENCE AND

LONGEVITY. CULT OBJECTS ARE MORE ABOUT FASHION, WHERE PERMANENCE IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE STYLE PREFERENCES OF A GROUP OF CONSUMERS WHO WANT TO BUY THE MYTH OF DESIGNER LIFESTYLES. THEY AIM TO DEFINE A STYLISH AND DISTINCTIVE IDENTITY. IN FASHION, IT IS BECOMING MORE CRITICAL WHO YOU WEAR THAN WHAT YOU EAT. THIS A WAY TO ESTABLISH YOUR IDENTITY AND STATUS – JUST LOOK AT SOME INFLUENCERS. WHAT KIND OF CLASSICAL FURNITURE OR DESIGN OBJECTS APPEAR IN THAT IMAGE THEY BUILD IS ALSO MORE AND MORE IN FOCUS. THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THESE OBJECTS, EXPLAINING THEM, OR WHAT THEY REPRESENT, THE USE OF SHAPE, MATERIAL, OR EVEN TECHNOLOGY, CAN PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THESE PRODUCTS’ STORIES AND DESIGN. DESIGN DOES NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE. GOOD, AFFORDABLE DESIGN IS EVERYWHERE. UNDERSTANDING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CREATION CAN RESULT IN GREATER APPRECIATION.

A DESIGN ICON - THE JUICY SALIF

BY PHILIP STARCK 9

10

02

_DESIGN MUSEUM / MUNICH

_DESIGN HISTORY BRIEF

BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY,- THE THREE MAJOR INDUSTRIAL POWERS, - GRADUALLY SAW INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS’ EMERGENCE BY THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS THIS NEW CONCEPT WAS TO DEVELOP EDUCATION FOR DESIGNERS. BRITAIN FOUNDED A SCHOOL OF DESIGN (LATER THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART) TO TRAIN DESIGNERS FOR THE INDUSTRY. THE BEST-KNOWN GRADUATE FROM THIS SCHOOL WAS CHRISTOPHER DRESSER, WHO CREATED MASS PRODUCTION DESIGNS FOR DIVERSE COMPANIES. THE ELECTRICAL COMPANY AEG APPOINTED PETER BEHRENS AS ITS INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY IN GERMANY. THERE WAS A GROWTH IN PROFESSIONAL DESIGN ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE DEUTSCHE WERKBUND, FOUNDED IN 1907. THIS ORGANIZATION WAS FOUNDED TO PROMOTE DESIGN AND INDUSTRY. THE WERKBUND WAS NOT AN EXCLUSIVE DESIGNER CLUB BUT WAS ESTABLISHED TO PROMOTE THE INTERESTS OF MANUFACTURERS, INDUSTRIALISTS, ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS. FOUNDER MEMBERS OF THE WERKBUND INCLUDED PETER BEHRENS (1896–1940), THE AUSTRIANS JOSEF HOFFMANN (1870–1956) AND JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH (1867–1908), BRUNO PAUL (1874–1968), ETC. IMPORTANT MANUFACTURERS WERE ALSO INVOLVED IN FOUNDING THE GROUP. THEIR CONCERN WAS TO ACHIEVE INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY BY PRODUCING SOUNDLY DESIGNED 11

AND WELL-MANUFACTURED GOODS. THE DECLARED AIM OF THE DEUTSCHE WERKBUND WAS ‘THE IMPROVEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS THROUGH THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF ARTISTS, INDUSTRIALISTS, AND CRAFTSMEN.’ MANY GREAT DESIGNS ARE REPRESENTING THIS ERA. PETER BEHRENS IS THE BEST KNOWN OF THE DESIGNERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WERKBUND, WHO WAS INVITED TO DESIGN PUBLICITY MATERIAL FOR THE ELECTRICAL COMPANY AEG. LATER HE WAS BECAME THE COORDINATING ARCHITECT TO AEG. IN THIS CAPACITY, HE CREATED NOT ONLY BUILDINGS, LIKE HIS FAMOUS TURBINE FACTORY (1908), BUT ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEMS, FANS, KETTLES, OVENS, CLOCKS, TYPEFACES, AND SHOP-FRONTS. HE CONTINUED TO DESIGN FOR THE COMPANY UNTIL THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I. IN 1914.

THE BEST WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE WERKBUND’S CONCEPT IS TO LOOK AT THE LARGESCALE EXHIBITION IT MOUNTED AT COLOGNE IN 1914, WHICH INCLUDED BUILDINGS BY BEHRENS, WALTER GROPIUS, HOFFMANN, PAUL, BRUNO TAUT, AND HENRI VAN DE VELDE. THE CONFIDENCE IN THE INDUSTRY DISPLAYED AT COLOGNE WAS QUITE CONTRASTING WITH THE ‘BACKWARD-LOOKING’ APPROACH OF THE BRITISH ARTS AND CRAFTS EXHIBITION, WHICH OPENED IN PARIS AT THE SAME TIME. AFTER WORLD WAR I, THE WERKBUND BECAME LESS CONCERNED WITH INDUSTRIAL DESIGN. IN 1920 A DESIGNER AND FRIEND OF MIES VAN DER ROHE, LILLY REICH, BECAME THE GROUP’S FIRST WOMAN DIRECTOR. SHE ORGANIZED AN EXHIBITION OF GERMAN DESIGN IN NEWARK, USA, WHICH WAS QUITE AN INSPIRATION IN AMERICA IN TERMS OF PRODUCT AESTHETICS. IN 1927, NOW UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MIES VAN DER ROHE HIMSELF, THE WERKBUND ORGANIZED AN EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO HOUSING IN STUTTGART. THE WEISSENHOF SIEDLUNG WAS MEANT TO BE AN IDEAL SUBURB. IN 1934, IN THE FACE OF NAZI DISAPPROVAL, THE WERKBUND WAS DISBANDED. HOWEVER, IT WAS REVIVED AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND IS STILL IN EXISTENCE TODAY. THE USA ALSO SAW THE REAL REVOLUTION IN MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES AND THE ROLE OF DESIGN. HENRY FORD DEVELOPED METHODS 12

FOR STANDARDIZATION INTO TWENTY-FOURHOUR ASSEMBLY LINES IN THE PRODUCTION OF HIS MODEL T CAR. THE FIRST GENERATION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING RAYMOND LOEWY, NORMAN BEL GEDDES, AND WALTER DORWIN TEAGUE, WAS ALSO INTRODUCED AND ACTIVE IN THE USA. THE TERM ‘INDUSTRIAL DESIGN’ WAS BECOMING WIDELY USED AND SEEN AS A WAY TO INCREASE SALES AND PROFIT. THE PROFESSION’S STATUS CONTINUED TO RISE IN THE POST-WAR YEARS WHEN DESIGNERS PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN REBUILDING DEVASTATED EUROPE.

THONET - MODEL NR. 14

03

AN INGENIOUS SALES IDEA: 36 DISMANTLED CHAIRS WERE PACKED IN A BOX MEASURING ONE CUBIC METER, SENT ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND ONLY ASSEMBLED ON SITE

_DESIGN MATTERS

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WORD ‘DESIGN,’ WE RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS BOTH A VERB AND A NOUN – SO IT REFERS EITHER TO THE PROCESS OR TO THE END PRODUCT. DESIGN IS ACTUALLY ABOUT SOLVING PROBLEMS, BUT IT HAS ALSO BECOME CONSIDERED MORE OF A LIFESTYLE, AN AESTHETIC APPROACH SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE. DESIGNERS GENERATE OBJECTS OR PLACES THAT MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON MANY PEOPLE’S QUALITY OF LIFE. NOT ALL DESIGN IS EQUALLY VALUABLE, AND PERHAPS THE WORK OF SOME DESIGNERS IS REGARDED AS MORE IMPORTANT. DESIGN HAS SEVERAL FORMS THAT DEAL WITH PRECISE AND VAGUE IDEAS, REQUIRING BOTH SYSTEMATIC AND CHAOTIC THINKING, NEEDING JUST AS MUCH IMAGINATIVE THOUGHT AS MECHANICAL CALCULATION. DESIGN INCORPORATES ENGINEERING, BUT IT ALSO REQUIRES CONSIDERABLE IMAGINATION AND CAN OFTEN BE UNPREDICTABLE IN ITS OUTCOME. ACHIEVING GOOD RESULTS REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE. MISTAKES CAN BE INCONVENIENT, EXPENSIVE, OR EVEN DANGEROUS. ON THE CONTRARY, GOOD DESIGN CAN UTILIZE THE POWER OF ART TO LIFT THE SPIRIT AND ENRICH OUR LIVES. BEING A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING PROBLEMS THAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY FIND HARD TO DESCRIBE AND CREATE REASONABLE SOLUTIONS FOR THEM. DESIGNING FOR OTHER PEOPLE MEANS THAT THE 13

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WORD ‘DESIGN,’ WE RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS BOTH A VERB AND A NOUN – SO IT REFERS EITHER TO THE PROCESS OR TO THE END PRODUCT. DESIGN IS ACTUALLY ABOUT SOLVING PROBLEMS, BUT IT HAS ALSO BECOME CONSIDERED MORE OF A LIFESTYLE, AN AESTHETIC APPROACH SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE. DESIGNERS GENERATE OBJECTS OR PLACES THAT MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON MANY PEOPLE’S QUALITY OF LIFE. NOT ALL DESIGN IS EQUALLY VALUABLE, AND PERHAPS THE WORK OF SOME DESIGNERS IS REGARDED AS MORE IMPORTANT. DESIGN HAS SEVERAL FORMS THAT DEAL WITH PRECISE AND VAGUE IDEAS, REQUIRING BOTH SYSTEMATIC AND CHAOTIC THINKING, NEEDING JUST AS MUCH IMAGINATIVE THOUGHT AS MECHANICAL CALCULATION. DESIGN INCORPORATES ENGINEERING, BUT IT ALSO REQUIRES CONSIDERABLE IMAGINATION AND CAN OFTEN BE UNPREDICTABLE IN ITS OUTCOME. ACHIEVING GOOD RESULTS REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE. MISTAKES CAN BE INCONVENIENT, EXPENSIVE, OR EVEN DANGEROUS. ON THE CONTRARY, GOOD DESIGN CAN UTILIZE THE POWER OF ART TO LIFT THE SPIRIT AND ENRICH OUR LIVES. BEING A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER REQUIRES UNDERSTANDING PROBLEMS THAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY FIND HARD TO DESCRIBE AND CREATE REASONABLE SOLUTIONS FOR THEM. DESIGNING FOR OTHER PEOPLE MEANS THAT THE DESIGNER MUST BE OPEN TO MANY INFLUENCES AND ARGUMENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR RELATIVE IMPORTANCE IN PRACTICE. THE PROCESS OF DIVERSE DESIGN FIELDS CAN VARY AS DESIGNERS EDUCATED IN SPECIFIC AREAS TEND TO TAKE A DIFFERENT VIEW OF PROBLEMS. FURNITURE DESIGNERS COULD PROBABLY TELL WHICH FURNITURE WAS DESIGNED BY AN ARCHITECT AS THEY CREATE OBJECTS TO SIT IN SPACE. WE WILL SEE AMONG THE MANY OF THE DISCUSSED CHAIRS THAT THEY OFTEN STAND AS SCULPTURES IN THE ROOM – BEING BOTH ICONIC AND SO UNMISTAKABLE IN FORM, AS OPPOSED TO SOMEONE TRAINED IN FURNITURE DESIGN WHERE ERGONOMIC AND OTHER ASPECTS ARE IN THE 14

FOREGROUND. A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THAT IS THE BARCELONA CHAIR BY MIES VAN DER ROHE WHO DESIGNED A CHAIR FOR HIS GERMAN PAVILION AT THE BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1929, WHICH SEEMS TO BE AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT OF BANK LOBBIES AND HOTELS ALL OVER THE WORLD. ARNE JACOBSEN CREATED THE EGG. MARCEL BREUER DESIGNED THE ICONIC WASSILY CHAIR, WHILE EERO SAARINEN DEFIED THE “SLUM OF LEGS” WITH HIS TULIP CHAIR. INTERESTINGLY, SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS INVENTIONS OF MODERN TIMES WERE MADE BY PEOPLE WHO DID NOT MAKE TRAINING IN THE FIELD THEY CONTRIBUTED. SOME DESIGNERS ARE EVEN DIFFICULT TO CLASSIFY, SUCH AS PHILIPPE STARCK, WHO DESIGNS BUILDINGS, INTERIORS, FURNITURE, AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS. THE MOST CRUCIAL CHALLENGE FOR A DESIGNER IS NOT JUST TO BE TECHNICALLY COMPETENT BUT ALSO TO HAVE A WELL-DEVELOPED AESTHETIC APPRECIATION. SHAPE, SPACE, FORM, COLOR, AND TEXTURE ARE PARTICULAR TOOLS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL, PRODUCT, OR EVEN GRAPHIC DESIGNER. THE RESULT OF THE DESIGN PROCESS, THE END PRODUCT WILL MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON THE USER WHO MAY BUY THE DESIGNER’S ARTIFACT. THE DESIGNER MUST UNDERSTAND THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE, THE VISUAL WORLD, AND IN THIS SENSE, THEY SHARE TERRITORY WITH ARTISTS. DESIGNERS ALMOST ALWAYS DRAW, OFTEN PAINT AND FREQUENTLY CONSTRUCT MODELS AND PROTOTYPES. STILL, DESIGNING IS NOT EQUIVALENT TO ART CREATION, AS IT DEMANDS MORE THAN JUST AESTHETIC APPRECIATION. DESIGNERS EXPRESS THEIR IDEAS AND WORK IN A VERY VISUAL AND GRAPHICAL WAY. THESE DRAWINGS CAN EVEN BE BEAUTIFUL TO BECOME ART OBJECTS ON THEIR OWN, SO IT WOULD BE TOUGH TO BECOME A GOOD DESIGNER WITHOUT DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO DRAW WELL. STILL, THERE ARE OTHER VIEWPOINTS NEEDED BEYOND THE ARTISTIC. ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL DIFFICULTIES AND

THE PROBLEM REMAINED STABLE OVER MANY YEARS. STILL, AS THE SITUATION SUDDENLY CHANGES, THE VERNACULAR OR CRAFT PROCESS IS UNLIKELY TO YIELD RELEVANT RESULTS. THE CRAFT-BASED APPROACH TO DESIGN, WHICH IS TYPICALLY THE VERNACULAR DESIGN PROCESS, CANNOT ALWAYS BE THE RIGHT APPROACH WHEN A SOCIETY IS IN A SUDDEN AND RAPID, CULTURALLY IRREVERSIBLE CHANGE. THE SELF-CONSCIOUS PROFESSIONALIZED PROCESS LED TO THE SEPARATION OF DESIGNING FROM MAKING. CHANGES IN BOTH THE MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE BECAME TOO FAST FOR THE CRAFTSMAN’S EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. IT HAD THE EFFECT OF ISOLATING DESIGNERS AND MAKING THEM THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. THE ARTIST’S SELF-CONSCIOUS RECOGNITION OF HIS INDIVIDUALITY HAS A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON THE PROCESS OF FORM-MAKING. WE LOOK AT THESE FORMS AS A SINGLE MAN’S WORK, AND SUCCESS IS HIS ACHIEVEMENT ONLY. THE SEPARATION OF THE DESIGNER FROM MAKING ALSO RESULTS IN A CENTRAL ROLE FOR THE DRAWING. IF THE DESIGNER IS NO LONGER A CRAFTSMAN MAKING THE OBJECT, HE/SHE MUST COMMUNICATE INSTRUCTIONS INSTEAD TO THOSE WHO WILL MAKE IT. PRIMARILY AND TRADITIONALLY THE DRAWING HAS BEEN THE MOST POPULAR WAY OF GIVING SUCH INSTRUCTIONS. IN THIS KIND OF PROCESS, THE CLIENT NO LONGER BUYS THE FINISHED ARTICLE BUT RATHER THE DELIVERED DESIGN, USUALLY PRIMARILY DESCRIBED THROUGH DRAWINGS. SUCH DRAWINGS ARE GENERALLY KNOWN AS ‘PRESENTATION DRAWINGS’ INSTEAD OF THE ‘PRODUCTION DRAWINGS’ DONE FOR CONSTRUCTION. WHILE DESIGN BY DRAWING HAS MANY ADVANTAGES OVER THE VERNACULAR PROCESS, IT IS NOT WITHOUT SOME DISADVANTAGES. IN SOME WAYS, THE DRAWING IS A LIMITED MODEL OF THE END PRODUCT OF DESIGN, AND YET IN A WORLD INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON VISUAL COMMUNICATION, IT SEEMS AUTHORITATIVE. THE DESIGNER CAN SEE FROM A DRAWING HOW THE

FINAL DESIGN WILL LOOK BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, NOT NECESSARILY HOW IT WILL WORK. IT OFFERS A REASONABLY ACCURATE AND RELIABLE MODEL OF APPEARANCE BUT NOT NECESSARILY OF PERFORMANCE, AS DESIGN DRAWINGS CAN MISLEADINGLY PRESENT THE APPEARANCE OF DESIGNS. THE ILLUSTRATIONS THAT A DESIGNER CHOOSES TO MAKE WHILE DESIGNING TEND TO BE HIGHLY CODIFIED AND RARELY CONNECT WITH THE FINAL DESIGN’S DIRECT EXPERIENCE. IT IS HARD TO GIVE A DEFINITIVE VIEW OF THE DESIGNER’S FUTURE ROLE IN THE CURRENT STATE OF UNCERTAINTY. IN THE LOOMING ENERGY CRISIS, THE TREND IS TO TURN TOWARDS SELF-SUFFICIENCY, SO WE MIGHT ENTER A POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY, WHICH, CONSEQUENTLY, NEEDS A POST-INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROCESS. OTHERS SUGGEST THAT THE IMPETUS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IS TOO BIG TO STOP OR EVEN TO SLOW DOWN. WE SHALL FIND THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION TO THE SUM OF THE ACTUAL NEEDS OF A PARTICULAR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. THE DEFINITION OF ‘OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS’ OR ‘TRUE NEEDS’ SOUNDS LIKE AN EASY WAY TO GO, BUT THERE IS NO WAY OF DECIDING BEYOND DOUBT WHEN A DESIGN PROBLEM IS DEFINITELY SOLVED. THERE IS NO NATURAL END TO THE DESIGN PROCESS. DESIGNERS USUALLY STOP DESIGNING EITHER WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF TIME OR WHEN THEY THINK IT IS NOT WORTH PURSUING THE MATTER FURTHER. IN DESIGN, RATHER LIKE ART, ONE OF THE SKILLS IS IN KNOWING WHEN TO STOP. THE DESIGNER MUST ALSO BE AWARE OF OTHER MORE GENERAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS COST AND MANUFACTURING LIMITATIONS, THE AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS, AND THE DURABILITY OF FINISHES AND JOINTS. BUT HOW GOOD RESPONSE IS A DESIGN SOLUTION TO A COMPLEX PROBLEM? HOW CAN WE CHOOSE BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE DESIGN SOLUTIONS? IS IT POSSIBLE TO SAY THAT ONE DESIGN IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER AND, IF SO, BY HOW MUCH?

15

FASCINATIONS OF DESIGNING IS EMBRACING SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF THOUGHT AND KNOWLEDGE. THE DESIGNERS MUST APPRECIATE BOTH ART AND SCIENCE, AND BESIDES, THEY MUST BE CREATIVE. DEVELOPING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF DESIGN AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF DESIGN PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS IS CRUCIAL. IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD, DESIGN HAS BECOME A PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY. THERE IS NOW A WHOLE RANGE OF DESIGNERS, EACH EDUCATED AND TRAINED TO DESIGN OBJECTS FOR QUITE SPECIFIC PURPOSES. GRAPHICS DESIGNERS ARRANGE THE IMAGES WE LOOK AT; PRODUCT DESIGNERS CREATE THE ITEMS WE USE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, AND ARCHITECTS DESIGN THE BUILDINGS TO LIVE AND WORK IN. DESIGN, AS WE KNOW IT IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD, IS A RELATIVELY RECENT IDEA. IN THE PAST, MANY OBJECTS DEVELOPED TO VERY SOPHISTICATED DESIGNS WITHOUT HAVING A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. THE SO-CALLED ‘BLACKSMITH DESIGN’ IS A PROCESS WHERE THE CRAFTSMAN TRADITIONALLY DESIGNED THE ITEMS WHILE MAKING THEM, WORKING WITH TRADITIONAL PATTERNS HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. WE CAN SEE THIS AS A NATURAL EVOLUTION, WHERE THE END PRODUCT BECOMES AN INTEGRATED RESPONSE TO THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM. SUCH A PROCESS SERVED EXCEPTIONALLY WELL WHEN THE PROBLEM REMAINED STABLE OVER MANY YEARS. STILL, AS THE SITUATION SUDDENLY CHANGES, THE VERNACULAR OR CRAFT PROCESS IS UNLIKELY TO YIELD RELEVANT RESULTS. THE CRAFT-BASED APPROACH TO DESIGN, WHICH IS TYPICALLY THE VERNACULAR DESIGN PROCESS, CANNOT ALWAYS BE THE RIGHT APPROACH WHEN A SOCIETY IS IN A SUDDEN AND RAPID, CULTURALLY IRREVERSIBLE CHANGE. THE SELFCONSCIOUS PROFESSIONALIZED PROCESS LED TO THE SEPARATION OF DESIGNING FROM MAKING. CHANGES IN BOTH THE MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE BECAME TOO FAST FOR THE CRAFTSMAN’S EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. IT 16

_GERMAN P BARCELONA

PAVILION FOR THE 1929 INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONA, SPAIN / ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1929, REBUILT IN 1986

HAD THE EFFECT OF ISOLATING DESIGNERS AND MAKING THEM THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. THE ARTIST’S SELF-CONSCIOUS RECOGNITION OF HIS INDIVIDUALITY HAS A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON THE PROCESS OF FORM-MAKING. WE LOOK AT THESE FORMS AS A SINGLE MAN’S WORK, AND SUCCESS IS HIS ACHIEVEMENT ONLY. THE SEPARATION OF THE DESIGNER FROM MAKING ALSO RESULTS IN A CENTRAL ROLE FOR THE DRAWING. IF THE DESIGNER IS NO LONGER A CRAFTSMAN MAKING THE OBJECT, HE/SHE MUST COMMUNICATE INSTRUCTIONS INSTEAD TO THOSE WHO WILL MAKE IT. PRIMARILY AND TRADITIONALLY THE DRAWING HAS BEEN THE MOST POPULAR WAY OF GIVING SUCH INSTRUCTIONS. IN THIS KIND OF PROCESS, THE CLIENT NO LONGER BUYS THE FINISHED ARTICLE BUT RATHER THE DELIVERED DESIGN, USUALLY PRIMARILY DESCRIBED THROUGH DRAWINGS. SUCH DRAWINGS ARE GENERALLY KNOWN AS ‘PRESENTATION DRAWINGS’ INSTEAD OF THE ‘PRODUCTION DRAWINGS’ DONE FOR CONSTRUCTION. WHILE DESIGN BY DRAWING HAS MANY ADVANTAGES OVER THE VERNACULAR PROCESS, IT IS NOT WITHOUT SOME DISADVANTAGES. IN SOME WAYS, THE DRAWING IS A LIMITED MODEL OF THE END PRODUCT OF DESIGN, AND YET IN A WORLD INCREASINGLY DEPENDENT ON VISUAL COMMUNICATION, IT SEEMS AUTHORITATIVE. THE DESIGNER CAN SEE FROM A DRAWING HOW THE FINAL DESIGN WILL LOOK BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, NOT NECESSARILY HOW IT WILL WORK. IT OFFERS A REASONABLY ACCURATE AND RELIABLE MODEL OF APPEARANCE BUT NOT NECESSARILY OF PERFORMANCE, AS DESIGN DRAWINGS CAN MISLEADINGLY PRESENT THE APPEARANCE OF DESIGNS. THE ILLUSTRATIONS THAT A DESIGNER CHOOSES TO MAKE WHILE DESIGNING TEND TO BE HIGHLY CODIFIED AND RARELY CONNECT WITH THE FINAL DESIGN’S DIRECT EXPERIENCE. IT IS HARD TO GIVE A DEFINITIVE VIEW OF THE DESIGNER’S FUTURE ROLE IN THE CURRENT STATE OF UNCERTAINTY. IN THE LOOMING ENERGY CRISIS, THE TREND IS TO TURN TOWARDS SELF-SUFFICIENCY, SO WE 17

MIGHT ENTER A POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY, WHICH, CONSEQUENTLY, NEEDS A POST-INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROCESS. OTHERS SUGGEST THAT THE IMPETUS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IS TOO BIG TO STOP OR EVEN TO SLOW DOWN. WE SHALL FIND THE OPTIMUM SOLUTION TO THE SUM OF THE ACTUAL NEEDS OF A PARTICULAR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. THE DEFINITION OF ‘OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS’ OR ‘TRUE NEEDS’ SOUNDS LIKE AN EASY WAY TO GO, BUT THERE IS NO WAY OF DECIDING BEYOND DOUBT WHEN A DESIGN PROBLEM IS DEFINITELY SOLVED. THERE IS NO NATURAL END TO THE DESIGN PROCESS. DESIGNERS USUALLY STOP DESIGNING EITHER WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF TIME OR WHEN THEY THINK IT IS NOT WORTH PURSUING THE MATTER FURTHER. IN DESIGN, RATHER LIKE ART, ONE OF THE SKILLS IS IN KNOWING WHEN TO STOP. THE DESIGNER MUST ALSO BE AWARE OF OTHER MORE GENERAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS COST AND MANUFACTURING LIMITATIONS, THE AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS, AND THE DURABILITY OF FINISHES AND JOINTS. BUT HOW GOOD RESPONSE IS A DESIGN SOLUTION TO A COMPLEX PROBLEM? HOW CAN WE CHOOSE BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE DESIGN SOLUTIONS? IS IT POSSIBLE TO SAY THAT ONE DESIGN IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER AND, IF SO, BY HOW MUCH? PHILIP JOHNSON REPORTED HAVING OBSERVED THAT SOME PEOPLE FIND CHAIRS BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE THEY ARE COMFORTABLE TO SIT IN. IN CONTRAST, OTHERS FIND CHAIRS COMFORTABLE TO SIT IN BECAUSE THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT. THERE ARE OFTEN MANY IMMEASURABLE VARIABLES IN DESIGN; THAT IS WHY VALUE JUDGMENTS SEEM INESCAPABLE. IT IS SOMETIMES CHALLENGING TO SEPARATE DESIGN FROM ART. DESIGN PRODUCTS ARE FREQUENTLY SEEN BY THE PUBLIC AS ARTISTIC, SOMETIMES EVEN AS ‘WORKS OF ART,’ AND DESIGNERS OFTEN SEE THEMSELVES AS ARTISTS. DESIGNERS MUST BALANCE BOTH QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE CRITERIA IN THEIR DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, AS IN THE EVALUATION OF DESIGN, BOTH QUANTITIES AND QUALITIES ARE INVOLVED. THERE ARE DIFFERENT CONSTRAINTS TO BE CONSIDERED. THE FORMAL ONES ARE THOSE CONCERNING THE OBJECT’S VISUAL 18

_THE B

BARCELONA PAVILION WITH THE BARCELONA CHAIRS DESIGNED BY LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE

ORGANIZATION, WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE RULES ABOUT PROPORTION, FORM, COLOR, AND TEXTURE. PEOPLE RESPOND WELL TO A CERTAIN DEGREE OF FORMAL ORGANIZATION. OBJECTS WITH A DISORGANIZED JUMBLE OF FORMS, COLORS, TEXTURES, AND MATERIALS ARE NOT ONLY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND BUT HARD TO USE IN RELATION TO OTHER ITEMS AROUND THEM. WE HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL NEED FOR ORDER AND STRUCTURE, WHILE ALSO APPRECIATING VARIETY AND SURPRISE. THE TRICK OF GOOD DESIGN IS TO GET AN APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF ORDER AND TO MEET THE SITUATION’S NEEDS. DESIGNERS ALSO HAVE TO BE ‘FUTUROLOGISTS’ A BIT, AS THEIR JOB IS TO CREATE THE FUTURE OR AT LEAST SOME FEATURES OF IT. BUT NEW OFTEN SEEMS TO BE STRANGE AND TO SOME PEOPLE AT LEAST UNSETTLING AND THREATENING. THE DESIGNER CAN ALSO TURN OUT TO BE WRONG ABOUT THE FUTURE, BY THE WAY. UNLIKE PREVIOUS GENERATIONS, WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITH COMPARATIVELY LITTLE TRADITION AND CULTURAL STABILITY. THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN DESIGNED AND INVENTED WITHIN OUR OWN GENERATION. JUST THINK ABOUT MOBILE PHONES, TABLETS ETC. DESIGNERS MIGHT RESPOND TO UNCERTAINTY

BY DESIGNING FOR THE PRESENT ONLY. THIS HAS MADE OUR SOCIETY THE ‘THROW-AWAY SOCIETY’ WHERE THE DESIGNED OBJECT IS REPLACED WITH A MORE UP-TO-DATE DESIGN LOT MORE FREQUENTLY THAN INTENDED. THE DESIGNERS OF MASS-PRODUCED GOODS ADOPT THIS STRATEGY QUITE OFTEN. EVEN TRADITIONALLY STABLE FIELDS SUCH AS INTERIOR DESIGN ARE INVADED MORE AND MORE BY THIS IDEA. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS CONSUMERIST APPROACH IS WASTEFUL OF RESOURCES. IT LEADS TO SHORT-LIVED GOODS OF CONTINUALLY REDUCED QUALITY, AND THE NEED TO REPLACE THINGS BECOMES NOT JUST AN OPTION BUT A NECESSITY. DESIGNING IN TIMES OF RAPID CHANGE IS DEFINITELY MORE COMPLICATED THAN DESIGNING FOR A STABLE AND PREDICTABLE WORLD. 19

DESIGN IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF. THE WHOLE POINT OF THE DESIGN PROCESS IS THAT IT WILL RESULT IN SOME ACTION TO CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT IN SOME WAY. MOST PEOPLE WOULD DESCRIBE DESIGN AS ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE OF HUMAN PURSUITS. THE SO-CALLED CREATIVE ARTS INCLUDE MUSICAL COMPOSITION, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND THE VARIOUS FORMS OF TWO- AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL DESIGN. IN THE CREATIVE ARTS, INCLUDING DESIGN, THE BUSINESS’S WHOLE POINT IS TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT OTHER PEOPLE WILL EXPERIENCE AND WHICH IS IN SOME WAY OR OTHER ORIGINAL AND NEW. AN IDEA THAT IS FUNDAMENTALLY NOVEL TO THE INDIVIDUAL MIND IS STILL OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE, EVEN THOUGH IT MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE NEW TO THE WORLD. THERE ARE OFTEN MANY DEVELOPMENTS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN DESIGN FOR WHICH IT IS QUITE HARD TO BE SURE JUST WHO HAD THE FIRST AND ABSOLUTE CREATIVE IDEA AND WHEN. HISTORY TENDS TO CREDIT SUCH DEVELOPMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS AS IF THEY WORKED IN SPLENDID ISOLATION FROM THEIR COLLEAGUES AND OTHER DESIGNERS.

BY COMBINING MANY NEW IDEAS, THE OBJECT CAN LOOK AND WORK DIFFERENTLY AND BECOME ALMOST A FASHION ACCESSORY - LIKE THE IPOD, FOR INSTANCE. OTHER DESIGNS MAY BE INTERESTING, ATTRACTIVE, EVEN EXCITING, BUT ONLY OCCASIONALLY IS A DESIGN PRODUCT GENUINELY INNOVATIVE.

20

04

_DESIGN MASTERS

WE MAY FIND MANY EXAMPLES THROUGH THE HISTORY OF DESIGN, WHICH ARE INNOVATIVE AND MOLD-BREAKING, AND THEY OFTEN BECOME ‘CLASSICS’ OF DESIGN, HAVING A KIND OF TIMELESS QUALITY. WHAT THESE DESIGNS HAVE IN COMMON IS NOT JUST THAT THEY BRILLIANTLY SOLVED THE PROBLEMS POSED, BUT THEY CHANGED THE WORLD IRREPEALABLE. THEY ARE TO THE DESIGN HISTORY LIKE THE GREAT DISCOVERIES OF SCIENCE. ONCE THERE IS THE BARCELONA PAVILION DESIGNED BY MIES VAN DER ROHE IN 1929, A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF BUILDINGS BECOMES POSSIBLE, IN WHICH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WALLS, THE ROOF, AND THE SPACES IS CHANGED IN FUNDAMENTAL WAYS. DESIGNERS MUST SOLVE EXTERNALLY IMPOSED PROBLEMS, SATISFY THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, AND CREATE BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS. THE FAMOUS ARCHITECT ROBERT VENTURI HAS SAID THAT ‘IT IS BETTER TO BE GOOD THAN TO BE ORIGINAL’ FOR A DESIGNER. WE CAN ARGUE ABOUT HIS STATEMENT AS THE RECENT TREND IS TO VALUE THE PURELY ORIGINALLOOKING DESIGN WITHOUT TESTING IT TO SEE IF IT REALLY CAN FULFILL THE DEMANDS PLACED ON IT.

21

4.1

_MICHEAL THONET (1796-1871)

BORN IN GERMANY, WHERE HE OPENED HIS OWN WORKSHOP IN 1819 IN BOPPARD. IN 1842 PRINCE METTERNICH SUMMONED HIM TO VIENNA. TOGETHER WITH HIS SONS, HE FOUNDED A COMPANY IN 1849; IT BECAME GLOBALLY SUCCESSFUL AND EXPANDED RAPIDLY WITHIN A SHORT TIME. WITH THE INVENTION OF BENTWOOD FURNITURE, MICHAEL THONET LAID THE CORNERSTONE OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION. MORE THAN 865,000 BENTWOOD CHAIRS PER YEAR WERE PRODUCED IN TODAY’S CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, AND RUSSIA. AFTER HE DIED, HIS SONS THEN TOOK OVER THE COMPANY. DURING THE 1930S, THONET WAS COMMITTED TO THE CONSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY OF TUBULAR STEEL FURNITURE AND QUICKLY BECAME THE WORLD’S LARGEST MANUFACTURER. WORLD WAR II REPRESENTED A HARSH CAESURA: THE PLANTS IN THE EASTERN REGIONS WERE DISOWNED. THE FACILITY IN FRANKENBERG (GERMANY), FOUNDED IN 1889, HAS BEEN THE CORPORATE HEADQUARTER AND PRODUCTION SITE SINCE THEN. THONET IS STILL A FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS AND IS MANAGED TODAY

BY THE 5TH GENERATION. THE COMPANY MANUFACTURES BENTWOOD AND TUBULAR STEEL CLASSICS AS WELL AS NEW MODELS, WHICH ARE DEVELOPED IN COOPERATION WITH FAMOUS ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS.

CHAIR MODEL NUMBER 214 - BENT SOLID BEECH CONSTRUCTION WITH A WOVEN CANE SEAT.

22

WE MAY FIND MANY EXAMPLES THROUGH THE HISTORY OF DESIGN, WHICH ARE INNOVATIVE AND MOLD-BREAKING, AND THEY OFTEN BECOME ‘CLASSICS’ OF DESIGN, HAVING A KIND OF TIMELESS QUALITY. WHAT THESE DESIGNS HAVE IN COMMON IS NOT JUST THAT THEY BRILLIANTLY SOLVED THE PROBLEMS POSED, BUT THEY CHANGED THE WORLD IRREPEALABLE. THEY ARE TO THE DESIGN HISTORY LIKE THE GREAT DISCOVERIES OF SCIENCE. ONCE THERE IS THE BARCELONA PAVILION DESIGNED BY MIES VAN DER ROHE IN 1929, A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF BUILDINGS BECOMES POSSIBLE, IN WHICH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WALLS, THE ROOF, AND THE SPACES IS CHANGED IN FUNDAMENTAL WAYS. DESIGNERS MUST SOLVE EXTERNALLY IMPOSED PROBLEMS, SATISFY THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, AND CREATE BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS. THE FAMOUS ARCHITECT ROBERT VENTURI HAS SAID THAT ‘IT IS BETTER TO BE GOOD THAN TO BE ORIGINAL’ FOR A DESIGNER. WE CAN ARGUE ABOUT HIS STATEMENT AS THE RECENT TREND IS TO VALUE THE PURELY ORIGINAL-LOOKING DESIGN WITHOUT TESTING IT TO SEE IF IT REALLY CAN FULFILL THE DEMANDS PLACED ON IT.

THE EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION DURING THE LATE 1850S INTO THE BENDING OF SOLID WOOD RESULTED IN THIS ICONIC STRUCTURE. THE NUMBER 214 CHAIR REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRIAL DESIGNED PRODUCTS OF ALL TIME. THONET DEVELOPED THE SIMPLIFIED FORM OF THE CHAIR TO ACHIEVE HIS GOAL OF MASS PRODUCTION: BY 1930, 50 MILLION EXAMPLES HAD BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE. 23

THE EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTATION DURING THE LATE 1850S INTO THE BENDING OF SOLID WOOD RESULTED IN THIS ICONIC STRUCTURE. THE NUMBER 214 CHAIR REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRIAL DESIGNED PRODUCTS OF ALL TIME. THONET DEVELOPED THE SIMPLIFIED FORM OF THE CHAIR TO ACHIEVE HIS GOAL OF MASS PRODUCTION: BY 1930, 50 MILLION EXAMPLES HAD BEEN SOLD WORLDWIDE.

24

CHAIR MODEL NUMBER 214 - BENT SOLID BEECH CONSTRUCTION WITH A WOVEN CANE SEAT. CHAIR MODEL NUMBER 209 - BENT SOLID BEECH CONSTRUCTION WITH A WOVEN CANE SEAT.

25

4.2

_CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928)

BORN IN SCOTLAND, HIS PERSONALITY IS ONE OF THOSE THAT CHARACTERIZE THE PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE MODERN MOVEMENT. HE IS KNOWN FOR DESIGNING THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART: HE WAS THE ANIMATOR AND MOST AUTHORITATIVE EXPONENT OF THE GROUP KNOWN AS THE “GLASGOW SCHOOL.” HE DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF PRINCIPALLY BECAUSE HE RECOVERED THE MOST AUTHENTIC VALUES OF THE SCOTTISH IDIOM AND NEO-GOTHIC TASTE. THE GROUP, ALSO NAMED “THE SCHOOL OF GHOSTS,” BECAME KNOWN THROUGHOUT EUROPE. BESIDES THE SCHOOL OF ART, HIS MOST EXCITING WORKS ARE THE “WINDYHILL” HOUSE AT KILMACOLM (1900), THE “HILL HOUSE” AT HELENSBURGH (1902-3), THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE DERNGATE HOUSE, NORTHAMPTON (1916-20), AND THE DECORATIVE WORK IN MISS CRANSTON’S TEA-ROOMS IN GLASGOW. AMONG HIS DECORATIVE INTERIORS’ FURNISHINGS, IT IS ABOVE ALL THE CHAIR, WHICH REPRESENTS THE FOCAL POINT FOR COORDINATED SPATIAL ACTION.

HIGH BACK CHAIR 292 HILL HOUSE 1902 26

MACKINTOSH CREATED A HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL AND SYMBOLIC VOCABULARY OF FORM THROUGH A COMBINATION OF CELTIC AND JAPANESE INFLUENCES. THIS ICONIC CHAIR REFLECTS CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH’S STYLE AND HIS FEARLESS APPROACH TO THE MOST CHALLENGING MANUFACTURING PROCESSES. ORIGINALLY A FURNISHING ACCESSORY FOR ONE OF MACKINTOSH’S MAJOR DESIGN PROJECTS, HILL HOUSE IN HELENSBURGH, NEAR GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, FROM WHICH ITS NAME DERIVES. THE LINEAR, GEOMETRIC FORM IS EVOCATIVE OF THE MINIMAL, ABSTRACT LINES OF JAPANESE GRAPHICS, WHICH CONFER SYMBOLIC AND FIGURATIVE SYMBOLIC VALUE TO THE PIECE’S STRIKING VISUAL IMPACT. 27

THIS THRONE-LIKE ARMCHAIR IS A NEW ITERATION OF THE MODEL THAT CRM DONATED, IN 1904, TO THE “WILLOW TEA ROOMS” IN GLASGOW, HIS NATIVE CITY. THE TALL SEMI-CIRCULAR BACK SERVED TO SEPARATE THE ENTRANCE AREA FROM THE TEA-ROOM BEHIND IT. THE BACK ENCOMPASSES THE SEAT, ILLUSTRATING TO PERFECTION MACKINTOSH’S GEOMETRIC AND ART NOUVEAU STYLE. FOR CASSINA, CREATING THIS CHAIR MEANT MARRYING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND THE COMPANY’S PREMIER CARPENTRY SKILLS. THE LATTER CAN BE SEEN IN THE PRECISION NEEDED TO ASSEMBLE THE COMPONENTS THAT MAKE UP THE ELEGANT, LIGHT-WEIGHT LATTICED FRAME. 28

312 WILLOW 1 1904

29

4.3 BORN IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, STUDIED ARCHITECTURE UNDER CARL VON HASENAUER AND OTTO WAGNER AT THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN VIENNA. IN 1899, AT THE AGE OF 29, HE BECAME A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS VIENNA. IN 1903 HE AND KOLO MOSER ESTABLISHED THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE. HIS FIRST IMPORTANT BUILDING, THE SANATORIUM IN PURKERSDORF, NEAR VIENNA, BUILT IN 1904, SET RADICAL NEW ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN STANDARDS. BUT IT WAS THE PALAIS STOCLET IN BRUSSELS, BUILT BETWEEN 1905 AND 1911, THAT FOUNDED HIS INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION. HERE, HE SUCCEEDED IN PERFECTING THE GESAMTKUNSTWERK (TOTAL WORK OF ART), RECONCILING ART AND LIFE, AND AESTHETICIZING ALL DESIGN ASPECTS. JOSEF HOFFMANN’S FORMAL LANGUAGE IS PRIMARILY CHARACTERIZED BY STRICT GEOMETRICAL LINES, A SEARCH FOR SIMPLICITY, AND THE TYPICAL REDUCTION TO BLACK AND WHITE. HE OVERCAME THE DUALITY OF TRADITION AND MODERNITY AND CREATED WORKS THAT ARE VALID TO THIS DAY. THIS TIMELESS QUALITY REMAINS AN INSPIRATION AND DEFINING INFLUENCE FOR THE WITTMANN WORKSHOPS. JOSEF HOFFMANN HAS GIVEN FRANZ WITTMANN MÖBELWERKSTÄTTEN SOLE AUTHORIZATION ACCORDING TO HIS ORIGINAL DESIGNS.

_JOSEF HOFFMANN (1870-1956)

WAS ONE OF THE FIRST LIGHTS PRODUCED BY THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE. WOKA LAMPS PRODUCE THE TABLE LIGHT BASED ON THE ORIGINAL DESIGN, STRIKING FOR THE CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURAL FORM THAT LENDS IT A TIMELESS ELEGANCE. NICKEL-PLATED BRASS BASE WITH OPALESCENT GLASS SHADE, 55CM HIGH MODEL NO. M109 / TABLE LIGHT 1903 STAINED, LAMINATED WOOD, BENT SOLID BEECH, AND TURNED WOOD FRAME WITH BRASS FITTINGS. SITZMASCHINE, MODEL NUMBER 670 1908

30

ALTHOUGH SOLD INITIALLY WITH SEAT AND BACK CUSHIONS, THE SITZMASCHINE CAN BE REGARDED AS HAVING PREDICTED RIETVELD DESIGNS BECAUSE OF ITS STRAIGHT GEOMETRIC VOCABULARY OF FORM. HOFFMANN DESIGNED THE SITZMASCHINE, OR „MACHINE FOR SITTING,” FOR HIS PURKERSDORF SANATORIUM IN VIENNA. THE SANATORIUM WAS ONE OF THE FIRST IMPORTANT COMMISSIONS GIVEN TO THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE, A COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOP FOUNDED IN 1903 BY HOFFMANN AND KOLOMAN MOSER. IT ESPOUSED MANY OF THE BRITISH ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT’S TENETS OF GOOD DESIGN AND HIGH-QUALITY CRAFTSMANSHIP, REPRESENTING ONE OF HOFFMANN’S EARLIEST EXPERIMENTS IN UNIFYING A BUILDING AND ITS FURNISHINGS AS A TOTAL WORK OF ART. THE CHAIR IS A FUSION OF DECORATIVE AND STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS TYPICAL OF THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE STYLE: THE GRID OF SQUARES PIERCING THE RECTANGULAR BACK SPLAT, THE BENTWOOD LOOPS FORMING THE ARMRESTS AND LEGS, AND THE ROWS OF KNOBS FOR ADJUSTING THE BACK. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE NAME SITZMASCHINE AND THE CHAIR’S RATIONAL SIMPLIFICATION OF FORMS AND HIGH FINISH EMPHASIZE THE DESIGN’S ALLEGORICAL CELEBRATION OF THE MACHINE. 31

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF HOFFMANN’S STRICT GEOMETRICAL LINES AND THE QUADRATIC THEME IN HIS WORK IS THE KUBUS ARMCHAIR, DESIGNED IN 1910 AND HANDCRAFTED TO PERFECTION.

KUBUS LOUNGE CHAIR 1910 32

THE BLACK AND WHITE COLOR SCHEME AND QUADRATIC MOTIFS OF THIS CHAIR WERE A CONTINUUM THROUGHOUT THE FOYER OF HOFFMANN’S PURKERSDORF SANATORIUM, BUILT FROM 1904 – 1905. BASED ON A DESIGN BY KOLOMAN MOSER. PURKERSDORF CHAIR 1905

33

4.4 BORN IN NETHERLAND, HE WAS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL MEMBERS OF THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT. AS A FURNITURE DESIGNER, HE WAS THE CRAFTSMAN CABINET-MAKER WORKING IN A PRIMORDIAL IDIOM, RE-INVENTING CHAIRS AND OTHER FURNITURE AS IF NO ONE HAD EVER BUILT THEM BEFORE HIM AND FOLLOWING A STRUCTURAL CODE ALL OF HIS OWN. AS AN ARCHITECT, HE WAS WORKING WITH ELEGANT FORMULAS, DETERMINED TO DRIVE HOME THE RATIONALIST AND NEOPLASTIC MESSAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE. THE TWO ACTIVITIES ALTERNATE, OVERLAP, AND FUSE INTO A LOGICAL SEQUENCE. IN 1918 HE JOINED THE “DE STIJL” MOVEMENT, WHICH HAD SPRUNG UP AROUND THE REVIEW OF THAT NAME FOUNDED THE YEAR BEFORE BY THEO VAN DOESBURG. THE GROUP ASSIMILATED AND TRANSLATED INTO IDEOLOGY CERTAIN LAWS ON THE DYNAMIC BREAKDOWN OF COMPOSITIONS, WHICH HAD ALREADY BEEN EXPRESSED IN CUBIST PAINTINGS. THE “DE STIJL” ARTISTS ALSO CAREFULLY STUDIED THE ARCHITECTONIC LESSON TAUGHT BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, WHOSE INFLUENCE WAS WIDELY FELT IN EUROPE AT THAT TIME. COLLABORATING FIRST WITH ROBERT VAN’T HOFF AND VILMOS HUSZAR, THEN WITH THEO VAN DOESBURG AND CORNELIUS VAN EESTEREN, RIETVELD SOON BECAME ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED INTERPRETERS OF THE NEOPLASTIC MESSAGE. HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORKS ARE THE SCHRÖDER HOUSE AT UTRECHT (1924), WHICH IS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE; THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM IN AMSTERDAM (1955), AND FURNITURES LIKE THE “RED AND BLUE” (1918), THE “ZIG-ZAG” (1934).

34

_GERRIT RIETVELD (1888-1964)

PAINTED SOLID BEECHWOOD AND PLYWOOD CONSTRUCTION. RED AND BLUE 1918

INITIALLY DESIGNED IN 1917-18 WITH A NATURAL WOOD FINISH, RIETVELD PAINTED THIS REVOLUTIONARY CHAIR IN 1923 DUE TO HIS ASSOCIATION WITH THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT. WITH ITS SIMPLIFIED CONSTRUCTION, THE DESIGN SPECULATED ON GOING INTO STANDARDIZED PRODUCTION. A SCULPTURAL SEAT WITH A PURE AND RATIONALIST FORM, THIS CHAIR BECAME AN AUTHENTIC MANIFESTO FOR NEOPLASTICISM, EMBRACED BY THE DUTCH DE STIJL MOVEMENT IN 1917. AN OUTLOOK SHARED BY PIET MONDRIAN, WHOSE OBJECTIVE WAS TO SEEK OUT THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THINGS, COMBINED WITH THE HARMONIOUS EQUIVALENCE OF COLORS, AND THE USE OF RIGHT-ANGLE. RIETVELD PRODUCED HIS PROTOTYPES IN 1918, EXPRESSING THE PHILOSOPHY OF ORGANIZING SPACE USING THE SAME COLORS FOR SIMILAR COMPONENTS. HE LATER APPLIED THIS SAME APPROACH TO SEPARATE CONSTRUCTIONAL ELEMENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR FUNCTION. THUS THE BASE WAS BLACK, AND THE SEATS COLORED. AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE NAME OF THE PIECE CHANGED FROM SLAT CHAIR TO RED AND BLUE. 35

THE 45-DEGREE ANGLE OF THE „ZIG-ZAG” CHAIR’S CANTILEVER CAN BE SEEN AS A RESPONSE TO THEO VAN DOESBURG’S CALL IN 1924 TO INTRODUCE „OBLIQUE” LINES TO RESOLVE THE TENSION BETWEEN VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ELEMENTS. THIS CHAIR PROVIDED AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF A CANTILEVERED SEAT AND IS COMPOSED OF FOUR WOOD BOARDS ARTICULATED END-TO-END TO FORM AN EXTREMELY EYE-CATCHING EXAMPLE OF AN UNSTABLE STRUCTURE. ESCHEWING THE TRADITIONAL LEGS-SEAT-BACK SEQUENCE, RIETVELD CREATED A RIBBON OF WOOD FORMING A Z-SHAPE.

OAK CONSTRUCTION WITH BRASS FITTINGS ZIG-ZAG CHAIR, 1932-34 36

37

4.5 BORN IN GERMANY, HE COMPLETED THE SILVER FORGING STUDIES AT THE ACADEMY IN 1911, AND FROM 1912-13, HE STUDIED AT THE SAXON COLLEGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS IN WEIMAR. FROM 1922 TO 1925, HE WORKED AS A FOREMAN OF THE METAL WORKSHOP AT THE BAUHAUS IN WEIMAR, WHERE HE WAS THE MAN BEHIND A HIGHLY INNOVATIVE AND PIONEERING STYLE OF DESIGN. BEGINNING IN 1926, CHRISTIAN DELL SKETCHED LAMPS, USUALLY FOR THE LAMP FACTORY GEBR. KAISER & CO., WHO LAUNCHED THE FIRST CATALOG IN 1936 IN WHICH THE TABLE LAMP MODEL 6631 LUXUS APPEARED FOR THE FIRST TIME. THIS LAMP SOON BECAME THE UNDISPUTED TOP MODEL OF THE KAISER IDELL™-SERIES – THEN, AS WELL AS TODAY, THE SYMBOL OF NOBLE GERMANIC DESIGN, EXQUISITE CHOICE OF MATERIALS, AND PRECISE ENGINEERING. AS AN EARLY INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER AND PIONEER OF PLASTIC DESIGN, HE USED BAKELITE AND AMINO PLASTICS AS MATERIALS IN 1929-30. AFTER WORLD WAR II, CHRISTIAN DELL MANUFACTURED SILVER GOODS AND OPENED A JEWELER’S SHOP IN WIESBADEN IN 1948, WHICH HE OPERATED UNTIL 1955. HE DIED IN WIESBADEN IN 1974. THE TERM “IDELL” IS A REFERENCE TO THE WORD IDEA AND HIS LAST NAME, DELL. “KAISER” IS A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER – KAISER IDELL.

38

_CHRISTIAN DELL (1893-1974)

THE RENOWNED KAISER IDELL LAMP IS CHARACTERISED BY CHRISTIAN DELL’S ABILITY TO CREATE ELEGANT DESIGN WITH BASIC GEOMETRIC HALLMARKS OF MODERNISM: SHAPES LIKE THE SPHERE, CIRCLE AND CYLINDER. TODAY, THE KAISER IDELL IS WIDELY RECOGNISED AS A SYMBOL OF NOBLE BAUHAUS DESIGN, EXQUISITE CHOICE OF MATERIAL, AND PRECISE ENGINEERING.

CHROME-PLATED AND ENAMELED METAL TODAY PRDUCED BY FRITZ HANSEN KAISER IDELL™ TABLE LAMP, 6631 1933 39

4.6

_ WILHELM WAGENFELD (1900-1990)

BORN IN GERMANY, HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PIONEERS OF THE COUNTRY’S MODERN PRODUCT DESIGN. HE BECAME THE ONLY STUDENT FROM THE WEIMAR BAUHAUS TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO MAJOR INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES, ACHIEVING HIS GOAL OF GIVING ALL CITIZENS ACCESS TO SOPHISTICATED, CONTEMPORARY, AND AFFORDABLE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS. HE BECAME THE MOST DIVERSE DESIGNER OF MASS-PRODUCED ITEMS FOR THE CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY IN WEST GERMANY. HE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CHANGING DESIGN OF LIVING AND HOUSING CONDITIONS AND DEVELOPED SOLUTIONS WITH OUTSTANDING SUSTAINABILITY, IMPRESSIVE FUNCTIONALITY, AND RESTRAINED AESTHETICS THAT HAVE CONTINUED TO WIN OVER BUYERS FOR DECADES. HIS EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW MATERIALS AND METHODS ALSO HELPED REDUCE PRODUCTION COSTS AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF GOODS FOR THE BENEFIT OF BUYERS AND MANUFACTURERS ALIKE.

WILHELM WAGENFELD’S ICONIC TABLE LIGHT (C. 1923-24), DESIGNED IN CONJUNCTION WITH CARL JAKOB JUCKER AT WEIMAR BAUHAUS, SET OUT ITS NEW FUNCTIONALIST AGENDA SPECULATED ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDIZED GOODS FOR INDUSTRIAL MASS-PRODUCTION. WITH ITS ELEMENTAL CONSTRUCTION OF AN OPALESCENT DOMED SHADE, GLASS AND METAL CYLINDER STEM, AND CIRCULAR GLASS BASE, THIS REMARKABLE LIGHT CLEARLY SHOWED THE APPLICATION OF MODERN DESIGN PRINCIPLES. THROUGH PURITY, SIMPLICITY, SELF-EFFACEMENT, A CERTAIN STYLISHNESS CAN BE ACHIEVED IN EVERYDAY OBJECTS. AS A PROTOTYPE FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, THE ME1 LIGHT ALSO REFLECTED THE SYMBIOSIS OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY, WHICH WAS AT THE CORE OF BAUHAUS PHILOSOPHY. 40

BRASS, NICKEL-PLATED STEEL AND GLASS BASE WITH OPALESCENT GLASS SHADE, 35.5 CM HIGH BAUHAUS TABLE LAMP | WG 24 1924 41

4.7 BORN IN NETHERLAND, HE WAS TRAINED AS A JOINER AND DRAWING TEACHER. THERE HE STARTED WORK; LATER ON, HE MOVED ON TO BERLIN AND SWITZERLAND TO WORK IN VARIOUS ARCHITECTURE OFFICES, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH MAX TAUT AND HANS POELZIG. IN 1924, HE FOUNDED THE SWISS AVANT-GARDE MAGAZINE “ABC” TOGETHER WITH ARCHITECT HANS SCHMIDT. STAM FELT AN OBLIGATION TO BUILD AND DESIGN RATIONALLY. SIMPLICITY WAS NOT AN END IN ITSELF FOR HIM. THE VISIONARY ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES HE PUBLISHED MADE HIM INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS. IN 1925, HE BEGAN EXPERIMENTING WITH GAS PIPES, FROM WHICH HE COMPOSED AN INNOVATIVE CHAIR WITHOUT BACK LEGS – THE BASIC IDEA OF THE CANTILEVER CHAIR, WHICH THONET HAS BEEN PRODUCING UNDER VARIOUS MODEL NUMBERS TO THIS DAY – WAS BORN. IN 1926, LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE INVITED HIM TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WERKBUND EXHIBITION “THE DWELLING” IN STUTTGART, WHERE STAM CREATED A ROW HOUSE WITH THREE UNITS. HE FURNISHED TWO OF THEM HIMSELF, AND MARCEL BREUER FURNISHED THE THIRD. IT WAS THERE THAT MART STAM PRESENTED HIS CANTILEVER CHAIR WITHOUT BACK LEGS – THE PROTOTYPE FOR COUNTLESS CANTILEVER CHAIRS – FOR THE FIRST TIME. IN 1928, HE MOVED TO FRANKFURT AM MAIN, WHERE HE TESTED THE TYPIFICATION OF CHEAP HOUSING. IN THE WINTER SEMESTER 1928/29, HE WAS A GUEST LECTURER FOR URBANISM AT THE BAUHAUS DESSAU. IN 1930, HE WENT TO THE SOVIET UNION TO PLAN CITIES TOGETHER WITH ERNST MAY (“BRIGADE MAY”) AND HIS WIFE, LOTTE 42

_ MART STAM (1899-1986) STAM-BEESE. AFTER REFUSING TO PLAN A CITY IN AN ESPECIALLY INHOSPITABLE ENVIRONMENT IN 1934, HE HAD TO LEAVE THE USSR. IN 1939 HE TOOK OVER THE DIRECTION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED ARTS EDUCATION IN AMSTERDAM. AFTER 1945, HE WAS UNABLE TO CONTINUE HIS FORMER SUCCESSES. IN 1948, HE MOVED TO THE EAST OF GERMANY, BECAME DIRECTOR OF THE DRESDEN ART ACADEMY, AND THEN OF THE BERLIN-WEISSENSEE ACADEMY OF ART STARTING IN 1950. DURING THE COLD WAR, THE INVENTOR OF THE CANTILEVER CHAIR WITHOUT BACK LEGS FOUND HIMSELF TRAPPED BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE: IN THE GDR, STAM WAS CONSIDERED A FORMALIST WITH CLOSE TIES TO THE BAUHAUS, WHILE IN THE NETHERLANDS, WHERE HE RETURNED TO IN 1953, HE WAS VIEWED AS A LEFTIST REFORMER. FROM 1977 ONWARD, HE WITHDREW TO SWITZERLAND. STAM WAS AWARDED THE ARTISTIC COPYRIGHT FOR THE CANTILEVER CHAIR, WHICH IS TODAY OWNED BY THONET. CUBIC FORM, CLEAR DESIGN, FINE PROPORTIONS, AND FLEXING MOVEMENT: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERFECTED CANTILEVER CHAIRS S 33 AND S 34, AMONG THE FIRST OF THEIR KIND, TODAY COMBINES ZEITGEIST AND A SENSE OF TRADITION. “WHY FOUR LEGS IF TWO WILL SUFFICE?”, WROTE ARTIST KURT SCHWITTERS IN 1927 AFTER SEEING THE FIRST CANTILEVER CHAIRS IN FURNITURE HISTORY. HIS CANTILEVER CHAIR S 33 WAS MORE THAN MATTER-OF-FACT DESIGNED INTERIOR DESIGN OBJECT BUT PART OF THE OVERALL REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT OF A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARDS ARCHITECTURE AND LIFE.

CAST TUBULAR STEEL FRAME INTERNALLY REINFORCED WITH METAL RODS, FABRIC SEAT, AND BACK. S33 (1926) 43

4.8 BORN IN PÉCS, HUNGARY, A CHAMPION OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT AND PROTÉGÉ OF BAUHAUS FOUNDER WALTER GROPIUS, HE IS EQUALLY CELEBRATED FOR HIS ACHIEVEMENTS IN ARCHITECTURE AND FURNITURE. BREUER WAS A STUDENT AND SUBSEQUENTLY A MASTER CARPENTER AT THE BAUHAUS IN THE EARLY 1920S. HIS ENTIRE BODY OF WORK, ARCHITECTURE, AND FURNITURE EMBODIES THE DRIVING BAUHAUS OBJECTIVE TO RECONCILE ART AND INDUSTRY. WHILE AT THE BAUHAUS, BREUER REVOLUTIONIZED THE MODERN INTERIOR WITH HIS TUBULAR-STEEL FURNITURE COLLECTION — INSPIRED BY BICYCLE CONSTRUCTION AND FABRICATED USING THE TECHNIQUES OF LOCAL PLUMBERS. HIS FIRST DESIGNS, INCLUDING THE WASSILY, REMAIN AMONG THE MODERN FURNITURE MOVEMENT’S MOST IDENTIFIABLE ICONS. BREUER’S ATTENTION EVENTUALLY MOVED TOWARDS ARCHITECTURE. AFTER PRACTICING PRIVATELY, HE WORKED AS A PROFESSOR AT HARVARD’S SCHOOL OF DESIGN UNDER WALTER GROPIUS. BREUER WAS HONORED AS THE FIRST ARCHITECT TO HAVE A SOLO EXHIBITION AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. IN 1963, BREUER BEGAN WORK ON PERHAPS HIS BEST-KNOWN ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT — THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART IN NEW YORK CITY. BREUER EVENTUALLY SOLD HIS FURNITURE COLLECTION TO THE ITALIAN DESIGN COMPANY GAVINA SPA. IN LARGE PART IT WAS THE BREUER COLLECTION THAT MOTIVATED KNOLL TO ACQUIRE GAVINA IN 1968. THE WASSILY CHAIR, THE CESCA SIDE CHAIR, AND THE LACCIO TABLE COLLECTION — ALL MODERN CLASSICS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. 44

_ MARCEL BREUER (1902-1981) DESIGNED FOR WASSILY KANDINSKY’S QUARTERS AT THE DESSAU BAUHAUS, THE NO. B3 UTTERLY TRANSFORMED THE LANGUAGE OF CHAIR DESIGN. IT WAS PARTICULARLY REVOLUTIONARY IN ITS USE OF TUBULAR STEEL AND ITS MANUFACTURE. INSPIRED BY THE FRAME OF A BICYCLE AND INFLUENCED BY THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES OF THE DE STJIL MOVEMENT, BREUER REDUCED THE FORM OF THE CLASSIC CLUB CHAIR TO ITS ELEMENTAL LINES AND PLANES.

BENT, NICKELED TUBULAR STEEL (FRAME LATER CHROME-PLATED) WITH CANVAS, FABRIC OR LEATHER SEAT AND BACK SECTIONS. WASSILY, MODEL NUMBER B3, 1925-27 45

UNLIKE STAM’S CHAIR W1, ON WHICH THEIR DESIGNS WERE BASED, BREUER’S B33 AND SLIGHTLY LATER B64 UTILIZE NON-REINFORCED TUBULAR STEEL. THIS GIVES THEIR CONSTRUCTION GREATER RESILIENCE AND MORE COMFORT. LIKE OTHER CANTILEVERED CHAIRS, THESE DESIGNS ELIMINATE THE VISUAL DIVISION BETWEEN THE BASE AND SEAT SECTIONS BY USING A CONTINUOUS SUPPORTING FRAME. CHROME-PLATED WITH STEEL FRAMES WITH BENTWOOD AND WOVEN CANE SEATS AND BACKS MODEL NUMBER B 32 & MODEL NUMBER B 64 1928 46

47

4.9 BORN IN GERMANY, REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES IN THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE, HIS ‘LESS-IS-MORE’ APPROACH TO DESIGN WAS THE GOLD STANDARD FOR MANY GENERATIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE. HIS LEGENDARY CAREER STARTED HUMBLY AT HIS FATHER’S STONEMASONRY BUSINESS, GIVING HIM AN EARLY APPRECIATION OF MATERIAL AND STRUCTURE. HE APPRENTICED WITH FURNITURE DESIGNER BRUNO PAUL IN BERLIN BEFORE JOINING THE OFFICE OF PETER BEHRENS, AN ARCHITECT, AND PAINTER AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT. IN 1912, MIES ESTABLISHED HIS OWN OFFICE IN BERLIN. THROUGH FURNITURE, RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS AND EXTRAORDINARY, YET UNREALIZED CONCEPTS FOR SKYSCRAPERS, HE GAINED RECOGNITION AS A LEADER OF THE GERMAN MODERN MOVEMENT. AS SUCH, HE WAS SELECTED TO DESIGN THE GERMAN PAVILION AT THE BARCELONA INDUSTRIAL EXPOSITION OF 1929. HIS DESIGN, A RHYTHMIC ARRANGEMENT OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL PLANES OF GLASS, STONE, AND METAL, WAS AN EXPERIMENT IN FREE-FLOWING SPACE. WITH NO DISCERNABLE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ROOMS OR INSIDE AND OUTSIDE, THE DESIGN FUNDAMENTALLY CHALLENGED THE ARCHITECTURAL ‘BOXES WITHIN A BOX’ STANDARD OF THE TIME. INSIDE, MIES INCLUDED THE BARCELONA CHAIR AND OTTOMAN, DESIGNED TO OFFER THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN A PLACE TO REST (THEY NEVER SAT DOWN).

THE BARCELONA PAVILION AND THE CHAIRS IT CONTAINED ARE UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED AS MILESTONES OF MODERN DESIGN. MIES SERVED AS VICE 48

_ LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE (1886-1969) PRESIDENT OF THE DEUTSCHER WERKBUND AND DIRECTOR OF THE BAUHAUS FROM 1930 UNTIL IT CLOSED IN 1933. HE IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1938 TO BECOME THE DIRECTOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE ARMOUR INSTITUTE (LATER THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY). FROM HIS CHICAGO-BASED PRACTICE, MIES DESIGNED A PORTFOLIO OF BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE ― THE MOST NOTABLE EXAMPLES BEING THE IIT CAMPUS AND THE SEAGRAM BUILDING IN NEW YORK. WHILE AT IIT, HE BEFRIENDED AND MENTORED A YOUNG FLORENCE KNOLL. FLORENCE HAS ALWAYS CREDITED MIES AS HER MOST INFLUENTIAL INSTRUCTOR. IN 1948, MIES GRANTED KNOLL EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO PRODUCE HIS FURNITURE, INCLUDING THE BARCELONA COLLECTION, THE BRNO CHAIR, AND THE MR SERIES. ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISED OBJECTS OF THE LAST CENTURY, AND AN ICON OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT, THE BARCELONA CHAIR IS A TRIBUTE TO THE MARRIAGE OF DESIGN AND CRAFTSMANSHIP. OPULENT, YET IMPARTING A MODERN APPEARANCE, THE CHAIR’S FORM WAS BASED ON THE SELLA CURULIS, A ROMAN MAGISTRATE’S STOOL. CHROME-PLATED WITH STEEL FRAMES WITH BENTWOOD AND WOVEN CANE SEATS AND BACKS BARCELONA, MODEL NUMBER MR 90 1929

POLISHED CHROME STRUCTURE HAND-BUFFED AND HAND-FINISHED TO A MIRROR FINISH. THE CUSHIONS ARE UPHOLSTERED WITH 40 INDIVIDUAL PANELS CUT. SEAT AND BACK CUSHIONS ADAPT TO FIT THE CURVE OF THE FRAME. SIDE AND EDGES OF UPHOLSTERY STRAPS ARE DYED TO MATCH SPECIFIED UPHOLSTERY COLOUR

49

DESIGNED FOR THE TUGENDHAT HOUSE IN BRNO, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, THIS CHAIR UTILIZES A FLAT STEEL FRAME. THE STEEL USED IS OF A HEFTY GAUGE, MAKING IT EXPENSIVE BUT ALSO STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A CANTILEVERED STRUCTURE. CHROMED BENT FLAT STEEL FRAME WITH AN UPHOLSTERED WOOD SEATING SECTION BRNO, MODEL NUMBER MR 50 1929–30 FRAME MADE OF TUBULAR POLISHED CHROME FINISH WITH A THICK COWHIDE SLING SEAT WITH LEATHER LACES. MR SIDE CHAIR 1927 THE MR COLLECTION REPRESENTS SOME OF THE EARLIEST STEEL FURNITURE DESIGNS BY MIES VAN DER ROHE. THE MATERIAL CHOICE WAS INSPIRED BY FELLOW BAUHAUS MASTER MARCEL BREUER, WHILE THE FORMS ARE THOUGHT TO BE MODERN DERIVATIVES OF 19TH CENTURY IRON ROCKING CHAIRS. 50

51

4.10 BORN IN GERMANY, SHE BEGAN HER ARTISTIC TRAINING AT A PRIVATE ART SCHOOL IN WEIMAR. IN 1923, BRANDT STARTED HER STUDIES AT THE STATE BAUHAUS IN WEIMAR, WHERE SHE STUDIED PAINTING AND SCULPTURE AND WAS THE ONLY WOMAN WHO TOOK PART IN THE METALLWERKSTATT OF THE BAUHAUS. HER OBJECTS ARE A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF HER RESEARCH TO SIMPLIFY THE INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES OF SPINNING AND PRINTING. HER UNIQUE TALENT WAS SOON PICKED UP BY LÁSZLÓ MOHOLY-NAGY, WHO INSPIRED HER TO UNDERTAKE STUDIES IN THE MALE-DOMINATED FIELD OF METALWORKING. AS EARLY AS 1926, SHE DESIGNED THE FIRST LIGHTING FIXTURES FOR THE BAUHAUS BUILDING IN DESSAU, AND SHE LED THE LIGHTING EXPERIMENTS AT THE METAL WORKSHOP. SHE WAS THE HEAD OF THE METAL WORKSHOP FROM MAY 1928 TO 1 JULY 1929. AMONG THE BEST-KNOWN PRODUCTS DEVELOPED AT THE BAUHAUS, THE TEAPOT MBEK 24 WAS A STUDENT WORK OF HERS SOON AFTER JOINING THE METAL WORKSHOP THERE. AN ACCOMPLISHED EXERCISE IN REDUCING AN EVERYDAY OBJECT TO A COMBINATION OF ELEMENTAL SHAPES, THE TEAPOT USES PURE GEOMETRIC FORMS INSPIRED BY THE CONSTRUCTIVIST AESTHETIC THAT MOHOLY-NAGY HAD PROMOTED. ITS DESIGN IS INNOVATIVE YET FUNCTIONAL, BEARING AN EBONY HANDLE AND FINIAL THAT ARE COMFORTABLE TO HOLD. THE TEAPOT WAS AMONG BRANDT’S FIRST ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP PIECES FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION. BRANDT LEFT THE BAUHAUS IN 1929 WHEN THE METAL WORKSHOP MERGED WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS. 52

_ MARIANNE BRANDT (1893-1983)

A SMALL OBJECT WHICH NURTURES A GREAT HISTORY STAINLESS STEEL MIRROR POLISHED ASHTRAY /ALESSI 1924

SILVER PLATED BRASS, BLACK LACQUERED WOOD TEE ESSENCE POT | MBEK 24 1924 ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BAUHAUS ICONS. ONLY A FEW ORIGINAL EXAMPLES FROM THE BAUHAUS METAL WORKSHOP ARE KNOWN TODAY AND ALL ARE IN THE POSSESSION OF THE MUSEUM. THESE SPECIMENS, DESIGNED BY MARIANNE BRANDT, ALL DIFFER SLIGHTLY IN SHAPE AND HAVE A VALUE OF OVER EUR 250,000. A SPECIAL DESIGN FEATURE IS THE TYPICAL, CROSS-SHAPED FOOT SECTION. TODAY’S LICENSED VERSION OF THE TEA EXTRACT JUG IS MADE BY TECNOLUMEN. STERLING SILVER 925/1000, EBONY BAUHAUS TEA POT MBTK 24 SI 1924 THIS POT IS A PART OF THE TEA AND COFFEE SET, DESIGNED IN 1924. ONLY ONE COMPLETE SET IS KNOWN TO EXIST. THE TEA POT, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS IN SEVERAL MUSEUMS, A.O. IN THE “MUSEUM OF MODERN ART“, NEW YORK. THE TEA POT IS THE PART OF THE SET, WHICH MOST STRICTLY FOLLOWS THE FORMAL PRINCIP LES OF THE BAUHAUS SCHOOL. CIRCLE, GLOBE AND SQUARE ARE THE BASIC FORMS OF THE CON STRUCTION. 53

4.11 BORN IN IRELAND, INTO AN ARISTOCRATIC IRISH-SCOTTISH FAMILY, SHE WENT TO LONDON AND PARIS TO STUDY ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN. SHE FIRST MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF AS A LEADING DESIGNER OF LACQUERED WALLS AND DECORATIVE PANELS. WITH HER THEORIES ON DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, SHE LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON OUR IDEAS ABOUT LIVING; HER WORK IS CONSIDERED THE EPITOME OF MODERNISM. GRAY’S TUBULAR STEEL FURNITURE, REVOLUTIONARY AT THE TIME OF THEIR CREATION, ARE CONSIDERED CLASSICS TODAY. HER ADJUSTABLE TABLE E.1027 IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND MOST-COPIED DESIGNS IN THE WORLD. IT WAS ADDED TO THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK IN 1978. HER DRAGONS ARMCHAIR WAS SOLD IN 2009 FOR THE UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF €21,905,000 AND, AT THE TIME, BECAME THE MOST EXPENSIVE DESIGN OBJECT EVER TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION. THE PRODUCTION OF THE MOVIE “PRICE OF DESIRE” AND THE DOCUMENTARY FILM “GRAY MATTERS” (BOTH 2014) CONTINUED THE SUCCESS OF THE EXHIBITION. GRAY’S MOST FAMOUS ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, THE MAISON EN BORD DE MER E.1027 ON THE CÔTE D’AZUR, WAS REOPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN 2015. IN THE 1970S EILEEN GRAY BEGAN WORKING WITH ZEEV ARAM TO PUT HER FURNITURE, RUGS AND LAMPS INTO SERIES PRODUCTION. IN 1973, SHE GRANTED THE WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE HER DESIGNS TO HIS COMPANY. TODAY CLASSICON PRODUCES AND DISTRIBUTES EILEEN GRAY DESIGNS UNDER LICENCE. 54

_ EILEEN GRAY (1878–1976)

BIBENDUM IS ONE OF A KIND. IT IS CAPTIVATINGLY HARMONIOUS DESPITE ITS SIZE AND UNITES A MAJESTIC IMPRESSIVENESS. EILEEN GRAY UNDERSCORED THE CHARACTER WITH SLY IRONY; SHE NAMED IT AFTER THE MICHELIN MAN, WHOSE FORM THIS ARMCHAIR CALLS TO MIND. TUBULAR STEEL FRAME, UPHOLSTERY COVER IN FABRIC OR LEATHER BIBENDUM ARMCHAIR 1926 DAYBED 1925 ADJUSTABLE TABLE E1027 1926 TUBE LIGHT FLOOR LAMP 1927

55

4.12 CHARLES-EDOUARD JEANNERET, KNOWN AS LE CORBUSIER, WAS BORN IN SWITZERLAND. EARLY IN HIS CAREER, HIS WORK MET WITH SOME RESISTANCE OWING TO ITS ALLEGED «REVOLUTIONARY» NATURE AND THE RADICAL LOOK IT ACQUIRED FROM ITS «PURIST» EXPERIMENTS. IN TIME, HOWEVER, IT WON THE RECOGNITION IT DESERVED, AND IT IS STILL WIDELY ADMIRED. HIS MESSAGE IS STILL BEING ASSIMILATED BY AN EVER-INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE PROFESSION. HIS FAR-OUT AVANT-GARDE ATTITUDES SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CONSIDERATION FOR USING RATIONAL SYSTEMS IN HIS PLANNING METHOD, EVIDENCED BY ELEMENTARY MODULES AND FORMS BASED ON THE FUNCTIONAL LOGIC. IN HIS ACTIVITIES AS TOWN-PLANNER, ARCHITECT, AND DESIGNER, HIS METHOD OF RESEARCH CONTINUED TO DEVELOP, AT TIMES GOING TO THE OPPOSITE EXTREMES OF A RICH PLASTIC IDIOM. MUCH THE SAME COMMITMENT WILL BE FOUND IN THE FURNITURE OF THE EQUIPMENT INTÉRIEUR DE L’HABITATION (TABLES, CHAIRS, ARMCHAIRS, SOFAS) DESIGNED FOR THE SALON D’AUTOMNE, 1928, WITH PIERRE JEANNERET AND CHARLOTTE PERRIAND AND “CASIERS STANDARD”, SYSTEM OF CONTAINER UNITS DESIGNED FOR THE PAVILLON OF THE ESPRIT NOUVEAU, 1925, WITH PIERRE JEANNERET. CASSINA REPROPOSES THESE FURNITURE CONSIDERED “UP-TO-DATE”; THE CLEAR AND ESSENTIAL “FORM” IS HIGHLY ADAPTABLE TO CHANGE IN TIME AND ENVIRONMENT, CONTINUALLY PROVIDING NEW SIGNIFICANCE.

56

_ LE CORBUSIER (1887-1965)

DESIGNED IN 1952 FOR THE CABANON, A HUT BUILT

BY LE CORBUSIER ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA, WHERE ALONGSIDE THE MANY FI XED FURNISHINGS, THE FURNITURE WAS ALL CONCEIVED AS BOXES. THIS STOOL IS SPARTAN AND YET AT THE SAME TIME SOPHISTICATED DUE TO ITS DOVETAIL JOINTS THAT HIGHLIGHT THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE SOLID WOOD SURFACES. THE OBLONG HOLE ON EACH SIDE MAKES TABOURET VERY EASY TO HANDLE.

MADE IN NATURAL-COLOURED SOLID CHESTNUT WOOD. LC 14 TABOURET 1952/59

STURDY OAK TABLE-TOP ON A BASE COMPOSED OF STEEL TUBES LC 15 1958

ORGANIC AND YET RATIONAL, ITS DISTINCTIVE CONSTRUCTION DERIVES FROM TWO GEOMETRIC FIGURES: THE CIRCLE, SITTING ON A CUBE-LIKE BASE, AT RIGHT ANGLES TO EACH OTHER. THIS CLEAN-CUT DYNAMIC STYLE CONFERS ON THE FUTURE A PIECE OF GREAT VALUE, AESTHETICALLY SPEAKING, THAT MAKES A PERFECT PARTNER IN THE HOME, OR AS A CONFERENCE TABLE, SEATING UP TO TEN.

57

4.13 IN 1922, LE CORBUSIER BEGAN WORKING IN THE NEW RUE DE SÈVRES, PARIS, ATELIER WITH HIS COUSIN PIERRE JEANNERET. THEY SHARED RESEARCH PROJECTS AND DESIGN CRITERIA IN A PROFOUND AND LIFE-LONG PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP. IN OCTOBER 1927, THE PAIR DECIDED TO DRAW ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF A YOUNG ARCHITECT, CHARLOTTE PERRIAND, WHO HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO ESTABLISH A REPUTATION ON THE ARCHITECTURAL SCENE. THEIR COLLABORATION LASTED THROUGH TO 1937 AND WAS EXTREMELY FRUITFUL, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIELD OF FURNITURE DESIGN. THE PARTNERSHIP WAS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT, BOTH IN TERMS OF THE CULTURAL WEIGHT OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL SUCCESSES. IT WAS TOGETHER WITH CHARLOTTE PERRIAND THAT THE PAIR TACKLED THE INNOVATIVE PROJECT FOR “L’ÉQUIPEMENT D’INTÉRIEUR DE L’HABITATION”.

THE RESULTING DESIGNS WERE OF GREAT INTELLECTUAL VALUE AND CONSIDERABLE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS.

_ LE CORBUSIER, PIERRE JEANNERET & CHARLOTTE PERRIAND

TUBULAR STEEL FRAME, LEATHER SEATING LC 1 1928

A LIGHT, COMPACT CHAIR DESIGNED AND PRESENTED AT THE 1929 SALON D’AUTOMNE ALONG WITH OTHER IMPORTANT MODELS, SUCH AS THE LC2 AND LC3 ARMCHAIRS, THE LC6 TABLE AND THE LC4 CHAISE-LONGUE. AS WITH ALL OF LE CORBUSIER’S WORKS, THE LC1 DERIVES FROM AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF HUMAN POSTURE. THE CHAIR IS INTENDED TO BE RELAXING AND TO FOSTER CONVERSATION. THE BALANCE BETWEEN FORM AND FUNCTION IS ACHIEVED THROUGH THE USE OF THE MODULOR, A SYSTEM BASED ON THE TYPICAL MEASUREMENTS OF THE MALE BODY AND ON A MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE INFORMED BY THE PROPORTIONS OF UNIVERSAL HARMONY. ITS PERFECT COMPOSITIONAL SIMPLICITY, SUITED TO ANY CONTEXT. 58

59

TUBULAR FRAME IN BRUSHED NICKEL WITH A SEMI-OPAQUE FINISH WITH LEATHER UPHOLSTERED CUSHIONS LC2 & LC 3 1928

LC2 IS A TIMELESS MODEL, WHICH HAS MADE DESIGN HISTORY. DESIGNED IN 1928 AND EXHIBITED AT THE SALON D’AUTOMNE IN PARIS IN 1929, IT IS THE ARCHETYPAL ARMCHAIR IN THE NEW AND MODERN CONCEPTION OF FURNISHINGS UNDERSTOOD AS “DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT”. THE SEPARATION OF THE METAL FRAME AND THE CUSHIONS EXPRESSES A RATIONALIST APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION. ARMCHAIR, TWO- AND THREE-SEATER SOFAS, AND POUF WITH POLISHED CHROME OR PAINTED STEEL FRAME ARE IN THE LC PALETTE. THE LC3 IS THE WIDER VERSION OF THE LC2, IMPLEMENTING MODERNITY LOGIC, SEPARATING THE SUPPORTING METAL FRAME FROM ITS PADDED ELEMENTS LIKE THE ARCHITECTURAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONCRETE SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND ITS BUFFERING ELEMENTS. 60

61

CHAISE-LONGUE WITH ADJUSTABLE POLISHED TRIVALENT CHROME PLATED STEEL FRAME. BLACK ENAMEL STEEL BASE MAT- PONYSKIN OR COWSKIN WITH BLACK LEATHER HEADREST LC4 1928

DESIGNED IN 1928, THE LC4 IS THE DEFINITIVE CHAISE LONGUE: BUILT IN A SHAPE DESIGNED FOR RELAXATION, THE CHAIR WAS CREATED WHEN THE THREE DESIGNERS TEAMED TOGETHER TO PUT MAN AT THE CENTER OF THEIR DESIGN, TAKING THE IDEA THAT FORM AND FUNCTION SHOULD BE AT THE SERVICE OF RELAXATION, CREATING A PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN ITS GEOMETRIC PURITY AND ITS ERGONOMIC INTENT. THE FRAME’S STABILITY – FOR ANY ANGLE OF INCLINATION IS GUARANTEED BY THE FRICTION THROUGH RUBBER TUBES THAT COVER THE CROSSBAR OF THE BASE. 62

63

4.14 BORN IN FRANCE, A FULL MEMBER OF THAT AVANT-GARDE CULTURAL MOVEMENT WHICH, FROM THE FIRST DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, BROUGHT ABOUT A PROFOUND CHANGE IN AESTHETIC VALUES AND GAVE BIRTH TO A TRULY MODERN SENSITIVITY TOWARDS EVERYDAY LIFE. HER SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION FOCUSES ON INTERIOR COMPOSITION, CONCEIVED AS CREATING A NEW WAY OF LIVING, STILL TODAY AT THE HEART OF CONTEMPORARY LIFESTYLE. AT THE BEGINNING OF HER PROFESSIONAL CAREER, SHE WAS ACCLAIMED BY CRITICS FOR HER BAR UNDER THE ROOF, EXHIBITED AT THE SALON D’AUTOMNE IN 1927 AND CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY IN NICKEL-PLATED COPPER AND ANODIZED ALUMINUM. IN THE SAME YEAR, SHE BEGAN A DECADE-LONG COLLABORATION WITH LE CORBUSIER AND PIERRE JEANNERET. HER PRESENCE IN THE STUDIO IS VISIBLE IN ALL THE FURNISHINGS DESIGNED. SO SHE BECOMES A CORNERSTONE IN THE ARCHITECT’S REFORMATION PROJECT, ADDING A DISTINCT DIMENSION OF HUMANENESS TO LE CORBUSIER’S OFTEN COLD RATIONALISM. IN HER CREATIONS, SHE MANAGES TO ANIMATE THE FUNDAMENTAL SUBSTANCE OF DAILY LIFE WITH NEW AESTHETIC VALUES. DURING HER EXTENDED STAY IN THE FAR EAST (‘40-’46), SHE REVEALS HER ARTISTIC TALENT TO THE FULL THROUGH A REINTERPRETATION OF LIFE’S REALITY TO ECHO BOTH TRADITION AND MODERNITY. BY WAY OF EXAMPLE, WORTHY OF MENTION ARE THE FURNISHINGS PRODUCED USING TRADITIONAL BAMBOO PROCESSING TECHNIQUES, CAPABLE OF ENHANCING THE NEW FORMS ALREADY EXPERIMENTED USING STEEL-TUBING. 64

_ CHARLOTTE PERRIAND (1903-1999)

AUTHENTICITY AND AVANT-GARDE CHARACTERISE THE NUAGE SHELVING UNIT. DRAWING ON HER EXPERIENCE OF SEEING CLOUD-LIKE WALL-HUNG MODULAR SHELVES IN KYOTO, SHE DEVELOPED HER OWN VERSION: FUNCTIONAL, ATTRACTIVE AND VERSATILE. NUAGE 1940

DESIGNED DURING HER TIME IN TOKYO, THIS CHAIR USES BAMBOO TO REVISIT THE FAMOUS LC4 CHAISE-LONGUE. ITS ORGANIC FORM, CURVY AND INVITING. THE SEAT OF THIS RECLINER IS MADE OF TWELVE CURVED STRIPS OF WOOD WHILE THE JOINING ELEMENTS ARE SATIN-FINISH BRASS STUDS TOKYO CHAISE LONGUE 1940

65

4.15 BORN IN THE NETHERLANDS, HE WAS AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS GISO LAMPS AND SERIALLY PRODUCED FUNCTIONALIST STEELTUBE FURNITURE. HE STUDIED DESIGN AT THE ACADEMY FOR VISUAL ARTS AND TECHNICAL SCIENCE IN ROTTERDAM (ACADEMIE VAN BEELDENDE KUNSTEN EN TECHNISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN) AT THE ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT. IN 1916 HE PURCHASED A SMALL SMITHY, WHICH HE WOULD DEVELOP AND EXTEND TO THE WELL-KNOWN GISPEN’S FACTORY FOR METALWORK. THE COMPANY’S SUCCESS WAS TO A GREAT EXTENT BASED UPON HIS OWN QUALITIES AS AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, DESIGNING MANY ARTISTICALLY AND TECHNICALLY QUALITATIVE LAMPS AND FURNITURE. MANY OF THESE SERIAL PRODUCED DESIGNS, LIKE ARMCHAIR NO. 412, STILL BELONG TO THE HIGHLIGHTS OF DUTCH DESIGN. WITH HIS GISO LAMP-DESIGNS FROM THE 1920S AND 1930S HE WAS A PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL AVANT-GARDE INTERESTED IN LIGHT INNOVATIONS. IN 1911 WILLEM HENDRIK GISPEN TRAVELED TO ENGLAND, WHERE HE WAS EXPOSED TO THE IDEA OF “ART MANUFACTURES.” ON HIS RETURN TO THE NETHERLANDS, HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE NETHERLAND UNION OF HANDICRAFT AND INDUSTRIAL ART. LATER IN 1916, FOUNDED A METALWORKING COMPANY TO PRODUCE MAINLY ARCHITECTURAL FITTINGS MADE OF TUBULAR METAL. IN 1927 THE FACTORY LAUNCHED ITS GISO RANGE OF LIGHTING. COMBINING FUNCTIONALISM WITH GEOMETRIC PURITY, THESE LIGHTS WERE EXCEPTIONALLY AVANT-GARDE FOR THEIR ELEMENTS IN MOST DUTCH MODERNIST INTERIORS DURING THE LATE 1920S AND 1930S. 66

_ WILLEM HENDRIK GISPEN (1890-1981)

THE REMARKABLE SUCCESS OF THE GISO LIGHTING RANGE WAS DUE TO NOT ONLY WILLEM HENDRIK GISPEN’S ABILITY TO COMBINE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION WITH ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, BUT EQUAL�LY TO HIS USE OF BOLD, EYE-CATCHING POSTERS, WHICH HELPED TO ADVERTISE HIS MODERNIST PRODUCTS.

WITH ITS BOLD OUTLINE, THE MODEL NO. 66 REFLECTS THE STRONG GRAPHIC QUALITY SO CHARACTERISTIC OF DUTCH DESIGN. METAL MOUNTS WITH OPALESCENT GLASS SHADE AND ETCHED GLASS DISKS. MODEL NO. 66 GISO SUSPENDED CEILING LIGHT, 1931

IN 1927 GISPEN DISPLAYED HIS FURNITURE AND LIGHTS AT THE DEUTSCHER WERKBUND’S DIE WOHNUNG EXHIBITION IN STUTTGART AND RECEIVED SO MANY ORDERS THERE THAT TWO YEARS LATER, HE WAS ABLE TO OPEN A LARGER FACTORY IN CULEMBORG TO MASS-PRODUCE HIS DESIGNS. GISO WALL LIGHT GISO SUSPENDED CEILING LIGHTS 1927

67

4.16 BORN IN THE USA, HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. STILL, HE DID NOT WORK AS AN ARCHITECT BUT INSTEAD BECAME AN ARTIST AND A PIONEER IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN. HE ATTENDED THE 1925 EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS ET INDUSTRIELS MODERNES IN PARIS, WHICH INFLUENCED HIS DESIGN APPROACH. HE ESTABLISHED A DESIGN CONSULTING FIRM IN NEW YORK CITY AND LATER THE FIRM OF DESKEY-VOLLMER (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PHILLIP VOLLMER), WHICH SPECIALIZED IN FURNITURE AND TEXTILE DESIGN. HIS DESIGNS IN THIS ERA PROGRESSED FROM ART DECO TO STREAMLINE MODERNE. FROM HIS FIRST DESIGNS FOR DEPARTMENT STORE WINDOW DISPLAYS TO HIS SUMPTUOUS FURNISHINGS FOR RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL’S INTERIORS, DESKEY DESIGNED MANY OF THE ICONS THAT DEFINE AN AMERICAN MODERN STYLE. IN 1927 DONALD DESKEY AND PHILIP VOLLMER ESTABLISHED DESKEY-VOLLMER INC. -- A STUDIO CONCENTRATING ON THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF EXCLUSIVE ART DECO METAL FURNITURE AND LIGHTING, SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED BY WEALTHY CLIENTS LIKE ADAM GIMBEL (PRESIDENT OF SAKS FIFTH AVENUE), HELENA RUBINSTEIN, AND JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. BOTH THESE LIGHTS (C. 1927-29) REFLECT DESKEY’S EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY TO CREATE STRIKING FORMS THAT EPITOMIZE THE MODERN STYLE. HIS LIGHTING DESIGNS FROM THIS PERIOD ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE BOLD USE OF GEOMETRY AND GLEAMING METAL SURFACES. 68

_ DONALD DESKEY (1894-1989) WITH ITS SHARP ZIG-ZAG PROFILE AND ITS MIRROR-POLISHED CHROME, THIS LAMP EMBRACES AS A COMPACT AND PUNCHY OBJECT THE ESSENCE OF DESKEY’S DESIGN. THE LIGHT IS THE VERY EMBODIMENT OF THE SLEEK, MACHINED AESTHETICS OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN’S RISE DURING THE FAST-PACED, STYLE-DRIVEN INTERWAR PERIOD. DESK LIGHT 1927

CHROME-PLATED STEEL SHADE AND STEM ON PAINTED WOOD BASE NICKEL-PLATED METAL SHADE AND BASE, DESK LIGHT C. 1927-29

69

4.17 BORN IN FRANCE, AFTER SCHOOL, HE COMPLETED HIS TRAINING AS A METAL ARTISAN BEFORE OPENING HIS WORKSHOP IN NANCY IN 1924. IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, HE CREATED NUMEROUS FURNITURE DESIGNS, AND IN 1947 PROUVÉ ESTABLISHED HIS OWN FACTORY. DUE TO DISAGREEMENTS WITH THE MAJORITY SHAREHOLDERS, HE LEFT THE COMPANY IN 1953. DURING THE ENSUING DECADES, PROUVÉ SERVED AS A CONSULTING ENGINEER ON SEVERAL IMPORTANT ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS IN PARIS. HE LEFT HIS MARK ON ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AGAIN IN 1971, WHEN HE PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN SELECTING RENZO PIANO AND RICHARD ROGERS’S DESIGN FOR THE CENTRE POMPIDOU AS CHAIRMAN OF THE COMPETITION JURY. PROUVÉ’S WORK ENCOMPASSES A WIDE RANGE OF OBJECTS, FROM A LETTER OPENER TO DOOR AND WINDOW FITTINGS, FROM LIGHTING AND FURNITURE TO FAÇADE ELEMENTS AND PREFABRICATED HOUSES, FROM MODULAR BUILDING SYSTEMS TO LARGE EXHIBITION STRUCTURES. ESSENTIALLY, ALMOST ANYTHING THAT IS SUITED TO INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION METHODS. HE INTENDED BOTH IN HIS ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN WORK TO EMPLOY HIGHLY-ADVANCED METAL WORKING TECHNIQUES TO CREATE INNOVATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AND SHAPES. HE PLAYED AN INFLUENTIAL ROLE IN DEVELOPING A CONSTRUCTION METHOD FOR ARCHITECTURE BASED ON LIGHTWEIGHT PREFABRICATED SECTIONS AND DREW AMONGST OTHER THINGS ON THIS KNOWLEDGE OF AIRCRAFT AND CAR CONSTRUCTION.

70

_ JEAN PROUVÉ (1901-1984)

MADE IN NATURAL-COLOURED SOLID CHESTNUT WOOD. TABOURET 1952/59

JEAN PROUVÉ CREATED THE ROUND, WOODEN GUÉRIDON TABLE FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS IN 1949. IT COMES IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT SIZES AND VARIOUS TYPES OF HIGH-QUALITY WOOD.

71

ENAMELED TUBULAR METAL CONSTRUCTION THE JIB WALL LIGHT (AKA POTENCE/PETITE POTENCE) 1942 ONCE AGAIN CONCENTRATES ON THE LIGHT SOURCE: THE BULB BEING EXPOSED, AS IN GERRIT RIETVELD’S DESIGNS OF THE 1920S. TAKING ITS NAME FROM THE JIB OF A SAIL, THE LIGHT’S ARM CAN BE SWUNG HORIZONTAL�LY IN EITHER DIRECTION. PROUVÉ USED THESE LIGHTS IN MANY OF HIS HOUSING PROJECTS, THE MOST FAMOUS BEING FOR AIR FRANCE’S OFFICES IN BRAZZAVILLE, IN WHICH HE USED THE LARGER JIB WITH AN ELONGATED HANDLE. AT OVER TWO METERS IN LENGTH, THIS WALL LIGHT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE INTERIOR FEATURE. DESIGN FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG, THE ANTONY CHAIR, DISPLAYS PROUVÉ’S LOVE OF INDUSTRIAL ROUGHNESS OR ART BRUT. NO ATTEMPT IS MADE TO HIDE THE FRAME’S WELDED JOINTS OR UNFINISHED SURFACE. PAINTED BENT TUBULAR STEEL FRAME WITH MOLDED PLYWOOD SEAT SECTION ANTONY 1950 72

73

4.18 BORN IN BRITAIN, HE WAS ALREADY A PRACTICING ENGINEER OF SOME NOTE, SPECIALISING IN VEHICLE SUSPENSION SYSTEMS, WHEN HE INVENTED HIS FAMOUS DESK LAMP. HE HONED HIS SKILLS AT THE HORSTMANN CAR COMPANY WHERE HE ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS TO BECOME CHIEF DESIGNER. THEN IN 1924, WHEN HORSTMANN’S GOT INTO FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES CARWARDINE LEFT TO START HIS OWN BUSINESS, WHICH HE CALLED CARDINE ACCESSORIES. HE LATER WENT BACK TO WORK WITH SYDNEY HORSTMANN BUT IN 1929 THE HORSTMANN CAR COMPANY WENT BANKRUPT. CARWARDINE SEIZED THE MOMENT – HERE WAS THE OPPORTUNITY HE’D BEEN WAITING FOR TO EXPLORE A LONGSTANDING FASCINATION WITH SPRING AND LEVER BASED MECHANISMS. HE ESTABLISHED A GARDEN WORKSHOP AT HIS HOME IN BATH AND BEGAN WORK ON THE DESIGN THAT WOULD LATER BECOME HIS LEGACY. 1932 HE UNVEILED HIS REMARKABLE INVENTION - A 4-SPRING LAMP, COMBINING UNPRECEDENTED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND PERFECT BALANCE DUE TO ITS PATENTED CONSTANT SPRING MECHANISM. AND SOON DEMAND FOR THE LAMP FAR OUTSTRIPPED CARWARDINE’S SMALL-SCALE SUPPLY. SO IN 1934 CARWARDINE LICENSED THE DESIGN TO WORLD-CLASS SPRING MAKER, HERBERT TERRY & SONS, WHO ALREADY SUPPLIED THE SPRINGS FOR HIS LAMPS. NOT LONG AFTER, THE ANGLEPOISE® NAME WAS REGISTERED AND THE 4-SPRING ‘MODEL 1208™’ WENT INTO VOLUME PRODUCTION. 74

_ GEORGE CARWARDINE (1887-1947) IN 1932, WORKING AS AN AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER, GEORGE CARWARDINE DEVELOPS A FORMULA FOR A NEW TYPE OF SPRING. HE DISCOVERS THAT PIVOTING ARMS SUPPORTED

BY A SEQUENCE OF THESE SPRINGS CAN BE REPOSITIONED WITH THE LIGHTEST TOUCH YET WILL REMAIN PERFECTLY IN PLACE ONCE RELEASED. MODEL NO.1208 ANGLEPOISE TASK LIGHT, C.1933 EARLY PRODUCTION MODEL ENAMELED METAL BASE WITH METAL ARM AND ALUMINUM SHADE, 90CM HIGH

MODEL NO.1227 ANGLEPOISE TASK LIGHT, 1934 ENAMELED METAL BASE WITH METAL ARM AND ENAMELED METAL SHADE

75

4.19 BORN IN FINLAND, HE IS RECOGNIZED TODAY AS ONE OF THE GREAT MASTERS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE. HE BEGAN DESIGNING FURNISHINGS AS A NATURAL EXTENSION OF HIS ARCHITECTURAL THINKING. HIS FIRST MODERN PIECE OF FURNITURE WAS CREATED IN 1931-32 FOR THE TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM IN PAIMIO, FINLAND. ARTEK WAS SET UP IN 1935 TO MARKET AND SELL HIS AND HIS WIFE AINO’S FURNITURE, LIGHTING, AND TEXTILES, PARTICULARLY ON INTERNATIONAL MARKETS. THROUGH HIS INNOVATIONS IN FORM AND LINE, HIS NAME HAS BECOME IMPORTANT IN DESIGN HISTORY. HE FIRST ACHIEVED FAME IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE AS A FURNITURE DESIGNER AND ONLY LATER AS AN ARCHITECT. HIS CONTRIBUTION TO FURNITURE DESIGN WAS AMONG HIS MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN ITS OWN RIGHT. AALTO’S FURNITURE AND LIGHTING FORM THE HEART OF THE ARTEK RANGE. DURING A LONG AND PROLIFIC CAREER, HE DESIGNED BUILDINGS FOR ALMOST ALL KEY PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS AND STANDARDIZED HOUSING AND PRIVATE HOMES. HIS ARCHITECTURE IS DISTINCTIVELY FINNISH, STRONGLY INDIVIDUAL, AND MARKED BY WARM HUMANITY. HIS BUILDINGS DERIVE THEIR AESTHETIC CHARACTER FROM THEIR DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, THEIR HUMAN SCALE, SUPERBLY EXECUTED DETAILS, UNIQUE TREATMENT OF MATERIALS, AND INGENIOUS USE OF LIGHTING.

76

_ ALVAR AALTO (1898-1976)

IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE SAVOY VASE BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF A RANGE OF CUSTOM FURNISHINGS AND FIXTURES CREATED BY AALTO FOR THE LUXURY SAVOY RESTAURANT IN HELSINKI SAVOY VASE 1937 THE PAIMIO CHAIR’S CURVED SEAT SHELL IS ATTACHED TO THE FRAME ONLY AT ITS TOP AND BOTTOM ENDS, FORMING A LOOP AT BOTH THE TOP AND BOTTOM WITHIN THE FRAME, YIELDING SLIGHTLY UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE SITTING PERSON. PAIMIO CHAIR 1932

77

IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE A MORE MINIMALIST PIECE OF SEATING FURNITURE THAN ALVAR AALTO’S STOOL 60, CONSISTING OF A SEAT MOUNTED ONTO THREE WOODEN LEGS. ALTHOUGH THERE IS ALSO A FOUR-LEGGED VERSION, THREE LEGS SUFFICE IN TERMS OF STABILITY AND ABILITY TO STACK THE STOOLS BY THE DOZEN. THE DISTINCTIVE DETAIL IS THE RIGHT-ANGLE BEND AT THE TOP OF EACH LEG, ENABLING IT TO BE SCREWED FIRMLY TO THE SEAT. THE BENDING TECHNIQUE, SPECIALLY DEVELOPED AND PATENTED, CALLS FOR PARALLEL SLITS TO BE MADE IN THE UPPER END OF EACH LONG SOLID BIRCH SEGMENT; WATER AND HEAT ARE THEN ADDED TO MAKE THE WOOD PLIABLE. THEN, THIN PIECES OF WOOD DIPPED IN GLUE ARE INSERTED INTO THE SLITS. THIS ALTERATION PERMITS A 90-DEGREE BEND AT THE INTENDED LOCATION WITHOUT BREAKING. STOOL 60 1933

LOUNGE CHAIR 43 FURTHER EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITIES OF BENTWOOD MANUFACTURING, SHOWCASING THE STABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY OFFERED BY BIRCH LAMELLA, WHICH ALLOWS FOR CURVES AND BENDS COMPARABLE IN STRENGTH TO TUBULAR STEEL, BUT WITH A WARMER LOOK AND FEEL. THE FRAME OF CANTILEVERED LAMINATED BIRCH WOOD AND A LINEN WEBBING UPHOLSTERY MAKE FOR EXCEPTIONAL COMFORT. LOUNGE CHAIR 43 1937 78

79

4.20

_ POUL HENNINGSEN (1898-1976)

HE WAS BORN IN DENMARK, WHERE HE STUDIED AT THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL AT FREDERIKSBERG AND THEN AT TECHNICAL COLLEGE IN COPENHAGEN, BUT NEVER GRADUATED AS AN ARCHITECT. HE STARTED PRACTICING TRADITIONAL FUNCTIONALISTIC ARCHITECTURE, BUT OVER THE YEARS, HIS PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS CHANGED TO FOCUS MAINLY ON LIGHTING, WHICH IS WHAT HE IS MOST FAMOUS FOR. FOR A SHORT PERIOD AT THE BEGINNING OF WWII, HE WAS THE TIVOLI GARDENS’ HEAD ARCHITECT IN COPENHAGEN, BUT HE WAS FORCED TO FLEE DENMARK DURING THE GERMAN OCCUPATION. HE SOON BECAME A VITAL PART OF THE DANISH COLONY OF ARTISTS LIVING IN SWEDEN. HIS LIFELONG COLLABORATION WITH LOUIS POULSEN BEGAN IN 1925 AND LASTED UNTIL HIS DEATH. HIS PIONEERING WORK CONCERNING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN LIGHT STRUCTURES, SHADOWS, GLARE, AND COLOR REPRODUCTION—COMPARED TO MAN’S NEED FOR LIGHT REMAINS THE FOUNDATION OF THE LIGHTING THEORIES STILL PRACTICED. HE DEVELOPED A SERIES OF MULTI-SHADED HANGING AND TABLE LIGHTS DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE MODERN ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB’S DAZZLING GLARE. IN 1925 HIS FIRST PH LIGHT WAS AWARDED A GOLD MEDAL AT THE EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS ET INDUSTRIELS MODERNES IN PARIS. A STACKED UP BOWL AND SAUCER INSPIRED THE CONFIGURATION OF THE LIGHT-DIFFUSING PH SHADES -MADE OF OPAQUE GLASS. 80

BRASS METALLISED, BLACK METALLISED OR HIGH LUSTRE CHROME PLATED. WHITE OPAL GLASS. PH2/1 TABLE 1925 THE PENDANT ILLUMINATES ANY SPACE WITH A 100% GLARE-FREE LIGHT DUE TO THE 72 LEAVES, WHICH FORM 12 ROWS HOLDING 6 LEAVES EACH. PH ARTICHOKE 1958

81

PH LOUVRE WAS DESIGNED FOR THE ADVENTIST CHURCH IN SKODSBORG, DENMARK IN 1957.

THE GLOBE-SHAPED FIXTURE IS MADE UP OF 13 SHADES MOUNTED ON FOUR SUPPORTS. IT IS A SIMPLIFICATION OF AN EARLIER LIGHT POUL HENNINGSEN DESIGNED IN 1942, CALLED THE SPIRAL. MATT PAINTED UNDERSURFACES AND GLOSSY TOP SURFACES RESULT IN AN ATTRACTIVE REFLECTION OF THE DIFFUSED LIGHT, CREATING UNIFORM LIGHT DISTRIBUTION AROUND THE FIXTURE. PH LOUVRE 1957

POUL HENNINGSEN SOUGHT TO CREATE GLARE-FREE LIGHT THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, DIRECT LIGHT WHERE IT WAS MOST NEEDED, AND CREATE SOFT SHADOWS, USING INCANDESCENT BULBS AS A LIGHT SOURCE. HE DESIGNED SNOWBALL IN 1958, AND IT WAS EXHIBITED TOGETHER WITH PH 5 AT THE DANISH MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ART. HOWEVER, SNOWBALL RECEIVED NO PARTICULAR ATTENTION ON THIS OCCASION, AND WAS ONLY RE-LAUNCHED AND MANUFACTURED FROM 1983.

SHADES: WHITE, SPUN ALUMINUM, 0.8 MM THICK. INTERNAL STRUTS OF CHROME PLATED ALUMINUM. PH SNOWBALL 1958 82

83

4.21 BORN IN THE USA, SHE DEMONSTRATED AN EARLY INTEREST IN ARCHITECTURE AND WAS ENROLLED AT THE KINGSWOOD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, ADJACENT TO THE CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART. SHE BEFRIENDED ELIEL SAARINEN, WHOM SHE WOULD LATER STUDY UNDER AT CRANBROOK. THE CONNECTIONS SHE MADE AND THE SKILLS SHE DEVELOPED WHILE AT CRANBROOK WERE THE FOUNDATIONS OF HER INCREDIBLE DESIGN EDUCATION AND PIONEERING CAREER. WITH ELIEL SAARINEN AND ALVAR AALTO’S RECOMMENDATIONS, FLORENCE STUDIED UNDER SOME OF THE GREATEST 20TH-CENTURY ARCHITECTS, INCLUDING WALTER GROPIUS AND MARCEL BREUER IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE AT THE ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. IN 1941 SHE MOVED TO NEW YORK WHERE SHE MET HANS KNOLL, WHO WAS ESTABLISHING HIS FURNITURE COMPANY. FLORENCE ALSO SEEDED CONTRIBUTIONS WITH HER FRIENDS EERO SAARINEN, HARRY BERTOIA, AND MIES VAN DER ROHE. IN CREATING THE REVOLUTIONARY PLANNING UNIT, SHE DEFINED THE STANDARD FOR THE MODERN CORPORATE INTERIORS OF POST-WAR AMERICA, INCLUDING IBM, GM, AND CBS. SHE FREQUENTLY CONTRIBUTED FURNITURE DESIGNS TO THE KNOLL CATALOG, WHICH SHE REFERRED TO AS THE “MEAT AND POTATOES,” FILLER AMONG THE STANDOUT PIECES OF BERTOIA, MIES, AND SAARINEN. HOWEVER, WITH HER ATTENTION TO DETAIL, EYE FOR PROPORTION, AND COMMAND OF THE MODERN AESTHETIC, MANY OF HER DESIGNS HAVE BECOME AS REVERED AND CELEBRATED AS THOSE OF HER COLLEAGUES. 84

_ FLORENCE KNOLL (1917-2019)

RELAXED BENCH 1954 RELAXED LOUNGE CHAIR, SETTE, SOFA 1954 THE FLORENCE KNOLL SOFA IS A SCALED-DOWN TRANSLATION OF THE RHYTHM AND PROPORTIONS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN ARCHITECTURE. WITH A SPARE, GEOMETRIC PROFILE—AN EXPRESSION OF THE RATIONAL DESIGN APPROACH FLORENCE KNOLL LEARNED FROM HER MENTOR, MIES VAN DER ROHE—THE SOFA IS UTTERLY MODERN AND TOTAL�LY TIMELESS.

PERFECTLY PROPORTIONED AND IMMACULATELY DETAILED, THE ICONIC LOW CREDENZA WORKS AS WELL IN THE DINING ROOM AS IT DOES IN THE OFFICE. CREDENZA 1954 85

4.22 CHARLES EAMES, BORN IN THE USA, STUDIED ARCHITECTURE AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS AND DESIGNED SEVERAL HOUSES AND CHURCHES IN COLLABORATION WITH VARIOUS PARTNERS. HIS WORK CAUGHT ELIEL SAARINEN’S ATTENTION, WHO OFFERED HIM A FELLOWSHIP AT THE CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART IN MICHIGAN IN 1938. IN 1940, HE AND EERO SAARINEN WON FIRST PRIZE IN THE ‘INDUSTRIAL DESIGN COMPETITION FOR THE 21 AMERICAN REPUBLICS’ – ORGANIZED BY THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MOMA) IN NEW YORK. EAMES WAS APPOINTED HEAD OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN DEPARTMENT AT CRANBROOK THE SAME YEAR. RAY EAMES WAS BORN AS BERNICE ALEXANDRA KAISER, AND SHE ATTENDED BENNETT COLLEGE IN NEW YORK, AND CONTINUED HER STUDIES IN PAINTING AT THE HANS HOFMANN SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS UNTIL 1937. SHE MATRICULATED AT THE CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART IN 1940.

CHARLES AND RAY EAMES MARRIED IN 1941, AND TOGETHER THEY BEGAN EXPERIMENTING WITH TECHNIQUES FOR THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MOLDING OF PLYWOOD. THE AIM WAS TO CREATE COMFORTABLE AND AFFORDABLE CHAIRS. IN 1946, THEY EXHIBITED THEIR EXPERIMENTAL FURNITURE DESIGNS AT MOMA. THE HERMAN MILLER COMPANY SUBSEQUENTLY BEGAN TO PRODUCE EAMES FURNITURE. CHARLES AND RAY PARTICIPATED IN THE 1948 ‘LOW-COST FURNITURE’ COMPETITION AT MOMA, AND THEY BUILT THE EAMES HOUSE IN 1949 AS THEIR PRIVATE RESIDENCE. WITH A GRAND SENSE OF ADVENTURE, CHARLES AND RAY EAMES TURNED THEIR CURIOSITY AND BOUNDLESS ENTHUSIASM INTO CREATIONS THAT ESTABLISHED THEM 86

_ CHARLES & RAY EAMES (1907–1978) (1912–1988) AS A TRULY GREAT HUSBAND-AND-WIFE DESIGN TEAM. THEIR UNIQUE SYNERGY LED TO A WHOLE NEW LOOK IN FURNITURE. LEAN AND MODERN. PLAYFUL AND FUNCTIONAL. SLEEK, SOPHISTICATED, AND BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE. THAT WAS AND IS THE “EAMES LOOK.”

WITH ITS FOUR-LEGGED BASE IN TUBULAR STEEL, THE DAX (DINING HEIGHT ARMCHAIR X-BASE) IS THE MOST UNDERSTATED VERSION OF CHARLES AND RAY EAMES’S CLASSIC PLASTIC CHAIR. DAX 1950 LOUNGE CHAIR 1956

‚WHY DON’T WE CREATE A CONTEMPORARY VERSION OF THE OLD ENGLISH CLUB CHAIR?’ WITH THIS QUESTION, CHARLES EAMES INITIATED THE LOUNGE CHAIR’S DEVELOPMENT. IT FINALLY BECAME AVAILABLE IN 1956 AND HAS NEVER GONE OUT OF PRODUCTION SINCE. THE LEATHER UPHOLSTERY IMPARTS WITH THE WARM AND FAMILIAR FEEL OF A WELL-USED BASEBALL MITT. THE CORPUS RESTS ON A DIE-CAST-ALUMINUM FIVE-STAR BASE. THREE DIFFERENTLY FORMED PLYWOOD SHELLS – ONE FOR THE SEAT, THE OTHER TWO FOR THE TWOPART BACKREST – EMBRACE THE SEATED BODY. THREE DOWN-FILLED LEATHER CUSHIONS ARE FIXED TO THESE SHELLS TO PROVIDE COMFORT, TOGETHER WITH THE FOAM-UPHOLSTERED ARMRESTS WITH LEATHER COVERS. WHILE THEIR OTHER DESIGNS MIGHT HAVE BEEN MORE POPULAR, THE LUXURIOUS AND PRESTIGIOUS LOUNGE CHAIR IS THEIR MOST FAMOUS WORK. IT IS, WITHOUT A QUESTION, AN ICON OF MID-CENTURY MODERN DESIGN. 87

PH LOUVRE 1957

THE EAMSES SPENT MANY YEARS EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCING THREE-DIMENSIONALLY MOULDED PLYWOOD SEAT SHELLS THAT CONFORMED TO THE CONTORS OF THE HUMAN BODY. THEY ACHIEVED THIS WITH THE CHAIRS IN THE PLYWOOD GROUP, WHICH HAVE MATURED INTO CLASSICS WITH AN APPEARANCE THAT STILL LOOKS CONTEMPORARY TODAY. THANKS TO THE ORGANIC SHAPE OF THE PLYWOOD SHELLS AND THE SLIGHTLY FLEXIBLE BACKRESTS, THESE LIGHT AND COMPACT CHAIRS OFFER GREAT COMFORT – ALSO IN THE VERSIONS WITHOUT UPHOLSTERY.

PLYWOOD GROUP LCW 1945/46 88

THE SCULPTURAL SEATING OBJECT LA CHAISE IS REGARDED AS ONE OF CHARLES AND RAY EAMES’ MOST WELL-KNOWN WORKS – ALTHOUGH ITS SERIAL PRODUCTION ONLY STARTED DECADES AFTER THE ORIGINAL DESIGN WAS MADE. LIKE THE EAMESES’ PLASTIC SHELLS, THE INITIAL FORM OF THIS EXTRAVAGANT ICON OF MODERN MID-CENTURY DESIGN WAS CREATED IN 1948 FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR LOW-COST FURNITURE DESIGN ORGANIZED BY MOMA, WHERE IT RECEIVED AN HONOURABLE MENTION. THE LOUNGE CHAIR CONSISTS OF A WHITE LACQUERED SHELL THAT SUPPORTS THE BODY IN VARIOUS SEATING POSITIONS AND IS ANCHORED IN AN OAK BASE BY FIVE CHROMED STEEL RODS. IT WAS INSPIRED BY THE ‚FLOATING FIGURE’ SCULPTURE BY GASTON LACHAISE. THE LOUNGE CHAIR HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS AN ICON OF ORGANIC DESIGN..

LA CHAISE 1958

89

90

THE ALUMINIUM CHAIRS EA 101, EA 103 AND EA 104 ARE IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER MODELS IN THE ALUMINIUM GROUP, THEY ARE SOMEWHAT LIGHTER, NARROWER AND HIGHER. THE THREE MODELS DIFFER IN THE TYPE OF BASE – FIXED OR SWIVEL – AND WHETHER THEY COME WITH ARMRESTS..

EAMES ALUMINUM GROUP NO. 680 1957

FOR THE DINING HEIGHT SIDE CHAIR WOOD BASE (DSW), THE ORGANICALLY SHAPED SEAT SHELL IS COMBINED WITH A FOUR-LEGGED WOODEN BASE. THE PAIRING OF PLASTIC AND WOOD GIVES THIS CLASSIC DESIGN A CERTAIN WARMTH AND CASUAL APPEAL. THE SO-CALLED EIFFEL TOWER BASE OF THE DSR CHAIR (ROD BASE), AN INTRICATE AND GRACEFUL CONSTRUCTION MADE OF STEEL WIRE, COMBINES LIGHT, ELEGANT FORMS WITH STRUCTURAL STRENGTH. DINING HEIGHT SIDE CHAIR DSW & DSR 1950 91

4.23 BORN IN FINLAND AS THE SON OF THE ARCHITECT ELIEL SAARINEN. HE STUDIED SCULPTURE AT THE ACADÉMIE DE LA GRANDE CHAUMIÈRE IN PARIS BEFORE STUDYING ARCHITECTURE AT YALE UNIVERSITY IN NEW HAVEN UNTIL 1934, WHERE A FELLOWSHIP ENABLED HIM TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE. AFTER RETURNING TO THE USA, HE WORKED IN HIS FATHER’S ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE AND ALSO TAUGHT AT CRANBROOK ACADEMY, WHERE HE MET CHARLES EAMES. TOGETHER THEY EXPERIMENTED ON NEW FURNITURE FORMS AND PRODUCED THE FIRST DESIGNS FOR FURNITURE MADE FROM MOLDED PLYWOOD. THE TWO YOUNG MEN, BOTH COMMITTED TO EXPLORING POTENTIAL NEW MATERIALS AND PROCESSES, QUICKLY BECAME GREAT FRIENDS, PUSHING EACH OTHER CREATIVELY WHILE COLLABORATING ON SEVERAL PROJECTS. THEIR PARTNERSHIP’S MOST NOTABLE OUTCOME WAS THE COLLECTION OF MOLDED PLYWOOD CHAIRS FOR THE MOMA-SPONSORED 1940 ORGANIC DESIGN IN HOME FURNISHINGS COMPETITION. BEING AWARDED 1ST PRIZE IN ALL CATEGORIES, THE YOUNG DESIGNERS WERE CATAPULTED TO THE AMERICAN MODERN FURNITURE MOVEMENT’S FOREFRONT. SAARINEN ALSO MET FLORENCE KNOLL AT CRANBROOK, WHO AT THAT TIME WAS A PROMISING YOUNG PROTÉGÉ OF ELIEL SAARINEN. FLORENCE SPENT ALL OF HER FREE TIME WITH THE SAARINEN FAMILY, INCLUDING SUMMER VACATIONS TO FINLAND. FLORENCE AND EERO DEVELOPED A BROTHER-AND-SISTER-LIKE RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD LAST THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. WHEN FLORENCE JOINED KNOLL IN THE 1940S, IT WAS AN OBVIOUS CHOICE TO INVITE EERO TO DESIGN FOR THE COMPANY. 92

_ EERO SAARINEN (1910-1961)

BENT TUBULAR STEEL FRAME WITH FABRIC COVERED UPHOLSTERED MOLDED FIBERGLASS SEAT SHELL AND LATEX FOAM CUSHIONS THE NO.70 INCORPORATED A MOLDED FIBERGLASS SEAT SHELL. WITH ITS GENEROUS PROPORTIONS AND ORGANIC FORM, IT INVITED THE USER TO CURL UP IN IT. BECAUSE OF THIS EVENTUALLY BECAME KNOWN AS THE „WOMB” CHAIR.

MODEL NO. 70 / WOMB CHAIR 1948

93

THE ORGANIC ARMCHAIR WAS CREATED IN 1940/41 AS A DESIGN FOR THE LEGENDARY COMPETITION ORGANIC DESIGN IN HOME FURNISHINGS. THE JURY ACKNOWLEDGED THE TECHNICAL INNOVATION CONSTITUTED, AS A THREE-DIMENSIONALLY MOLDED PLYWOOD SHELL WAS PROPOSED PROVIDING A LARGE DEGREE OF COMFORT THROUGH THEIR ERGONOMIC FORM. IT SOON BECAME CLEAR, HOWEVER, THAT THE CHAIRS WOULD STILL NEED SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT TO BE FIT FOR SERIAL PRODUCTION ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE. MEANWHILE, THE ORGANIC CHAIR’S SERIAL PRODUCTION ONLY BEGAN IN 2004, BASED ON ONE OF THE FEW ORIGINAL MODELS FROM 1941.

CONVERSATION CHAIR / ORGANIC ARMCHAIR, 1940/41 IN 1955, AFTER DISCUSSIONS WITH HANS AND FLORENCE KNOLL ABOUT NEW FURNITURE, EERO SAARINEN CAME UP WITH SCULPTURAL DESIGNS FOR A ONE-LEGGED CHAIR. HIS INTENTION WAS TO CLEAR UP THE CLUTTER OF TABLE AND CHAIR LEGS THAT HAD TURNED INTERIORS INTO WHAT HE CALLED AN ‘UGLY, CONFUSING UNRESTFUL WORLD’. THE „PEDESTAL GROUP” OF TULIP DID FULFILL HIS OBJECTIVE OF CLEANING UP THE „SLUM OF LEGS” IN DOMESTIC INTERIORS. TULIP 1958 94

95

4.24 BORN IN THE USA TO THE JAPANESE POET YONE NOGUCHI AND THE AMERICAN WRITER LEONIE GILMOUR, HE STUDIED AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND THE LEONARDO DA VINCI ART SCHOOL. HE SUBSEQUENTLY ESTABLISHED HIS FIRST INDEPENDENT STUDIO AND RECEIVED A GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP IN 1927. NOGUCHI BECAME AN ASSISTANT TO CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI IN PARIS AND PRESENTED HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK. AFTER STUDYING BRUSH DRAWING IN CHINA, HE TRAVELED TO JAPAN TO WORK WITH CLAY UNDER THE MASTER POTTER JINMATSU UNO. HIS EXPERIENCES LIVING AND WORKING IN DIFFERENT CULTURAL CIRCLES ARE REFLECTED IN ISAMU NOGUCHI’S WORK AS AN ARTIST. HE IS CONSIDERED A UNIVERSAL TALENT WITH A CREATIVE OEUVRE THAT WENT BEYOND SCULPTURE TO ENCOMPASS STAGE SETS, FURNITURE, LIGHTING, INTERIORS AS WELL AS OUTDOOR PLAZAS AND GARDENS. HIS SCULPTURAL STYLE IS INDEBTED TO A VOCABULARY OF ORGANIC FORMS AND EXERTED A SUSTAINED INFLUENCE ON THE DESIGN OF THE 1950S. ‘MY FATHER, YONE NOGUCHI IS JAPANESE AND HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN AS AN INTERPRETER OF THE EAST AND WEST THROUGH POETRY. I WISH TO DO THE SAME THING THROUGH SCULPTURE’, HE WROTE IN HIS PROPOSAL FOR A GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP.

_ ISAMU NOGUCHI (1904-1988)

IN CREATING HIS DESIGN FOR THE COFFEE TABLE, HE TRANSLATED THE BIOMORPHIC AESTHETIC OF HIS SCULPTURAL WORKS INTO A PIECE OF FURNITURE WITH DISTINCTIVE ORGANIC FORMS. PRESUMABLY FOR THIS REASON, NOGUCHI REGARDED THE TABLE AS HIS BEST FURNITURE DESIGN. TWO WOODEN LEG ELEMENTS, WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN BLACK ASH, MAPLE OR WALNUT, ARE POSITIONED AT A RIGHT ANGLE TO PROVIDE A STABLE SUPPORT FOR THE HEAVY, STURDY GLASS TOP. COFFEE TABLE 1944

96

97

98

THE AKARI LIGHT SCULPTURES (1951) BY ISAMU NOGUCHI ARE A SERIES OF LUMINAIRES, HANDCRAFTED FROM TRADITIONAL WASHI PAPER BY JAPANESE ARTISANS. ‘THE HARSHNESS OF ELECTRICITY IS THUS TRANSFORMED THROUGH THE MAGIC OF PAPER BACK TO THE LIGHT OF OUR ORIGIN – THE SUN.’ THE DINING TABLE CYCLONE IS ONE OF THE MOST ELEGANT DINING TABLES IN THE HISTORY OF 20TH-CENTURY FURNITURE DESIGN. THE CHROME-PLATED RODS CONNECT TO A CAST IRON BASE RING TO GIVE THE SCULPTOR-DESIGNER’S TABLE ADDED STABILITY AND SUPPORT, BUT WITHOUT APPEARING HEAVY. AKARI LIGHT SCULPTURES (1951) CYCLONE TABLE 1957

THE SCULPTURAL QUALITY OF NOGUCHI’S DESIGN VOCABULARY FINDS EXPRESSION IN THE FREEFORM SOFA: IT IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER DESIGNS OF THE SAME PERIOD, APPEARING IN COMBINATION WITH THE OTTOMAN LIKE AN ENLARGED SCULPTURE OF FLAT, ROUNDED RIVER STONES. THE SLENDER ORGANIC FORMS ARE FLUID AND GRACEFUL. NOGUCHI EMPHASISES THE LIGHTNESS OF THE ELEMENTS WITH THIN YET COMFORTABLE UPHOLSTERY AND A CHOICE OF COVER FABRICS IN NATURAL COLOURS. FREFORM SOFA & OTTOMAN 1946 99

4.25 BORN IN USA, HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE AT YALE UNIVERSITY. A FELLOWSHIP ENABLED HIM TO STUDY AT THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME FROM 1932 TO 1934. IN EUROPE, HE BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH THE MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL WORKS AND LEADING PROTAGONISTS OF MODERNISM. IN 1935, NELSON JOINED THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE ‘ARCHITECTURAL FORUM’, WHERE HE WAS EMPLOYED UNTIL 1944. A PROGRAMMATIC ARTICLE ON RESIDENTIAL BUILDING AND FURNITURE DESIGN, PUBLISHED BY NELSON IN A 1944 ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL, ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF D.J. DEPREE, HEAD OF THE FURNITURE COMPANY HERMAN MILLER, INC. A SHORT TIME LATER, GEORGE NELSON TOOK ON THE POSITION OF DESIGN DIRECTOR AT HERMAN MILLER. REMAINING THERE UNTIL 1972, HE BECAME A KEY FIGURE OF AMERICAN DESIGN; IN ADDITION TO CREATING FURNISHINGS FOR THE HOME AND OFFICE, NELSON ALSO CONVINCED CHARLES & RAY EAMES, ISAMU NOGUCHI, AND ALEXANDER GIRARD TO WORK FOR HERMAN MILLER. ALONG WITH HIS POSITION AS DESIGN DIRECTOR AT HERMAN MILLER, NELSON OPENED HIS OWN DESIGN OFFICE IN 1947, GEORGE NELSON ASSOCIATES, INC. HIS ARCHITECTURAL WORK INCLUDED NUMEROUS PRIVATE RESIDENCES.

_ GEORGE NELSON (1908-1986)

THIS ARMCHAIR WAS FIRST PRODUCED WITH A SEAT OF BENT STEEL THAT WAS CUSHIONED WITH FOAM AND COVERED WITH FABRIC. LATER, HERMAN MILLER PRODUCED THE SEAT USING FIBERGLASS-REINFORCED POLYESTER. THE FRAME WAS AT FIRST STRENGTHENED USING BENT STEEL RODS THAT ECHOED THE FORM OF THE CHAIR. LATER, THE VARIOUS FEET OF THE FRAME WERE SCREWED INDIVIDUALLY INTO THE SEAT. TODAY, THE CHAIR IS OFFERED WITH A LEATHER COVERING AND ADDITIONAL CIRCULATION HOLES ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEAT. COCONUT CHAIR 1955

100

101

102

THE BASIC IDEA FOR THE DESIGN OF THE THE MARSHMALLOW SOFA WAS AN INDUSTRIAL SERIES PRODUCTION OF THE ROUND CUSHIONS. AS THIS PRODUCTION COULD NOT TAKE PLACE AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED, THE COST OF MANUFACTURING THE SOFA WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN BUDGETED, SO THAT SALES FIGURES AT THAT TIME FELL FAR BEHIND EXPECTATIONS. NEVERTHELESS, THE MARSHMALLOW SOFA QUICKLY ACHIEVED THE STATUS OF A MODERN CLASSIC.

MARSHMALLOW SOFA 1956 THE DESIGN WAS INSPIRED BY CLASSICAL THONET BENTWOOD CHAIRS, USED AS OFFICE SEATING IN THE NELSON FIRM. SINCE THE CHAIR (DUE TO HIGH PRODUCTION COSTS) WAS MORE THAN $100, IT NEVER WENT INTO SERIAL PRODUCTION. IN 1957, THE COMPANY LAWRENCE PLYCRAFT CLAIMED THEY COULD PRODUCE THE CHAIR MORE AFFORDABLY. THE CHAIR WAS THEN REINTRODUCED IN THE 1957/58 HERMAN MILLER CATALOG. AFTER DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN HERMAN MILLER AND PLYCRAFT, PRODUCTION WAS ENDED. IN 1985, NELSON ALLOWED THE ITALIAN COMPANY ICF TO PRODUCE THE PRETZEL CHAIR AGAIN, AS IT IS NOW CALLED, IN OAK OR PAINTED BLACK. LAMINATED / PRETZEL CHAIR 1952 103

4.26 BORN IN ITALY, HE WAS A COMPLETE AND GIFTED ARTIST. AFTER STUDYING AT THE DETROIT TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL AND THE DETROIT SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS, HARRY BERTOIA OPENED HIS OWN METAL WORKSHOP AT CRANBROOK, WHERE HE TAUGHT JEWELRY DESIGN AND METALWORK. IN 1946 HE MOVED TO CALIFORNIA TO HELP FELLOW CRANBROOK ALUMNUS CHARLES EAMES DEVELOP LAMINATING AND BENDING PLYWOOD METHODS. BERTOIA’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FAMOUS EAMES CHAIRS WERE CRUCIAL EVEN IF NOT WELL KNOWN. HAVING STUDIED WITH BERTOIA AT CRANBROOK, FLORENCE KNOLL ENCOURAGED BERTOIA TO MOVE EAST AND SET UP HIS OWN METAL SHOP IN A CORNER OF KNOLL’S PRODUCTION FACILITY. CHARACTERISTIC OF THE EARLY ENVIRONMENT AT KNOLL, HANS AND FLORENCE NEVER DEMANDED THAT BERTOIA DESIGN FURNITURE BUT INSTEAD ENCOURAGED HIM TO EXPLORE WHATEVER HE LIKED. THEY JUST ASKED THAT IF HE ARRIVED AT SOMETHING INTERESTING, TO SHOW THEM. HE DEFINITELY ARRIVED AT SOMETHING OUTSTANDING. HIS ICONIC WIRE FURNITURE COLLECTION, INTRODUCED IN 1952, IS RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE AS ONE OF 20TH-CENTURY OUTSTANDING FURNITURE DESIGN ACHIEVEMENTS. TODAY KNOLL CARRIES ON HARRY BERTOIA’S LEGACY OF INNOVATION, INSPIRATION, AND BEAUTY WITH THE BERTOIA COLLECTION, WHICH HAS BEEN IN CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION.

_HARRY BERTOIA (1915-1978)

PLASTIC SIDE CHAIR 1956

THE BIRD CHAIR IS AN ASTOUNDING STUDY IN SPACE, FORM AND FUNCTION BY ONE OF THE MASTER SCULPTORS OF THE LAST CENTURY. HIGH BACK CHAIR & OTTOMAN AKA BIRD CHAIR 1955

104

105

106

THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS, HE EXPERIMENTED WITH MESH STRUCTURES AND PRODUCED NUMEROUS SKETCHES AND MODELS. FINALLY, A PROTRUDING BOWL-SHAPED STRUCTURE EMERGED FROM THE WIRE, GIVING THE IMPRESSION OF A SQUARE WIRE MESH THAT HAD BEEN DEFORMED THREE-DIMENSIONALLY UNDER A SEATED PERSON’S WEIGHT, THEREBY PULLING IT INTO THE DIAMOND SHAPE THAT GIVES THE CHAIR ITS NAME.

DIAMOND CHAIR 1950-52

INNOVATIVE, COMFORTABLE AND STRIKINGLY HANDSOME, HARRY BERTOIA’S SIDE CHAIR’S DELICATE FILIGREE APPEARANCE BELIES ITS STRENGTH AND DURABILITY. THE BERTOIA SIDE CHAIR IS AVAILABLE WITH A SEAT PAD OR FULLY UPHOLSTERED. A BACK PAD IS ALSO AN OPTION FOR THE VERSION WITH SEAT PAD SIDE CHAIR 1954-55 107

4.27 BORN AND RAISED IN DENMARK, IT IS SAID THAT THE CHILD ARNE JACOBSEN PAINTED OVER THE VICTORIAN WALLPAPER IN HIS BEDROOM. HE DID NOT COVER HIS WALLS WITH TYPICAL CHILDISH DRAWINGS OR PAINT THE ORNATE WALLPAPER BOYISH BLUE – HE DECIDED TO PAINT HIS ROOM ENTIRELY WHITE. THIS DECISION MAY SEEM TYPICAL TODAY, BUT WHITE WALLS WERE NOT YET IN FASHION IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, ARNE JACOBSEN WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME. FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, ARNE JACOBSEN’S IDEAS SHAPED THE LANDSCAPE OF DANISH DESIGN, RIPPLING OUT FROM SCANDINAVIA TO INFLUENCE ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS WORLDWIDE. HE MANAGED TO DIRECT PROJECTS RANGING FROM COMPLEX BUILDINGS LIKE DANMARKS NATIONALBANK TO DETAILED CHALLENGES AS HUMBLE AS A SPECIAL TEASPOON FOR HIS CUTLERY SET, WORKING WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL STUDIO STAFF DRIVEN BY AN UNQUENCHABLE NEED TO CREATE. JACOBSEN’S CREATIVE PROCESS CENTERED ON HIS STRICT CONSIDERATION OF DETAIL. HE BROUGHT HIS VISIONS TO LIFE FOR PATRONS AND BUILDERS WITH SCRUPULOUS, HAND-PAINTED WATERCOLORS. IN ANY GIVEN YEAR, JACOBSEN MANAGED TO DESIGN WHAT OTHERS MIGHT BE HAPPY TO PRODUCE IN FIVE.

_ARNE JACOBSEN (1902-1971)

WHEN DESIGNING THE SAS ROYAL HOTEL IN COPENHAGEN, HE SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY: HE CREATED TWO ORGANICALLY SHAPED LOUNGE CHAIRS – THE EGG AND THE SWAN. THE EGG’S SEAT SHELL CONSISTS OF A SINGLE PIECE OF INJECTION-MOLDED POLYSTYRENE PADDED WITH FOAM AND UPHOLSTERED IN LEATHER OR FABRIC. EGG CHAIR & OTTOMAN 1957/58

108

109

FOUR YEARS AFTER ARNE JACOBSEN HAD CREATED THE SO-CALLED ANT CHAIR, JACOBSEN IN 1955 DESIGNED ANOTHER PLYWOOD CHAIR FOR FRITZ HANSEN, THE CHAIR NO. 3107, ALSO KNOWN AS THE SEVENER. ITS PROFILE WAS DISTINCTIVE BUT LESS IDIOSYNCRATIC THAN THAT OF THE ANT, MAKING IT MORE ATTRACTIVE TO THE MASSES AND APPROPRIATE FOR A RANGE OF SETTINGS, SUCH AS PRIVATE HOMES, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, OR WORKPLACES. IT HAS A SLIGHTLY LARGER SEAT SHELL WITH A SLIGHTLY WIDER AND TALLER BACK, ON WHICH ONE CAN REST AN ARM WHEN SITTING SIDEWAYS. SEVENER 1955 110

ALTHOUGH MADE FROM POLYSTYRENE LIKE THE EGG, THE SHAPE OF THE SWAN’S SEAT SHELL PROBABLY STEMS FROM THE CONCEPT OF A PLYWOOD CHAIR, AS SUGGESTED BY JACOBSEN’S DRAFTS AND MODEL STUDIES DURING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF THIS CHAIR. THE INCISIONS BETWEEN THE ARMREST AND THE BACK WEAKEN THE SHELL, BUT WOULD HAVE BEEN NECESSARY IF THE SHELL WAS MADE FROM PLYWOOD. THE POLYSTYRENE WOULD HAVE MADE A CLOSED SEATING SHELL POSSIBLE, BUT JACOBSEN PROBABLY MAINTAINED THE INCISION TO CREATE THE SWAN’S CHARACTERISTIC BIRD- OR FLOWER-LIKE APPEARANCE. THE SWAN 1958-60 THE ANT IS PROBABLY THE WORLD’S FIRST INDUSTRIALLY PRODUCED CHAIR WITH A SEAT SHELL IN AN UNINTERRUPTED FORM MADE OUT OF THREE-DIMENSIONALLY BENT PLYWOOD. THE ASSIGNMENT TO DESIGN A CANTEEN CHAIR FOR NOVO WAS AN OPPORTUNITY OF CREATING A DOUBLE-CURVATURE SEAT SHELL MADE OUT OF A SINGLE PIECE OF PLYWOOD. RAY & CHARLES EAMES HAD SET THEMSELVES THE TASK IN THE LATE 1930S BUT ABANDONED THEIR IDEA DUE TO ISSUES WITH THE SHELL’S STABILITY. JACOBSEN SOLVED THESE CHALLENGES WITH A DECISIVE FEATURE, A NARROWED WAIST, WHICH ENABLED THE PLYWOOD TO BE BENT TO THE DESIRED CURVATURE. THE CHAIR’S NAME REFERS TO ITS DISTINCTIVE PROFILE. THE LIGHT AND STACKABLE CHAIR’S DESIGN WAS LIKELY ALSO A RESPONSE TO NEW DANISH HOMES’ RELATIVELY SMALL SIZE. THREE MILLION COPIES HAVE BEEN SOLD SINCE ITS RELEASE, MAKING IT A COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. THE ANT 1952 111

4.28

_SORI YANAGI (1915-2011)

BORN IN JAPAN, ATTENDED ART SCHOOL IN TOKYO, AND WORKED FROM 1940 TO 1942 IN THE OFFICE OF THE DESIGNER CHARLOTTE PERRIAND. IN 1952, HE FOUNDED THE YANAGI INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INSTITUTE, WHICH CREATED A PROLIFIC NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF DAILY USE AND FURNISHINGS. SORI YANAGI’S ORGANIC FORMS COMBINE WESTERN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS WITH JAPAN’S NATIVE ARTISANAL TRADITIONS. THIS SUCCESSFUL SYNTHESIS MADE SORI YANAGI ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT JAPANESE DESIGNERS OF THE POST-WAR ERA. IN ADDITION TO FURNITURE, HE ALSO DESIGNED LIGHTING, GLASS OBJECTS, CUTLERY, CHILDREN’S TOYS, METRO STATIONS, CARS AND MOTORCYCLES. THE BUTTERFLY STOOL IS PROBABLY HIS MOST ICONIC DESIGN. ITS DEVELOPMENT BEGAN IN 1954 WHEN YANAGI APPROACHED A PLYWOOD EXPERT AT THE GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL ARTS RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IARI). THE BUTTERFLY STOOL CONSISTS OF TWO SYMMETRICAL SEVEN-MILLIMETER PLYWOOD SHAPES, EACH MADE OF SEVEN WOOD VENEER SHEETS, CONNECTED WITH TWO BRASS BOLTS AND A STABILIZING ROD. ITS CURVES RECALL THE STOOL’S EPONYMOUS FEATURE, A BUTTERFLY’S WINGS. ITS VISUAL SIMPLICITY AND FEW PARTS BELIE ITS TECHNICAL SOPHISTICATION; HOWEVER, MANUFACTURER TENDO MOKKO NEEDED SEVERAL YEARS TO FINALIZE THE DESIGN AND PERFECT A MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THIS EFFORT EXEMPLIFIES THE SHARED INTEREST AMONG JAPANESE DESIGNERS AND MANUFACTURERS IN EXPLOITING PLYWOOD’S MATERIAL 112

CAPABILITIES – THEY ALSO USED THE EXISTING KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED BY CHARLES EAMES, ALVAR AALTO, AND THE LIKE – TO PRODUCE BEAUTIFUL, INNOVATIVE FURNITURE. THE BUTTERFLY STOOL IS PRACTICAL AS WELL: ITS LOW HEIGHT MADE IT EASILY USED IN JAPANESE INTERIORS DESIGNED FOR LOWER SIGHTLINES. IT IS SIMPLE TO ASSEMBLE, JUST CONSISTING OF FEW PARTS, WHICH MADE IT EASY TO SHIP OVERSEAS. THAT EXPLAINS WHY THE BUTTERFLY STOOL BECAME A FLAGSHIP FOR EXPORT PROMOTIONS. BUTTERFLY 1957

113

4.29

_POUL KJAERHOLM (1902-1971)

BORN IN DENMARK, HE WAS TRAINED TO BECOME A CARPENTER AND CONTINUED HIS STUDIES AT THE DANISH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS. HE HAD A PARTICULAR INTEREST IN DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, ESPECIALLY STEEL, WHICH HE CONSIDERED A NATURAL MATERIAL WITH THE SAME ARTISTIC FINENESS AS OTHER NATURAL MATERIALS. FRITZ HANSEN HAS EMPLOYED HIM FOR ABOUT A YEAR, WHERE HE DESIGNED SEVERAL NOTEWORTHY CHAIR PROTOTYPES. IN 1955 POUL KJÆRHOLM INITIATED HIS COLLABORATION WITH MANUFACTURER EJVIND KOLD CHRISTENSEN, WHICH LASTED UNTIL POUL KJÆRHOLM’S DEATH IN 1980. IN 1982, FRITZ HANSEN TOOK OVER THE PRODUCTION AND SALES OF “THE KJÆRHOLM COLLECTION,” DEVELOPED FROM 1951 TO 1967, DESIGNS, WHICH ARE LOGICAL TO THE MINUTE DETAIL WITH AN AURA OF EXCLUSIVITY.

THE PK31 SERIES WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN 1958 AS LOUNGE CHAIR AND A MODULAR SEATING ELEMENT THAT COULD BE COMBINED TO CREATE SOFAS WITH TWO, THREE OR EVEN FOUR TIMES THE LENGTH OF THE SINGLE CHAIR ALONE. THIS FLEXIBLE, MODULE SYSTEM ESTABLISHED HARMONY IN SEATING GROUPS OF COMBINING CHAIRS AND SOFAS, AND REFLECTED THE DESIRE TO CREATE FURNITURE THAT COULD BE TAILORED TO THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE ROOM. THE PK31 CHAIR IS ALSO FORMS A PERFECT 76CM CUBE, WHICH IS TRULY INDICATIVE OF KJAERHOLM’S PURSUIT OF IDEAL FORMS. THE CONSTRUCTION CONSISTS OF SEPARATE PANELS FOR THE SEAT, BACK AND SIDES. BY TREATING THE SIDE LEG FRAMES AND SIDE PANELS AS INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS, KJAERHOLM CREATED A FLEXIBLE SYSTEM WHERE THE ONLY VARIABLE ELEMENT IS THE STEEL BAR THAT CONNECTED THE SIDE LEG FRAMES AND WHERE THE SIDE PANELS WERE PLACED. PK 31 1958 114

HE CALLED THIS ADJUSTABLE DEVICE THE ‚HAMMOCK CHAIR’, A REFERENCE TO THE SUSPENDED SEAT INSPIRED BY LE CORBUSIER, PIERRE JEANNERET, AND CHARLOTTE PERRIAND’S STEEL CHAISE LONGUE. THE CURVED SEAT CONSISTS OF AN UPPER FRAME COVERED IN WOVEN CANE AND A LOWER FRAME SUSPENDED ON FLEXIBLE STEEL BANDS THAT SPAN THE BASE. THE SEAT IS NOT ATTACHED TO THE BASE BUT HAS TWO PAIRS OF STEEL CLIPS THAT PREVENT IT FROM SLIDING SIDEWAYS. WHEN THE CHAIR IS IN USE, THE BODY’S WEIGHT COMPRESSES THE SEAT AGAINST THE STEEL BANDS AND KEEPS IT IN PLACE. THE SEATING ANGLE CAN BE ADJUSTED BY PUSHING THE LOWER FRAME AGAINST THE BANDS SO THAT THE SEAT SLIDES FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS. PK 24 1965/66

115

AS AN ARCHETYPE, THE FOLDING STOOL WAS AN OBJECT OF FASCINATION FOR MANY TWENTIETH-CENTURY DANISH DESIGNERS. KJÆRHOLM DECIDED TO USE STEEL, WHICH ALLOWED HIM TO CREATE A WIDER SPAN AND A MORE COMFORTABLE SEAT. THE LEGS ARE TWISTED TO INCREASE RIGIDITY, AND BALL BEARINGS IN THE JOINTS ALLOW A SMOOTH AND SILENT ROTATION. TO ENSURE A PERFECT FORM WHEN THE STOOL IS FOLDED, THE FRAMES ARE PARALLELOGRAMS RATHER THAN RECTANGLES: THE CORNERS OF 88° AND 92° ALLOW THE FRAMES TO NEST TOGETHER. PK 22 (CHAIR) & PK 91 (STOOL) 1955 / 1961 116

IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE PK 22, THE CURVED ELEMENTS CARRYING THE SEAT AND BACK WERE COVERED WITH A CANVAS SHEATH PROVIDING CONTINUOUS SUPPORT AND THEN WRAPPED IN AN OUTER LAYER OF CANVAS OR LEATHER. IN 1957 KJÆRHOLM INTRODUCED A VARIATION WITH A COVERING OF WOVEN CANE, SO THAT SUPPORT AND SURFACE WERE IDENTICAL, AND THIS MODEL WAS AWARDED A GRAN PRIX AT THE XI TRIENNALE DI MILANO LATER THAT YEAR.

PK 22 1955/56

HE FAVORED INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS THAT SUITED HIS DREAM OF CREATING MASS-PRODUCED FURNITURE. AFTER A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS WITH PRESSED AND MOLDED MATERIALS, INCLUDING A LOUNGE CHAIR MADE FROM A SINGLE SHEET OF STEEL PLATE (PK 25), HE BEGAN TO ASSEMBLE STEEL BARS INTO STRUCTURAL FRAMES DESIGNED TO DISPLAY THE MATERIAL’S INHERENT STRENGTH. WITH THE PK 22 LOUNGE CHAIR, HE CREATED TWO TYPES OF BENT STEEL ELEMENTS – LEGS AND STEMS – JOINED BENEATH THE SEAT BY A PAIR OF CURVED BRACES. THE CURVED STEMS CARRYING THE BODY ARE CANTILEVERED FROM THE BRACES, AND THE ENTIRE LOAD IS CONCENTRATED ON FOUR JOINTS, WHERE THE TREMENDOUS TORQUE IS RESISTED WITH MACHINE SCREWS.

PK 25 1952 117

4.30 THEY WERE BORN IN ITALY, MILAN, WHERE TOGETHER WITH THEIR BROTHER LIVIO (1911-1979) INITIATED THEIR DESIGNING CAREER ENTIRELY BASED ON THE RESEARCH OF “NEW” FORMS, TECHNIQUES, AND MATERIALS. THEIR AIM WAS TO ATTAIN AN “INTEGRAL” DESIGN PROCESS. ACHILLE AND PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI ARE AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ASSOCIATION AND STARTED WORKING FOR ZANOTTA IN 1964.

THEY WERE PERHAPS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LIGHTING DESIGNERS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. WITH THEIR STYLISH DESIGNS, THEY PLAYFULLY EXPLOITED NEW FORMS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME ADHERING TO FUNCTIONALIST PRINCIPLES. OF THEIR MANY DESIGNS, THE MODEL NO. B9 LUMINATOR FLOOR LIGHT OF 1955 BEST REFLECTS THEIR TIRELESS EXPERIMENTATION AS WELL AS THEIR OBJECTIVE OF “STRAINING TO ACHIEVE ADEQUATE RESULTS WITH MINIMUM MEANS”. NOTABLY, THE LUMINATOR AND THE TUBINO DESK LIGHT (1951) DEMONSTRATED THAT INNOVATIVE THINKING COULD REVOLUTIONIZE TRADITIONAL TYPOLOGIES. ACHILLE AND PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI WROTE DESIGN HISTORY WITH THE PRINCIPLE OF REMOVING SERIALLY PRODUCED COMPONENTS FROM THEIR ORIGINAL CONTEXT AS OBJETS TROUVÉS AND COMBINING THEM TO FORM A NEW ARTICLE FOR EVERYDAY USE. THIS TECHNIQUE LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A MORE FUNDAMENTAL RETHINKING OF DESIGN THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE A DECADE LATER WITH THE EMERGENCE OF RADICAL DESIGN..

118

_ ACHILLE & PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI (1918-2002) (1913-1968)

LUMINATOR 1954

FLOOR LAMP PROVIDING DIRECT LIGHT. WHITE CARRARA MARBLE BASE. SATIN-FINISH STAINLESS STEEL TELESCOPIC STEM. PRESSED, POLISHED AND ZAPON-VARNISHED ALUMINUM SWIVELING AND HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE REFLECTOR.

ARCO 1962

119

TOIO 1962 FLOOR LAMP PROVIDING INDIRECT LIGHTING. ANGLE IRON AND FORMED STEEL BASE, PAINTED IN A VARIETY OF COLORS. HEXAGONAL NICKEL-PLATED BRASS HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE STEM WITH TELESCOPIC HEAD.

TABLE LAMP GIVING DIRECT LIGHT WITH ENAMELLED METAL REFLECTOR AND WHITE CARRARA’S MARBLE BASE. SNOOPY 1967 120

THEY ALSO SHOWED ANOTHER PROTOTYPE OF A STOOL CONSISTING OF A BICYCLE SADDLE AFFIXED TO A METAL BAR. IN THE LATE 1960S, ZANOTTA BEGAN PRODUCING SEVERAL RADICAL DESIGN MODELS AND IN 1970 THE COMPANY ALSO TOOK UP PRODUCTION OF THE TRACTOR SEAT STOOL. IT WAS ADAPTED TO SERIAL PRODUCTION AND GIVEN THE NAME MEZZADRO (SHARECROPPER) AS AN ALLUSION TO ITS ORIGINAL AGRICULTURAL CONTEXT.

SELLA 1955/56 MEZZADRO 1952 TRACTOR SEATS INSPIRED THE STOOL, WHICH WAS FIRST PRESENTED AT THE XI TRIENNALE DI MILANO IN 1957.

IT CONSISTS OF A PLYWOOD SEAT AND A CURVING METAL BAR. A SIMPLE STEEL RUNG SERVES AS A COUNTER BEARING TO STABILIZE THE STRUCTURE. THAT SAME YEAR THE CASTIGLIONIS DESIGNED ANOTHER VERSION OF THIS UNIQUE PIECE OF FURNITURE, THIS TIME MOLDED FROM A 1935 TRACTOR SEAT; THE SEAT ITSELF WAS MADE FROM SHEET METAL, AND THE PIECE FEATURED A STAINLESS-STEEL BOW AND A WOODEN CROSSPIECE. THIS MODEL WAS PART OF A LIVING-ROOM ENSEMBLE THAT THEY DESIGNED FOR THE EXHIBITION COLORI E FORME NELLA CASA D’OGGI AT THE VILLA OLMO IN COMO.

121

4.31 BORN IN DENMARK, HE STUDIED AT ODENSE TECHNICAL COLLEGE BEFORE ENROLLING AT THE ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN COPENHAGEN AS AN ARCHITECTURE STUDENT. HE WORKED FROM 1950-1952 IN THE ARCHITECTURAL FIRM OF ARNE JACOBSEN AND FOUNDED AN INDEPENDENT STUDIO FOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN IN 1955. HE FIRST ATTRACTED WIDER ATTENTION WITH THE GEOMETRIC FORMS OF HIS FURNITURE DESIGNS FOR THE FIRM PLUS-LINJE. IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, PANTON CREATED NUMEROUS DESIGNS FOR SEATING FURNITURE AND LIGHTING. VERNER PANTON’S PASSION FOR BRIGHT COLORS AND GEOMETRIC PATTERNS MANIFESTED ITSELF IN AN EXTENSIVE RANGE OF TEXTILE DESIGNS. BY FUSING THE ELEMENTS OF A ROOM – FLOOR, WALLS, CEILING, FURNISHINGS, LIGHTING, TEXTILES, AND WALL PANELS MADE OF ENAMEL OR PLASTIC – INTO A UNIFIED GESAMTKUNSTWERK, PANTON’S INTERIOR INSTALLATIONS HAVE ATTAINED LEGENDARY STATUS. THE MOST FAMOUS EXAMPLES ARE THE ‘VISIONA’ SHIP INSTALLATIONS FOR THE COLOGNE FURNITURE FAIR (1968 AND 1970), THE SPIEGEL PUBLISHING HEADQUARTERS IN HAMBURG (1969) AND THE VARNA RESTAURANT IN AARHUS (1970).

_ VERNER PANTON 1926-1998)

THE FUTURISTIC „CONE” CHAIR AND SLIGHTLY LATER” HEART” CHAIR RESULTED FROM PANTON’S CONSCIOUS DECISION TO DIVORCE HIMSELF FROM ANY PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF WHAT A CHAIR SHOULD LOOK LIKE. FABRIC-COVERED FOAM-UPHOLSTERED BENT SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTION, METAL BASE CONE 1958

122

THE PANTON CHAIR WAS HAILED AS A FEAT OF PRODUCTION ENGINEERING AT ITS LAUNCH IN 1967. IT WAS THE WORLD’S FIRST RESILIENT CANTILEVER CHAIR TO BE MADE OF A SINGLE PIECE OF PLASTIC. THE IDEA OF A CHAIR MADE ‚OF A PIECE’ THAT IS REALIZED SO IMPRESSIVELY IN THE PANTON CHAIR WAS NOT NEW. HOWEVER, PANTON WORKED AT IT DOGGEDLY FOR MANY YEARS UNTIL HE AT LAST HAD A VIABLE PRODUCT. THE END RESULT BEARING HIS NAME HAS BECOME AN ICON OF PLASTIC FURNITURE DESIGN.

PANTON 1956-67

123

AMOEBE & AMOEBE HIGHBACK 1970 WITH ITS CURVING SHAPES AND VIVID COLOURS, THE AMOEBE CHAIR (1970) BY VERNER PANTON EMBODIES THE EXUBERANT SPIRIT OF THE EARLY 1970S. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE WITH AN OVERHANGING BACKREST UNDER THE NAME AMOEBE HIGHBACK.

THE HEART CONE CHAIR IS ESSENTIALLY A POP ART-INSPIRED REINTERPRETATION OF THE WING CHAIR. NOT ONLY IS IT STYLISH AND SURPRISINGLY COMFORTABLE, BUT THANKS TO THE HIGH BACKREST IT IS ALSO VERY SNUG. HEART CONE 1958 STOOL 1972 124

THE “LIVING TOWER” AND PANTON’S RELATED ROOM DESIGN FOR THE 1970 “VISIONA II” EXHIBITION HELD BY BAYER AG DEMONSTRATE THE CONTEMPORARY INTEREST IN MICRO-ENVIRONMENTS. SEATING CAME TO BE SEEN IN QUARTERS IN THE LATE 1960S NOT SO MUCH AS “EQUIPMENT FOR LIVING” BUT AS INTERACTIVE PLAY APPARATUS.

TEXTILE-COVERED POLYURETHANE FOAM UPHOLSTERED WOOD FRAME LIVING TOWER 1968-69 WIRE CONE 1959 THE WIRE CONE CHAIR MANUFACTURED BY PLUS-LINJE) WHICH BROUGHT VERNER PANTON HIS INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH IN 1959. IT IS ESSENTIALLY A TRANSLATION OF HIS CONE CHAIR INTO WIRE MESH, ALBEIT WITH SLIGHTLY MODIFIED DIMENSIONS. THE VERTICAL STRUTS FAN OUT RADIALLY FROM THE FOOT OF THE CHAIR, INTERSECTED BY WIRES THAT REMAIN HORIZONTAL AT THE FRONT AND RISE UP AT THE SIDES TO CURVE AROUND THE BACKREST. PANTON VALUED THE ‘INDUSTRIAL LOOK’ OF THE STEEL WIRE, WHICH ALSO LENDS THE MODEL A TRANSPARENT, LIGHTWEIGHT APPEARANCE. THE ROUND SEAT CUSHION AND SUSPENDED BACKREST CUSHION ADD A VISUAL EXCLAMATION MARK AND EXEMPLIFY THE GEOMETRICAL PLAYFULNESS THAT IS SO TYPICAL OF PANTON’S CREATIONS. HERE THE UPHOLSTERY IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE DESIGN, WHEREAS IN OTHER ITEMS OF WIRE FURNITURE IT WAS MORE OF AN AFTERTHOUGHT. 125

4.32 BORN IN ITALY, AFTER STUDYING AT THE BRERA ACADEMY AND MILAN POLYTECHNIC, HE WAS ACTIVE AS A PAINTER, ARCHITECT, GRAPHIC ARTIST AND INDUSTRIAL MANAGER. AFTER AN IMPORTANT, ALBEIT BRIEF, ESCAPADE WITH INFORMAL PAINTING, HE DECIDED TO DEVOTE HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE. IN 1954, HE PARTICIPATED IN AN EXHIBITION AT THE 10TH TRIENNALE, AND IN 1956 HIS FIRST ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT WAS COMPLETED IN MILAN, IN VIA ROSOLINO PILO. IN 1963, HE OPENED HIS OWN STUDIO, WHERE HE DEDICATED HIMSELF TO FURNISHINGS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN OF PRODUCTS MADE IN SERIES, MANY OF WHICH, IN THEIR VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS, CAN BE CONSIDERED PROPER SYSTEMS. A PRECURSOR OF THE STUDY OF ERGONOMIC DESIGN, HE DEVELOPED UNIQUE PRODUCTS WITH A DYNAMIC SCULPTURAL APPEARANCE. MANY OF HIS OBJECTS ARE CONSIDERED MILESTONES OF DESIGN AND ARE PART OF THE COLLECTIONS OF THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUMS, SUCH AS THE MOMA AND THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK. THE ELDA CHAIR CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO ESTABLISHING INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION IN THE EARLY 1960S. LIKE MANY OF HIS PROJECTS, THIS LOUNGE CHAIR RESULTED FROM HIS INTEREST IN EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW MATERIALS AND NEW MANUFACTURING METHODS. THE BASIC IDEA WAS CLEAR FROM THE VERY BEGINNING: A HIGH AND RIGID SELF-BEARING SHELL IS PLACED ON A 360° ROTATING BASE WITH TEFLON BALL BEARINGS. THE LOUNGE CHAIR IS UPHOLSTERED WITH ERGONOMIC DETACHABLE LEATHER CUSHIONS THE SHELL’S ROUNDED SHAPE 126

_ JOE COLOMBO 1926-1998)

MAKES THE CHAIR A HIGHLY SCULPTURAL OBJECT WHILE ALSO CREATING AN INTIMATE SPACE AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION FOR THE PERSON SITTING IN IT. A FUTURISTIC REINTERPRETATION OF THE TRADITIONAL CLUB CHAIR, ELDA – NAMED AFTER HIS WIFE – REPRESENTS THE DESIGNERS’ SEARCH FOR RADICALLY NEW FORMS AND NEW TECHNOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS AND HIS UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH TO LIFE. ELDA 1958

THE TUBE CHAIR IS ONE OF THE MOST RADICAL EXPRESSIONS OF MULTIFUNCTIONALITY AND MODULARITY. ITS FOUR TUBES OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS ARE MADE OF PVC, THEN PADDED WITH POLYURETHANE FOAM AND COVERED WITH FABRIC. TO SAVE SPACE AND FOR EASY TRANSPORT, THE TUBES CAN BE INSERTED INTO ONE ANOTHER. THANKS TO ITS MANY APPEARANCES IN SUBSEQUENT PERIODICALS, THE TUBE CHAIR BECAME AN ICON OF THE ITALIAN DESIGN MOVEMENT. INSPIRED

BY CONCEPTUAL ART AND THE IDEA OF THE READY-MADE, BUT THE COMBINATION OF RADICALLY SIMPLE GEOMETRY AND SURPRISING VERSATILITY IS TYPICAL OF JOE COLOMBO. TUBE CHAIR 1969

127

MODEL NO. 291 SPIDER FLOOR LIGHT, 1965 WITH ITS CURVING SHAPES AND VIVID COLOURS, THE AMOEBE CHAIR (1970) BY VERNER PANTON EMBODIES THE EXUBERANT SPIRIT OF THE EARLY 1970S. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE WITH AN OVERHANGING BACKREST UNDER THE NAME AMOEBE HIGHBACK.

THE HEART CONE CHAIR IS ESSENTIALLY A POP ART-INSPIRED REINTERPRETATION OF THE WING CHAIR. NOT ONLY IS IT STYLISH AND SURPRISINGLY COMFORTABLE, BUT THANKS TO THE HIGH BACKREST IT IS ALSO VERY SNUG. MODEL NO. 291 SPIDER TABLE LIGHT, 1965 128

ALOGENA FLOOR LIGHT, 1970

MODEL NO. 761 ALOGENA WALL LIGHT, 1970

AVAILABLE IN EITHER A BLACK OR WHITE ENAMELED FINISH, THE ALOGENA WAS AMONG THE FIRST LIGHTING PRODUCTS INTENDED FOR DOMESTIC USE THAT INCORPORATED A HALOGEN BULB. DESIGNED AS A SYSTEM, THE ALOGENA CAME EITHER IN FLOOR, WALL, OR CEILING VERSIONS AND FEATURED A HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE DIFFUSER THAT COULD BE TILTED INTO THE REQUIRED DIRECTION. NOW MARKETED BY OLUCE UNDER THE NAME COLOMBO, IT WAS A HIGH-TECH FUNCTIONAL DESIGN THAT REFLECTED ITS DESIGNER’S FUTURISTIC VISION FOR FLEXIBLE, MULTI-PURPOSE LIVING ENVIRONMENTS.

129

4.33

_ GAE AULENTI (1927–2012)

BORN IN ITALY, SHE WAS ONE OF THE FEW FEMALE MEMBERS OF THE POSTWAR ITALIAN MODERN MOVEMENT. SHE RECEIVED HER DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE IN 1959, AND IN THE 1950S AND 1960S, SHE PARTICIPATED IN THE MOVEMENT CALLED “NEO-LIBERTY” WHICH CAN BE TRACED IN SEVERAL OF HER DESIGNS. SHE MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF AS AN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER EARLY IN HER CAREER BEFORE GAINING FAME FOR LARGER ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSIONS. HER PROJECTS EXPRESSED THE DESIRE TO LINK TOGETHER MULTIPLE ASPECTS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL DISCIPLINE. NUMEROUS INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PRODUCTS WERE CREATED TO COMPLETE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS. AMONG THE MOST FAMOUS THERE ARE LAMPS “PIPISTRELLO” AND “KING SUN” FOR THE OLIVETTI SHOWROOMS IN PARIS AND BUENOS AIRES (1966-67) AND, WITH PIERO CASTIGLIONI, THE LAMP “BUGIA” FOR MUSÉE D’ORSAY (PARIS, 1986) AND “CESTELLO” FOR PALAZZO GRASSI (VENICE, 1986). FROM 1960 TO 1962, SHE TAUGHT AT THE VENICE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE; FROM 1964 TO 1967 SHE TAUGHT AT THE MILAN FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE. A MEMBER OF ADI (ASSOCIAZIONE PER IL DISEGNO INDUSTRIALE) AND THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERIOR DESIGNERS, AULENTI HAS DESIGNED FURNITURE, LIGHTING, TEXTILES, SHOWROOMS, AND STAGE SETS FOR OPERA. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INTERIORS OF THE MUSÉE D’ORSAY AND THE CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY AND THE CENTRE POMPIDOU, BOTH IN PARIS. TOUR 1993 130

PIPISTRELLO 1965 PIPISTRELLO HAS SUCCEEDED IN REMAINING ALWAYS CURRENT AND FASCINATING, THANKS TO ITS STYLE AND THE DESIGN INGENUITY. AULENTI’S FONDNESS FOR CRISP GEOMETRIC FORMS SERVING VARIOUS FUNCTIONS IS EVIDENT IN THE RUSPA (1967) -- A CHARACTERISTIC AULENTI EXERCISE IN PURE GEOMETRY. CAST IN METAL, THIS IS AT ONCE A SUBSTANTIAL OBJECT AND A SOPHISTICATED SCULPTURAL CONCEPT, IN WHICH SEGMENTED THREE-QUARTER HEMISPHERES SERVE AS SHADES ABOVE THE QUARTER SEGMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE THE BASE. RUSPA 1967 131

THE ETERNAL CLASSIC SUCH AS THE ‚DIRECTOR’S CHAIR’ REINVENTED. FOLDING CHAIR, STAINLESS STEEL FRAME, ALUMINUM ALLOY JOINTS, REMOVABLE COVER. A PRODUCT BY ZANOTTA. APRIL 1968 132

TAVOLA CON RUOTE 1980

ONCE WHILE VISITING FONTANAARTE’S FACTORY IN HER NEW ROLE AS ART DIRECTOR, SHE NOTICED THE SIMPLE TROLLEYS USED TO TRANSPORT HEAVY GLASS PANES, CONSISTING OF A SINGLE WOODEN BOARD MOUNTED ON FOUR WHEELS. AULENTI HAD THE IDEA OF REPLACING THE WOODEN BOARD WITH A THICK GLASS PANEL TO CREATE A MOBILE COFFEE TABLE. SHE CHOSE A SQUARE, 15MM THICK GLASS PANE, HAD HOLES DRILLED INTO THE EDGES, AND MOUNTED IT ON FOUR RUBBER WHEELS. THE NUTS AND BOLTS WERE INTENTIONALLY LEFT VISIBLE ON THE SURFACE TO EMPHASIZE THE TABLE’S SIMPLE, INDUSTRIAL AESTHETIC. THIS READY-MADE APPROACH – USING EXISTING ELEMENTS FOR A NEW DESIGN – CAN ALSO BE DISCERNED IN THE WORKS OF OTHER DESIGNERS IN THE 1980S

133

4.34 BORN IN FINLAND, HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST INNOVATORS OF MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN. HE ATTENDED THE SCHOOL OF APPLIED ARTS IN HELSINKI. AFTER GRADUATING, HE WORKED AS A DESIGNER AT THE ASKO FURNITURE FACTORY IN LAHTI. AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS, EERO DECIDED TO PURSUE HIS CAREER AS A FREELANCER AND RETURNED TO HELSINKI. EVEN THOUGH HIS TIME AS AN IN-HOUSE DESIGNER FOR ASKO WAS SHORT, WATCHING THE CARPENTERS AND JOINERS, EERO HAD LEARNED HOW TO MAKE HIS OWN FURNITURE. IN THE EARLY 60S, WHEN HE OPENED HIS DESIGN STUDIO IN HELSINKI, HE BEGAN EXPERIMENTING WITH PLASTICS, VIVID COLORS, AND ORGANIC FORMS, BREAKING AWAY FROM TRADITIONAL DESIGN CONVENTIONS. EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS ENORMOUSLY INTRIGUED HIM. THE AESTHETICS OF FIBERGLASS BOATS AND THE WHITE REINFORCED PLASTIC SURFACES WERE VERY APPEALING TO HIM, AND HE STARTED TO WONDER… WHAT IF? IN 1966 THE BALL CHAIR MADE ITS DEBUT AT THE COLOGNE FURNITURE FAIR. AFTER THE FAIR, THE NEW YORK TIMES WROTE ABOUT HIS BALL CHAIR, FOLLOWED BY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA. INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION SKYROCKETED. HIS NOW ICONIC PLASTIC CREATIONS INCLUDE THE CHAIRS BALL, THE PASTIL, AND THE BUBBLE, AS WELL AS THE PUPPY HE DESIGNED IN 2004 FOR THE MAGIS COLLECTION ME TOO. MANY OF HIS WORKS ARE INCLUDED IN PRESTIGIOUS MUSEUMS. FROM 2016 EERO AARNIO ORIGINALS IS THE SOLE LICENSED PRODUCER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF THE EERO AARNIO CLASSICS.

134

_ EERO AARNIO (1932)

ABSTRACT PLASTIC DOG, PUPPY, PRODUCED BY MAGIS, IS A CHEERFUL MIX OF HIGH CHAIR AND TOY. EQUALLY AT HOME IN THE GARDEN AS IN THE NURSERY. PUPPY DOG IS NOT JUST USEFUL AS A TOY, BUT CAN ALSO BE UNDERSTOOD SIMPLY AS BEAUTIFUL, DECORATIVE FIGURE. MATERIAL: ROTATIONAL-MOULDED POLYETHYLENE. SUITABLE FOR OUTDOOR USE. AVAILABLE IN FOUR DIMENSIONS. PUPPY 2003

THE BALL FREES THE FLOOR OF LEGS AND CREATES THE ILLUSION THAT THE SEAT HOVERS ABOVE THE GROUND WHILE ROTATING AROUND 360 DEGREES. IT IS CONCEIVED AS A KIND OF MICRO-ARCHITECTURE THAT HIDES THE OCCUPANT IN A PROTECTIVE EGGSHELL. UPHOLSTERED AND ORIGINALLY FITTED WITH A RED ERICSSON TELEPHONE – TODAY WITH INTERNET CONNECTION – IT CREATES A COSY PRIVATE SPACE. IN THE 1960S THIS CAPSULE IDEA ECHOED A PASSION FOR SCIENCE FICTION. TODAY, IN THE AGE OF MOBILE CONNECTIVITY, THIS CONCEPT PROVES TO BE HIGHLY CONTEMPORARY, OFFERING A COMFORTABLE REFUGE IN ALL KINDS OF ENVIRONMENTS. PALLO BALL / GLOBE CHAIR 1963 135

136

PASTILLI / PASTIL CHAIR, GYRO CHAIR, 1968

ACCORDING TO THE DESIGNER’S NOTES, THE BUBBLE HANGS FROM THE CEILING BECAUSE ‘THERE IS NO NICE WAY TO MAKE A CLEAR PEDESTAL.’ IT SHARES THE SAME UNIQUE ACOUSTICS AS THE BALL CHAIR, A LITTLE COCOON THAT SHIELDS OFF THE OUTSIDE WORLD. THE BUBBLE 1968

THE PASTILLI IS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF THE RELAXED, INFORMAL SEATING CULTURE THAT WAS SO POPULAR IN THE DOMESTIC LANDSCAPES AND AN ICON OF 1960S DESIGN. ITS SMOOTH, ROUNDED FORMS ARE TYPICAL OF THE PLASTIC FURNITURE OF THE ERA. THE CHAIR CONSISTS OF TWO FIBERGLASS SECTIONS, LAMINATED BY HAND OVER A MOLD AND THEN GLUED TOGETHER. WITH PASTILLI, HE CREATED A NEW CHAIR TYPOLOGY: THE LOW ROCKING LOUNGE CHAIR. THANKS TO ITS ROUNDED UNDERSIDE, THE CHAIR SWAYS AND TURNS PLEASANTLY. ALSO, CITING A BANAL OBJECT ENLARGED TO A DIFFERENT SCALE WAS MUCH MORE THAN A DESIGNER’S JOKE. IT REFLECTED THE CHANGING ROLE OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS WHILE ALSO INVOKING THE CONTEMPORARY PHENOMENON OF POP ART, WHICH USED CHANGES OF SCALE AND CONTEXT AS AN ARTISTIC STRATEGY. 137

4.35 BORN IN ITALY, A GRADUATE OF MILAN POLITECNICO, SHE HAS INCORPORATED HER EXPANDABILITY AND PLIABILITY IDEAS INTO MANY MEDIUMS. HER FURNITURE AND LIGHTING DESIGNS USE VARIED MATERIALS SUCH AS FORMLESS FOAM PIECES, BENT GLASS, AND POLYURETHANE PIECES. HER ARCHITECTURE STUDIO CONTINUES IN MILAN, ITALY. WORKING AS AN ARCHITECT AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, SHE HAS DECIDED TO EXPLORE THE IDEAS OF EXPANDABILITY AND PLIABILITY ACROSS SEVERAL DISCIPLINES. SHE COLLABORATED ON SEVERAL PROJECTS WITH MARCO ZANUSO. HER ARCHITECTURE, FURNITURE, AND LIGHTING DESIGNS INCORPORATE A BROAD SPECTRUM OF MATERIALS, INCLUDING FORMLESS FOAM AND BENT GLASS. BOERI WAS A CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER FOR GAVINA SPA, AN ITALIAN DESIGN FIRM ACQUIRED BY KNOLL IN 1968. SHE DESIGNED HOUSES, APARTMENTS, AND SHOPS, BOTH IN ITALY AND ABROAD, PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO STUDYING THE SPACE’S FUNCTIONALITY IN SMALLER HOUSES AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT. IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, SHE CONCERNED HERSELF WITH FURNISHING ELEMENTS AND COMPONENTS FOR THE BUILDING TRADE. DIFFERENT EXAMPLES OF HER ACHIEVEMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN MUSEUMS AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS, AND SHE AWARDED MANY PRIZES, AMONG WHICH, IN 1979, A COMPASSO D’ORO. SHE LECTURED AT THE ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF POLITECNICO IN MILAN AND CONFERENCES IN THE UNIVERSITIES OF VARIOUS CITIES IN THE WORLD. SHE PUBLISHED, AMONG OTHERS, “THE HUMAN SIZES OF THE HOUSE” (MILAN, 1980).

138

_ CINI BOERI (1924-2020)

THE „GHOST” CHAIR IS UNIQUELY FORMED FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF MOLDED 12MM THICK GLASS, WHICH IS TOUGHENED FOR ADDITIONAL STRENGTH. THIS UTTERLY TRANSPARENT DESIGN COMES CLOSE TO REALIZING BREUER’S VISION OF A CHAIR WITH AN INVISIBLE FORM.

AT THE END OF THE 60S, THE ARCHITECT CINI BOERI REVOLUTIONIZES THE FURNITURE MARKET WITH HER MODEL, THAT IS NOW AN „EVERGREEN”: THE SEAT SYSTEM STRIPS. IT IS AN INNOVATIVE, ADJUSTABLE LOUNGE SYSTEM, WHERE SHE TRIED TO DO THE DESIGN IN A MOST VIGOROUS AND STRICT MANNER. IT WAS A SYSTEM, A NEW WAY TO PRODUCE A SOFA. IT WAS ASSEMBLED OF MANY SEATS WITH THE POSSIBILITY TO MOVE THEM, MAKING A CIRCLE LARGER OR SMALLER FOR A CONVERSATION.

GHOST 1987

STRIP 1972 139

4.36 BORN IN AUSTRIA, HE GRADUATED IN ARCHITECTURE FROM THE TURIN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY IN 1939. IN 1947, HE OPENED A STUDIO IN MILAN, WHERE HE BEGAN DEVELOPING ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN PROJECTS. BESIDES HIS PROJECT PRODUCTION, HE ALSO STARTED FOCUSING ON CULTURAL ACTIVITIES. HE TOOK PART IN SEVERAL EDITIONS OF THE MILAN TRIENNALE, AND HE PARTICIPATED IN GROUP AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS IN ITALY AND ABROAD. IN 1958, HE STARTED HIS COLLABORATION AS A DESIGN CONSULTANT WITH OLIVETTI, WHICH LASTED FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS AND WON HIM THREE GOLDEN COMPASS AWARDS FOR DESIGN. AMONG OTHER THINGS, HE DESIGNED THE FIRST ITALIAN PROCESSOR IN 1959, AND LATER SEVERAL PERIPHERAL DEVICES AND PORTABLE AND ELECTRIC TYPEWRITERS. AFTER A LONG SERIES OF LECTURES AT ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES, HE WAS CONFERRED AN HONORARY DEGREE BY THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART IN LONDON IN 1976. ALONG WITH COLLABORATORS, FRIENDS, AND ARCHITECTS OF INTERNATIONAL RENOWN, IN 1981, HE FORMED THE MEMPHIS GROUP, WHICH SOON BECAME THE SYMBOL OF NEW DESIGN AND A LANDMARK FOR CONTEMPORARY AVANT-GARDES. A YEAR LATER, HE FOUNDED THE SOTTSASS ASSOCIATI STUDIO, FOCUSING ON DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE ACTIVITIES. HIS WORKS AND PROJECTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS OF IMPORTANT MUSEUMS WORLDWIDE, SUCH AS THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK, CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS IN PARIS, VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM IN LONDON, ETC. 140

_ ETTORE SOTTSASS (1917-2007)

THE CARLTON BOOKCASE – DESIGNED FOR THE MEMPHIS GROUP’S FIRST COLLECTION – EPITOMISES HIS USE OF BRIGHTLY COLOURED LAMINATES, GRAPHIC FORMS AND NON-FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS THAT BECAME THE DEFINING STYLE OF THE DECADE. WITH MEMPHIS, HE WANTED TO DEFINE A NEW APPROACH TO DESIGN THAT BROKE FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS OF FUNCTIONALISM. THE TOTEMIC CARLTON, WHICH SOTTSASS CREATED IN 1981, IS HIS MOST IDENTIFIABLE FURNITURE DESIGN. IT READS AS A BOOKCASE, A ROOM DIVIDER AND A DRESSER, DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK. ITS FORM IS AMBIGUOUS ENOUGH TO QUESTION, AT FIRST GLANCE, WHETHER IT’S A PIECE OF FURNITURE AT ALL. CARLTON 1981

THE TAHITI TABLE LIGHT WAS FEATURED IN THE FIRST, GROUND-BREAKING COLLECTION ISSUED UNDER THE BRAND NAME „MEMPHIS.” THE PROJECT WAS A WILLFUL ASSAULT ON NOTIONS OF „GOOD TASTE” AND „PERFECT” FORM. THE DESIGNS WERE CHALLENGING AND IRONIC AND DREW DELIBERATELY ON KITSCH AND VERNACULAR SOURCES. TAHITI HAS A JOKINESS THAT IS ANTI-CHICH, ANTI-FASHION, ANTI-PRETENSION. „WE ARE ALL SURE THAT MEMPHIS FURNITURE WILL SOON GO OUT OF STYLE,” WROTE SOTTSASS PROVOCATIVELY. HOWEVER, AS A PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION, MEMPHIS HAS PROVED A MEMORABLE ASPECT OF RECENT DESIGN HISTORY. TABLE LAMP WITH ROTATING HEAD IN POLYCHROME ENAMELLED METAL MOUNTED ON A PLASTIC LAMINATE BASE WITH BLACK AND WHITE BACTERIO PATTERN. TAHITI LAMP 1981 141

4.37 BORN IN JAPAN, A DESIGN ICON WHO BEST EPITOMIZED THE SPIRIT OF THE ERA IN WHICH HE LIVED THROUGH HIS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTS AND CREATIONS. IN 1965, HE FOUNDED THE KURAMATA DESIGN OFFICE IN TOKYO, WHERE HE REMAINED UNTIL THE YEAR OF HIS DEATH, IN 1991, WORKING ON NUMEROUS PROJECTS THAT ENTERED THE PRODUCT AND DESIGN HALL OF FAME. KURAMATA FIRST ENCOUNTERED ITALIAN DESIGN THROUGH MEMPHIS, THEN IN 1987, WITH CAPPELLINI, FOR WHOM HE CREATED THE PROGETTI COMPIUTI CHEST OF DRAWERS SERIES. ALL OF THE PIECES KURAMATA MADE FOR THE COMPANY WERE INCREDIBLY WELL-RECEIVED, SUCH AS THE STEEL PIPE DRINK TROLLY, THE SOFA WITH ARMS, THE KO.KO. TABLE, THE REVOLVING CABINET BOOKSHELF, AND CHEST OF DRAWERS. KURAMATA’S DESIGNS ARE STILL REMARKABLY MODERN, AND MANY CAN BE FOUND IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS IN PARIS, THE MOMA IN NEW YORK, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, THE VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, AND THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART OF TOYAMA. HE EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITIES FOR FURNITURE DESIGN PRESENTED BY UNUSUAL NEW MATERIALS SUCH AS PLEXIGLAS AND RIB MESH, TRACED THE EXPRESSIVE CAPACITY OF THESE MATERIALS, AND TAPPED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT THEY COULD HAVE. HE CREATED OBJECTS THAT STRADDLED THE BORDERLINE BETWEEN FUNCTION AND SUGGESTION.

142

_ SHIRO KURAMATA (1934-1991)

HE HAD ENJOYED STANLEY KUBRICK’S 1968 FILM 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. HOWEVER, HE HAD BEEN DISAPPOINTED THAT ALTHOUGH THE MOVIE’S SETS LOOKED „FUTURISTIC”, THE DIRECTOR HAD AVAILED OF DESIGNS ALREADY EXTANT AT THE TIME OF THE FILM’S RELEASE. HE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT SORT OF FURNITURE HE WOULD DESIGN INSTEAD. THE CHAIR’S IDEA BECAME A REALITY WHEN A NEW ADHESIVE BECAME AVAILABLE THAT COULD BOND GLASS WITH GLASS. GLASS CHAIR 1976

IN THE CHAIR ENTITLED HOW HIGH THE MOON, NAMED AFTER A JAZZ PIECE BY DUKE ELLINGTON, THE GLEAMING, DEMATERIALIZED SURFACE EVOKES PALE MOONLIGHT AND WEIGHTLESSNESS. THE BACK, ARMRESTS, AND SEAT ARE REDUCED TO SIMPLE, CUBIC FORMS AND SOLDERED TOGETHER TO FORM A SURPRISINGLY LIGHTWEIGHT CHAIR. THE GENEROUS PROPORTIONS AND THE ELASTICITY OF THE RIB MESH GUARANTEE THE NECESSARY SITTING COMFORT. A WEIGHTY SYMBOL OF BOURGEOIS LIFE WAS TRANSLATED INTO POSTMODERN INDUSTRIAL AESTHETICS AND TRANSPOSED FROM THE LIVING-ROOM INTO THE UNIVERSE. HOW HIGH THE MOON 1986 VITRA 143

4.38 BORN IN JAPAN, HE BEGAN DESIGNING IN JAPAN AND MILANO STARTING FROM 1969. SINCE THEN, KITA HAS DEVELOPED MANY BEST-SELLER PRODUCTS FROM EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE MANUFACTURERS WORLDWIDE. MANY OF HIS WORKS ARE SELECTED FOR PERMANENT COLLECTIONS IN WORLD-FAMOUS MUSEUMS SUCH AS THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK (MOMA), CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU (PARIS), ETC. HE IS ALSO VERY ACTIVE IN REVITALIZING AND PROMOTING LOCAL JAPANESE TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND INDUSTRIES AS WELL. HE IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR FOR HOME AND LIFESTYLE RENOVATION “LIVING & DESIGN” AND PROPONENT OF JAPANESE LIFESTYLE RENOVATION, THE “RENOVETTA” PROJECT. PROFESSOR, THE OSAKA UNIVERSITY OF ARTS. MULTI-INTERNATIONAL AWARDS INCLUDE THE 1990 “DELTA DE ORO (GOLD PRIZE)” AWARD OF SPAIN AND THE PRIZE “CARRIER INTERNAZIONALE OF COMPASSO D’ORO” OF ITALY IN 2011. IN 2016, HE SERVED AS THE INTERNATIONAL JURY OF COMPASSO D’ORO, ITALY. HE WAS BESTOWED WITH THE HONORARY TITLE OF “COMMENDATORE” BY THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC IN 2017.

RECEIVED AN “INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS” FROM JAPAN PATENT OFFICE (JPO) IN 2018.

HIS RECENT PUBLICATIONS INCLUDE “POWER OF DESIGN”, “LOCAL INDUSTRY + DESIGN”, “VENTURE FOR DESIGN”, AND MANY MORE.

_ TOSHIYUKI KITA (1942)

A PRECURSOR OF MODERN TIMES, THIS ARMCHAIR EXEMPLIFIES FLEXIBILITY: IT TRANSFORMS AND ADAPTS AS REQUIRED. SWIVELLING ON A FIXED BASE, THE SEAT RECLINES IN A RANGE OF CONFIGURATIONS, TO THE POINT OF BEING ALMOST HORIZONTAL: IDEAL FOR A QUICK NAP.

DODO 2000 144

THE ARTICULATED FRAME OF THE „WINK” TOOK FOUR YEARS TO DEVELOP AND ALLOWS THE DESIGN TO BE CONFIGURED IN VARIOUS COMFORTABLE POSITIONS. IT WAS LAUNCHED AT THE 1981 MILAN FURNITURE FAIR TO GREAT ACCLAIM. “SITTING ON WINK MEANS SITTING ON THE FLOOR AND, WHEN YOU ARE SEATED THERE, ACCORDING TO ORIENTAL TRADITION, YOUR SPIRIT RISES,” EXPLAINED THE DESIGNER.

STEEL FRAME, TEXTILE-COVERED POLYURETHANE FOAM WINK 1976-80 145

4.39 BORN IN GERMANY, HIS DESIGN CAREER BEGAN IN MERCEDES BENZ’S STYLING DEPARTMENT IN STUTTGART, BEFORE TRANSFERRING TO MILAN IN 1958 TO WORK WITH THE ARCHITECT GIO PONTI AND IN THE DESIGN DIVISION OF “LA RINASCENTE.” IN THE EARLY 1960S, SAPPER BEGAN TO COLLABORATE WITH THE ITALIAN ARCHITECT MARCO ZANUSO. RENOWNED FOR THEIR AESTHETIC OF SCULPTURAL MINIMALISM, THEY DEVELOPED A SERIES OF TELEVISIONS AND RADIOS FOR BRIONVEGA, THE LIGHTWEIGHT K1340 STACKING CHILDREN’S CHAIR FOR KARTELL, AND THE COMPACT FOLDING GRILLO TELEPHONE FOR SIEMENS/ITALTEL. UPON STARTING HIS INDEPENDENT STUDIO IN 1959, SAPPER DESIGNED THE STATIC CLOCK FOR LORENZ, WHICH WON HIM HIS FIRST COMPASSO D’ORO AWARD IN 1960. SAPPER CONTINUED TO CREATE DESIGN CLASSICS, INCLUDING THE TIZIO LAMP FOR ARTEMIDE, DESIGNED IN 1972. THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, SAPPER HAS REMAINED KEENLY INVOLVED IN ACADEMIA, TEACHING AT MANY UNIVERSITIES. RICHARD SAPPER HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS FOR HIS PRODUCTS, AND HIS DESIGNS ARE REPRESENTED IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF MANY MUSEUMS INTERNATIONALLY. IN 2014, HE RECEIVED THE COMPASSO D’ORO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE ASSOCIAZIONE DESIGN INDUSTRIALE ADI.

146

_ RICHARD SAPPER (1932 – 2015)

TIZIO IS ONE OF THE FIRST DESK LAMPS USING HALOGEN BULBS WITH LOW-VOLTAGE CURRENT-CONDUCTING ARMS THAT ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR WIRES. WITH ITS ESSENTIAL AND LINEAR FORM AND DYNAMIC FUNCTIONALITY, IT IMMEDIATELY BECAME AN ICON, A TRUE MASTERPIECE OF DESIGN. IT REMAINS ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING LAMPS EVER PRODUCED TO THIS DAY AND IS INCLUDED IN THE PERMANENT DESIGN COLLECTION AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK.

TIZIO DESK LAMP FLOOR LAMP 1972 147

4.40 BORN IN ITALY, HE WAS ALREADY ACTIVE AS AN ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER IN HIS STUDENT DAYS, NOTABLY AS PART OF THE RADICAL DESIGN GROUP CAVART IN PADUA, IN THE CONTEXT OF WHICH HE PROTESTED AGAINST THE THEN PREVALENT DESIGN ESTABLISHMENT. IN 1980 HE CO-FOUNDED THE MEMPHIS GROUP ALONG WITH CONTEMPORARIES, INCLUDING ETTORE SOTTSASS. THE GROUP ARGUED AGAINST THE THEN STANDARD INDUSTRY PRODUCTION PRACTICE AND DEVELOPED A NEW, PARTIALLY DISTURBING FORM OF LANGUAGE - QUITE DIFFERENT FROM HIS LATER DESIGN OF TOLOMEO TAVOLO. AFTER THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MEMPHIS GROUP IN 1989, HE CONTINUED WORKING ON MANY LIGHTING DESIGNS FOR ARTEMIDE AND ON VARIOUS PROJECTS FOR MANUFACTURERS, INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, BODUM, OLIVETTI, AND VITRA. THE DESIGNER GIANCARLO FASSINA HAS ENJOYED A LONG AND SUCCESSFUL CAREER IN INTERNATIONAL DESIGN. AFTER STUDYING AT THE LEGENDARY POLYTECHNIC IN MILAN GIANCARLO FASSINA ROSE TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE DESIGN AVANT-GARDE IN ITALY. IN THE 1980S, HE BECAME FAMOUS AS A LEADING PROTAGONIST OF THE “ANTIDESIGN MOVEMENT”, AND ALTHOUGH FASSINA IS ACTIVE IN A WIDE RANGE OF AREAS, AND HAS SPECIALIZED IN EXHIBITION DESIGN DURING HIS CAREER, HE IS PARTICULARLY WELL KNOWN TODAY FOR HIS LIGHTING DESIGNS, ESPECIALLY THE TOLOMEO COLLECTION: DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH MICHELE DE LUCCHI FOR THE ITALIAN MANUFACTURER ARTEMIDE, THE TOLOMEO LIGHTING SERIES HAS BEEN AWARDED THE PRESTIGIOUS COMPASSO D’ORO. 148

_ MICHELE DE LUCCHI & GIANCARLO FASSINA (1951) (1935)

TOLOMEO MEGA FLOOR LAMP 1972

TOLOMEO DESK LAMP 1987

AMONG THE MOST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL LIGHTING DESIGNS OF THE LAST 50 YEARS, THE TOLOMEO TASK LIGHT DESIGNED BY MICHELE DE LUCCHI AND GIANCARLO FASSINA WON A COVETED COMPASSO D’ORO AWARD IN 1989.

ANTICIPATING THE RECENT OBSESSION WITH ALL THINGS ALUMINUM, THE LIGHT’S POLISHED ALUMINUM CANTILEVERED ARM ENABLES EASY POSITIONING, WHILE ITS ANODIZED ALUMINUM DIFFUSER ROTATES IN ALL DIRECTIONS, ALLOWING A REMARKABLE LEVEL OF ADJUSTMENT. DURING THE 1990S, TWO SMALLER VERSIONS WERE INTRODUCED, THE TOLOMEO MINI (1991) AND THE TOLOMEO MICRO (19992000), AS WELL AS A LINE WITH PARCHMENT PAPER SHADE CALLED BASCULANTE.

149

4.41 BORN IN THE USA, HE STARTED TEACHING ARCHITECTURE IN PRINCETON IN 1962. GRAVES WORKED AS AN ARCHITECT IN PUBLIC PRACTICE DESIGNING A VARIETY OF BUILDINGS THAT INCLUDED PRIVATE RESIDENCES, UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS, HOTEL RESORTS, HOSPITALS, RETAIL AND COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDINGS, MUSEUMS, CIVIC BUILDINGS, AND MONUMENTS. DURING A CAREER THAT SPANNED NEARLY FIFTY YEARS, GRAVES AND HIS FIRM DESIGNED MORE THAN 350 BUILDINGS AROUND THE WORLD, IN ADDITION TO AN ESTIMATED 2,000 HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS. AS WELL AS PRINCIPAL OF MICHAEL GRAVES AND ASSOCIATES AND MICHAEL GRAVES DESIGN GROUP, HE WAS OF A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK FIVE AND THE MEMPHIS GROUP – AND PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS. FOLLOWING HIS OWN PARTIAL PARALYSIS IN 2003, GRAVES BECAME AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ADVOCATE OF HEALTH CARE DESIGN. HIS ARCHITECTURAL WORKS INCLUDE THE PORTLAND BUILDING AND THE HUMANA BUILDING, THE EXTENSION OF THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, AND THE NEWARK MUSEUM. HE CREATED THE BEST-SELLING 9093 KETTLE FOR ALESSI.

_ MICHEAL GRAVES (1934-2015)

GRAVES’S PERSONAL FORMAL LANGUAGE COMBINES IDEAS TAKEN FROM EUROPEAN TRADITION, ART DECO, AMERICAN POP ART AND MEMORIES OF PRE-COLOMBIAN CULTURES. THE AMERICAN DESIGNER ALSO HAS AN ABILITY TO BEWITCH THE GENERAL PUBLIC LIKE FEW OTHER DESIGNERS IN THE ALESSI CATALOGUE.

9098 PEPPER MILL 1958 150

THE 9093 KETTLE, WITH BIRD-SHAPED WHISTLE IS ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING ALESSI OBJECTS IN THE WORLD. THE DESIGN OF THIS KETTLE, CREATED BY MICHAEL GRAVES IN 1985, MIXES THE INFLUENCES TAKEN FROM EUROPEAN ART, AMERICAN POP AND QUOTES FROM PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURES. GRAVES’S UNIQUE VISUAL LANGUAGE IS THE REASON BEHIND THE EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS THAT THE KETTLE HAS HAD SINCE THE YEAR OF ITS PRODUCTION. IT IS A SMART OBJECT, ELEGANT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME PLAYFUL AND FUN: WHEN THE WATER STARTS BOILING, THE BIRD SINGS, LEADING TO AN INEVITABLE SMILE. 9093 KETTLE 1985

151

4.42 BORN IN FRANCE, HE BECAME THE WORLD-FAMOUS CREATOR WITH MULTIFACETED INVENTIVENESS. HE SAYS THAT HIS FATHER OFTEN INSPIRED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS AN AERONAUTICS ENGINEER WHO MADE INVENTION A “DUTY”. HE IS ALWAYS FOCUSED ON THE ESSENTIAL, HIS VISION: THAT CREATION, WHATEVER FORM IT TAKES, MUST IMPROVE THE LIVES OF AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. THIS PHILOSOPHY HAS MADE HIM ONE OF THE PIONEERS AND CENTRAL FIGURES OF THE CONCEPT OF “DEMOCRATIC DESIGN”. BY EMPLOYING HIS PROLIFIC WORK ACROSS ALL DOMAINS, FROM EVERYDAY PRODUCTS (FURNITURE, A CITRUS SQUEEZER, ELECTRIC BIKES, AN INDIVIDUAL WIND TURBINE), TO ARCHITECTURE (HOTELS, RESTAURANTS THAT ASPIRE TO BE STIMULATING PLACES) AND NAVAL AND SPATIAL ENGINEERING (MEGA YACHTS, HABITATION MODULE FOR PRIVATE SPACE TOURISM), HE CONTINUALLY PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF DESIGN. HE IS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE MOST VISIONARY AND RENOWNED CREATORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY SCENE. HISWORK IS SEEN IN THE COLLECTIONS OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN MUSEUMS, INCLUDING THE MUSÉE NATIONAL D’ART MODERNE (TO WHICH HE HAS DONATED SEVERAL PIECES, IN PARTICULAR PROTOTYPES) THE MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS IN PARIS,THE MOMA AND THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK CITY, THE VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM IN BASEL AND THE DESIGN MUSEUM IN LONDON. MORE THAN 660 OF HIS DESIGNS WERE INVENTORIED IN FRENCH PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN 2011.

152

_ PHILIPPE STARCK (1949)

MISS SISSI IS A SASSY LITTLE TABLE LIGHT THAT BECAME ONE OF HIS GREATEST COMMERCIAL SUCCESSES. THIS AFFORDABLE DESIGN IS EASY TO MASS-PRODUCE AND IS OFFERED IN 7 TRANSLUCENT COLORS. ALTHOUGH ESSENTIALLY A HIGHTECH INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT, HE HAS CLEVERLY GIVEN IT A HUMAN TOUCH BY ADDING FAUX-STITCHED DETAILING, WHICH EVOKES THE IMAGE OF HANDCRAFTED LEATHERWORK. MISS SISSI 1990

„LA MARIE” WAS THE FIRST SINGLE-FORM/ SINGLE-MATERIAL CHAIR TO BE INJECTION-MOLDED IN CLEAR POLYCARBONATE, HERALDING A TREND FOR TRANSPARENCY IN FURNITURE DESIGN. STARCK SUBSEQUENTLY CREATED „ERO/S/” AND „LOUIS GHOST,” WHICH LIKEWISE CAME IN AN ARRAY OF TRANSLUCENT COLORS AND TRANSFORMED ARCHETYPAL SEATING FORMS INTO BESTSELLING CONTEMPORARY DESIGN ICONS. A CHAIR INSPIRED BY THE LOUIS XV CHAIR, THE BAROQUE IDEOTYPE, REINTERPRETED BY PHILIPPE STARCK TO AMAZE, INSPIRE AND BEGUILE.

LOUIS GHOST CHAIR 2002 153

154

MASTER CHAIR, 2009

OF THE GUN LAMP (FLOS 2005), STARCK HAS SAID IT IS „A SIGN OF THE TIMES”, WHICH VIOLENTLY INSCRIBE DEATH INTO OUR DAILY LANDSCAPE. SUBVERSIVE AND POLITICAL, THE ICONIC LAMP ALSO BEARS THE CRAZY POETRY OF ITS CREATOR. „THERE IS NO WAR WITHOUT MONEY. THE GUN LAMP APPEARS AS A PROVOCATION BUT IT IS NOT. IT IS A SYMBOL. I IMAGINED THE GUN LAMP AS A KALASHNIKOV TO REPRESENT WAR, I CHOSE GOLD TO REPRESENT MONEY, THE BLACK LAMPSHADE WITH CROSSES INSIDE AS A REMINDER OF OUR LOST ONES. THIS LAMP IS A TRIBUTE. TO OUR FATHERS, OUR BROTHERS, OUR SISTERS...

TO ALL THOSE WHO PERISHED FOR OUR BENEFIT.» PH.S A PART OF THE PROFIT GENERATED BY THIS RARE OBJECT IS DONATED TO THE CHARITY „FRÈRES DES HOMMES”.

SMOOTH BATCH-DYED POLYPROPYLENE INTERWEAVING THE OUTLINES OF THREE ICONIC CHAIRS -- ARNE JACOBSEN’S „SERIES 7,” EERO SAARINEN’S „TULIP” AND CHARLES EAMES’S „EIFFEL TOWER” -- STARCK CREATED THE „MASTERS” CHAIR, WHICH IS A CLEVER „SUMMA STILISTICA” OF THESE PAST MASTERS OF SEATING DESIGN.

GUN-LAMP 2005 155

4.43 BORN IN ENGLAND, HE GRADUATED IN DESIGN FROM KINGSTON POLYTECHNIC IN 1982. THEN HE ATTENDED THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, WHICH INCLUDED A YEAR AT BERLIN’S HDK ART SCHOOL. IN 1986 HE SET UP HIS OFFICE FOR DESIGN IN LONDON. HIS EARLIEST DESIGNS WERE PRODUCED BY ARAM AND SCP IN LONDON, NEOTU IN PARIS, FSB IN GERMANY, AND CAPPELLINI IN ITALY. IN 1989, HE BEGAN COLLABORATION WITH VITRA WITH THE EXHIBITION SOME NEW ITEMS FOR THE HOME, PART II, AT MILAN’S FURNITURE FAIR. FURTHER COLLABORATIONS BEGAN WITH THE ITALIAN COMPANIES ALESSI, FLOS, AND MAGIS, AND THE GERMAN PORCELAIN MANUFACTURER ROSENTHAL. IN THE 2000S, HE BEGAN CONSULTANCIES WITH MUJI, SAMSUNG, IDEAL STANDARD, AND ESTABLISHED & SONS. KNOWN FOR THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, JASPER MORRISON IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS OF THE PAST FEW DECADES. TOGETHER WITH HIS COLLEAGUE NAOTO FUKASAWA, HE DEFINED THE TERM ‘SUPER NORMAL’, WHICH IN HIS OPINION ANSWERS THE QUESTION OF WHAT ‘GOOD DESIGN’ SHOULD REALLY BE. IN HIS WORK, HE STRIVES TO CREATE GOOD EXAMPLES OF UNDERSTATED, USEFUL, AND RESPONSIBLE DESIGN. HIS DESIGNS ARE REPRESENTED IN NEW YORK’S MUSEUM OF MODERN ART AND OTHER PROMINENT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AROUND THE WORLD.

_ JASPER MORRISON (1959)

THE ROBUST MEMBERS OF THE CORK FAMILY STAND FIRMLY, MAKING THEM SUITED FOR USE AS SIDE TABLES OR STOOLS. THEY BENEFIT FROM THE ADVANTAGEOUS NATURAL PROPERTIES OF CORK: COMPARATIVELY LIGHTWEIGHT AND EXTREMELY DURABLE, THEY ALSO HAVE A VELVETY SURFACE THAT IS PLEASANT TO TOUCH.

CORK FAMILY 2004 156

THREE SOFA 1989-92

THE THREE SOFA DEFIES THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTION OF A FURNISHING ACCENT THAT IS COMMONLY PERCEIVED AS MERELY A SEAT. FOR THIS COLLECTION, JASPER MORRISON PLAYS WITH THIS CONCEPT TO GIVE LIFE TO A DESIGN THAT IS PART SOFA, PART DORMEUSE, CHARACTERIZED BY SCULPTURAL FORMS THAT PROJECT ITS STRONG IDENTITY. COMPOSED OF SOFAS AND A LOUNGE CHAIR, THE THREE SOFA HAS A STRUCTURE MADE OF POPLAR PLYWOOD AND SOLID FIR WOOD, PADDED WITH MULTI-DENSITY POLYURETHANE FOAM AND EQUIPPED WITH DIE CAST NATURAL POLISH ALUMINIUM FEET. ALTHOUGH MORRISON’S DESIGNS FOR CAPPELLINI, SUCH AS THE „THREE” SOFA, ARE MORE EXPRESSIVE THAN THOSE HE DOES FOR VITRA, THEY RETAIN A ROBUST AESTHETIC PURITY DERIVED FROM A RATIONAL APPROACH TO THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. 157

158

SOFT MODULAR SOFA 2016

WITH CAREFULLY BALANCED PROPORTIONS, GREAT COMFORT AND A CONSCIOUS RENUNCIATION OF DECORATIVE DETAILS, THE SOFT MODULAR SOFA (2016) BY JASPER MORRISON UNITES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A MODULAR LOUNGE SOFA IN ITS PUREST FORM.

THE COMPACT MONOPOD CHAIR BY JASPER MORRISON ADDS A SCULPTURAL DIMENSION. ITS UPHOLSTERED PLASTIC SHELL STRUCTURE HAS A HEAVILY WEIGHTED BASE, GUARANTEEING STABILITY. DESPITE THE APPARENT SIMPLICITY OF ITS DESIGN, MONOPOD IS SURPRISINGLY VERY COMFORTABLE. MONOPOD 2008 159

4.44 BORN IN AUSTRALIA, HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS CHILDHOOD TRAVELING IN EUROPE AND ASIA. HE STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH FURNITURE DESIGN AS A STUDENT AND, WITH THE AID OF AN AUSTRALIAN CRAFTS COUNCIL GRANT, STAGED HIS FIRST EXHIBITION, WHICH FEATURED HIS NOW-FAMOUS LOCKHEED LOUNGE. HE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL DESIGNERS OF HIS GENERATION. HE HAS WORKED ACROSS A WIDE RANGE OF DISCIPLINES, CREATING EVERYTHING FROM FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS TO BICYCLES AND CARS, PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT, YACHTS, VARIOUS ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSIONS, AND SIGNATURE SCULPTURAL PIECES FOR CLIENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE. HIS CLIENTS INCLUDE A BROAD RANGE OF THE BEST KNOWN AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS BRANDS GLOBALLY - FROM MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGY TO TRANSPORTATION, FASHION, AND THE LUXURY GOODS SECTOR. HIS WORK IS PRESENT IN MANY SIGNIFICANT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING THE MOMA IN NEW YORK, LONDON’S DESIGN MUSEUM AND THE V&A, THE CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, PARIS, AND THE VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, GERMANY. HIS DESIGNS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY STRONG SCULPTURAL FORMS WITH AN INNATE BIO-MORPHISM. THE FORM OF HIS „ORGONE” CHAISE IS REMINISCENT OF A SURFBOARD - A TESTAMENT TO NEWSON’S AUSTRALIAN ORIGINS - WHILE HIS „FELT” CHAIR HAS A POWERFUL ANTHROPOMORPHISM. SACRIFICING COMFORT TO AESTHETICS, THE „LOCKHEED LOUNGE” WAS INFLUENCED BY THE RIVETED AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE AND STY160

_ MARC NEWSON (1963)

MN-01 LC1, LOCKHEED LOUNGE, 1985-86 LISTICALLY REFLECTED THE 1930S’ STREAMLINING. EVEN WHEN FIRST LAUNCHED, IT WAS COSTLY DUE TO ITS LABORIOUS AND TIME-CONSUMING METHOD OF MANUFACTURE. TODAY, EXAMPLES COMMAND EXTRAORDINARY PRICES IN GALLERIES AND SALEROOMS THANKS TO THEIR RARITY AND COLLECTABILITY. FIBERGLASS-REINFORCED POLYESTER CORE COVERED IN RIVETED SHEET ALUMINUM SKIN

WOODEN CHAIR 1988 SUCCESSFUL PROOF OF GREAT EXPERIMENTATION AND DARING, THE WOODEN CHAIR BY MARC NEWSON WAS BORN OF THE DESIRE TO PUSH THE MANIPULATION OF WOOD TO ITS LIMITS. WOODEN CHAIR IS A MODERN, INNOVATIVE SEAT, YET IT IS ALSO WARM, COSY AND COMFORTABLE. THE STRUCTURE, MADE OF OILED NATURAL SOLID ASH WOOD, IS FLUID AND CONTINUOUS, ALMOST ORGANIC. THE BEECH WOOD PLANKS, BENT WITH HOT STEAM TO FORM A DOUBLE CURVE, ARE SUPPORTED BY TWO HORIZONTAL REINFORCEMENTS: 2 AT THE ENDS AND 3 IN THE SEAT AREA, ALL FASTENED WITH VISIBLE SCREWS.

161

162

FELT CHAIR 2016

THE FELT CHAIR WAS CONCEIVED WHILE HE WAS WORKING ON STUDIES FOR WHAT WOULD BECOME THE ORGONE CHAIR, HE SKETCHED A HOLLOW VARIATION WITH A SLICED OFF BOTTOM AND SIDES THAT CONTINUED DOWN TO THE FLOOR. THE RELATIVE SIMPLICITY OF THE FELT CHAIR’S DESIGN MADE IT A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR PRODUCTION. THE FELT CHAIR IS MADE FROM NATURAL A POLISHED ALUMINIUM BASE WITH A REINFORCED FIBREGLASS BODY.

ORGONE LOUNGE 1991

ALSO SUITABLE FOR USE IN OUTDOOR SETTINGS, THE ORGONE BENCH WAS DESIGNED BY MARC NEWSON. THIS CHAISE LONGUE HAS FLUID LINES AND IS MADE ENTIRELY OF GLOSSY LACQUERED FIBREGLASS. THE AVAILABLE COLOUR PALETTE INCLUDES: ORANGE, RED, BLUE, WHITE AND BLACK. 163

4.45 BORN IN ITALY, HE OPENED HIS OWN STUDIO IN 1972 AND COMPLETED HIS DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE AT THE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF MILAN IN 1975.

BETWEEN 1987 AND 1996, HE COLLABORATED WITH TERRY DAWN TO DESIGN MANY BUILDINGS ACROSS EUROPE AND JAPAN. IN 2000, CITTERIO AND PATRICIA VIEL FORMED A MULTIDISCIPLINARY OFFICE FOR ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN, AND GRAPHICS. THE OFFICE OPERATES INTERNATIONALLY, DEVELOPING COMPLEX LONG-TERM PROJECTS IN SYNERGY WITH A QUALIFIED NETWORK OF SPECIALIST CONSULTANTS. THE PRACTICE IS NOW CALLED ‘ANTONIO CITTERIO PATRICIA VIEL’.

IN ADDITION TO HIS COLLABORATION WITH VITRA, HE WORKS IN THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SECTOR WITH COMPANIES SUCH AS ANSORG, ARCLINEA, AXOR/ HANSGROHE, B&B ITALIA, FLEXFORM, FLOS, HERMÈS, IITTALA, KARTELL, MAXALTO, SANITEC (GEBERIT GROUP) AND TECHNOGYM. HE HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS, INCLUDING THE COMPASSO D’ORO IN 1987 AND 1995. CITTERIO SERVED AS PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT THE UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA IN MENDRISIO FROM 2006 TO 2016. HE WAS NAMED ‘ROYAL DESIGNER FOR INDUSTRY’ BY THE LONDON-BASED ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES & COMMERCE IN 2008.

_ ANTONIO CITTERIO (1950)

THE LOUNGE CHAIR OFFERS EXCEPTIONAL COMFORT, PARTICULARLY WHEN PAIRED WITH THE OTTOMAN. THE SYNCHRONISED MECHANISM CONCEALED BENEATH THE UPHOLSTERY SUPPORTS THE USER AT EVERY ANGLE OF INCLINATION AND CAN BE LOCKED IN ANY POSITION. ONCE THE USER IS COMFORTABLY RECLINED, THE OTTOMAN PROVIDES A SOFT FOOT REST FOR ULTIMATE RELAXATION. GRAND REPOS AND OTTOMAN 2011

164

MART 1989-92

EXPERIMENTATION AND RESEARCH ARE AT THE BASIS OF THE PROJECT OF SMALL AND LARGE MART ARMCHAIRS, WHICH WERE MADE WITH A NEW PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY USING THERMOFORMED LEATHER. THE FOOTWEAR SECTOR WAS THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION CONSULTED BY THE B&B ITALIA CENTRO RICERCHE & SVILUPPO, ALWAYS CAREFUL TO IDENTIFY MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES THAT RESPOND THE BEST TO THE PECULIARITIES OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS. THIS IS HOW THERMOFORMED LEATHER BECAME A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF MART. A PRODUCT WITH A STRONG PERSONALITY, MART HAS A SILHOUETTE IMPRINTED TO CONVEY THE IDEA OF RELAXATION.

165

166

SUITA SOFA 2010/2019

IT IS MADE FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS. THE RESULT IS A CHAIR PRODUCED ACCORDING TO SUSTAINABLE PRINCIPLES, CHARACTERISED BY BOLD, SQUARE LINES WHICH SUCCEED IN CREATING A SENSE OF LIGHTNESS AND SOLIDITY ALL AT ONCE. THE STYLE OF RE-CHAIR MEANS IT CAN BE POSITIONED IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE HOME, OR IT IS ALSO AN IDEAL PIECE FOR OFFICE USE. SUITABLE FOR BOTH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR USE, RE-CHAIR IS STACKABLE .

RE-CHAIR 2020

CHARACTERISED BY AN ELEGANT TECHNOLOGICAL AESTHETIC, THE SUITA SOFA FAMILY COMPRISES MANY DIFFERENT COMPONENTS. THESE CAN BE FREELY COMBINED OR ALSO USED AS INDEPENDENT ELEMENTS.

ADJUSTABLE TABLE LAMP PROVIDING DIRECT LIGHT. ALUMINIUM PAINTED OR CHROMED BODY, WITH DIE CAST HEAD, JOINTS AND FORKS, AND EXTRUDED ARMS. KELVIN EDGE 2015 167

4.46

_ RON ARAD (1950)

BORN IN ISRAEL, HE STUDIED AT THE BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ART AND DESIGN IN JERUSALEM, AND AT THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION IN LONDON. IN 1981 HE OPENED THE OFFICE ONE OFF LTD. IN LONDON TOGETHER WITH CAROLINE THORMAN AND BEGAN TO HANDCRAFT UNCONVENTIONAL FURNISHINGS MADE MOSTLY OUT OF WELDED STEEL SHEETING WITH DISTINCTIVE SCULPTURAL FORMS. HE AND THORMAN FOUNDED RON ARAD ASSOCIATES LTD. TOGETHER WITH CANADIAN ARCHITECT ALISON BROOKS IN 1989. SINCE THE LATE 1980S, ARAD HAS ALSO DESIGNED FURNITURE FOR SERIES PRODUCTION. IN 1994 HE ESTABLISHED THE “RON ARAD STUDIO” IN COMO, ITALY, AND TAUGHT PRODUCT DESIGN AS A GUEST PROFESSOR AT THE VIENNA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY UNTIL 1997.

SINCE 1997 HE HAS HELD A PROFESSORSHIP FOR FURNITURE DESIGN AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART IN LONDON. ARAD CONSTANTLY EXPLORES AND EVOLVES DIFFERENT THEMES IN HIS DESIGNS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE RIPPLED SURFACES FIRST FOUND ON HIS „TOM VAC” WERE SUBSEQUENTLY REINTERPRETED AND USED IN BOTH HIS LIMITED EDITION „TOM BLOC” AND HIS MASS-PRODUCED „WAVY.”

THE ELEGANT PLASTIC SHELL OF TOM VAC OFFERS COMFORTABLE SEATING NOT ONLY IN INTERIOR SPACES BUT ALSO IN OUTDOOR SETTINGS: SPECIAL ADDITIVES IN THE MOULDED POLYPROPYLENE SHELL HELP TO PREVENT THE COLOUR FROM FADING, AND THE POWDER-COATED FINISH OF THE BASE MAKES THE CHAIR SUITED FOR USE ON THE TERRACE OR IN THE GARDEN. SINCE THE CHAIR CAN BE STACKED, IT IS ESPECIALLY USEFUL IN PLACES WHERE LARGE NUMBERS OF CHAIRS ARE REQUIRED. TOM VAC 1997/98

168

BOOKWORM 1994

BOOKWORM, THE FLEXIBLE BOOKCASE, IS THE RESULT OF THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE CREATIVITY OF AN ARTIST SUCH AS RON ARAD, COMBINED WITH KARTELL’S TECHNOLOGY, GIVING LIFE TO A REVOLUTIONARY PROJECT PRODUCED ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE. A SINUOUS BOOKCASE THAT TAKES ON THE DESIRED SHAPE WITHOUT COMPROMISING STRENGTH AND FUNCTIONALITY. AVAILABLE IN THREE DIFFERENT LENGTHS, BOOKWORM IS MARKED BY A SERIES OF BOOKEND SUPPORTS. BOOKWORM COMBINES FLEXIBILITY AND HIGH STRENGTH ALLOWING A LOAD OF ABOUT 10 KG PER SUPPORT. 169

170

VICTORIA & ALBERT 2000 VOIDO IS A ROCKING CHAIR THAT LOOKS LIKE A PIECE OF CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE, BUT IS MADE USING INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE YET LIGHT SHAPES: ROTATIONAL-MOULDED POLYETHYLENE. SLEEK, ERGONOMIC VOLUMES WELCOME THE BODY IN A FLOWING EMBRACE, BUT ITS SEEMING SIMPLICITY HIDES CONSIDERABLE COMPLEX RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING. IT IS AVAILABLE IN MANY COLORS, ALSO GLOSSY PAINTED VERSION. THE MATT VERSION IS ALSO SUITABLE FOR OUTDOOR USE.

VICTORIA & ALBERT COLLECTION IS THE RESULT TO PROPOSE AN INNOVATIVE BUT COMFORTABLE AND COZY DESIGN. TWO ARMCHAIRS ACCOMPANY A SOFA. A COLLECTION THAT IS CAPABLE OF MEDIATING DESIGN AND FUNCTIONALITY COMBINING BOTH RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ASSURING A COMFORTABLE AND COZY PLACE TO REST. THE CHOICE OF THE NAME „VICTORIA & ALBERT” IS A HOMAGE TO THE FAMOUS MUSEUM IN LONDON.

VOIDO 2006 171

4.47 BORN IN HOLLAND, GRADUATED CUM LAUDE FROM THE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS ARNHEM IN 1988. MARCEL WANDERS INITIALLY BROADENED HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE DESIGN FIELD BY JOINING THE DROOG DESIGN COLLECTIVE, AFTER WHICH HE LAUNCHED WANDERS WONDERS AND, IN 2001, THE MOOOI BRAND. CURRENTLY, HE WORKS FOR THE SECTOR’S MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPANIES AND COLLABORATES WITH NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL BRANDS. HIS CREATIVITY IS EXPLOSIVE, IRONIC, AND ENTHUSIASTIC: HE CREATES DELICATE, REFINED PRODUCTS, IN WHICH HE EXALTS THE ROMANTIC, HOLISTIC, AND ARCHETYPAL ASPECTS THAT INSPIRED THEIR CREATION. THE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY HE RELIES UPON TO PRODUCE THEM IS INFUSED WITH HUMANITY, AS HE CHALLENGES WHAT HE CONSIDERS THE TECHNOCRATIC ERA OF DESIGN WITH HIS MORE EMOTIONAL AND PERSONAL APPROACH. SEVERAL OF HIS DESIGNS HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS. WANDERS’ INFINITE CREATIVE FLOW AND HIS INCREDIBLY VAST AND HETEROGENEOUS PORTFOLIO HAVE EARNED HIM NUMEROUS AWARDS. HIS WORKS ARE EXHIBITED IN THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD, INCLUDING THE MOMA IN NEW YORK AND SAN FRANCISCO, THE V&A MUSEUM IN LONDON, THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM IN AMSTERDAM, THE MUSEUM BOIJMANS VAN BEUNINGEN IN ROTTERDAM, THE CENTRAL MUSEUM IN UTRECHT, AND THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS IN COPENHAGEN. HIS PIECES HAVE ALSO BEEN PUBLISHED IN NUMEROUS AUTHORITATIVE DESIGN AND LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES. 172

_ MARCEL WANDERS (1963)

ONE OF THE DESIGNER’S FIRST PROJECTS, BIG SHADOW IS AN ACCURATE REFLECTION OF HIS VISION: A COMBINATION OF MATERIALS AND INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES WITH TRADITIONAL STYLES AND ARCHETYPES. THE INSPIRATION FOR THESE LAMPS CAN BE FOUND IN ABAT-JOUR TABLE LAMPS (ETTORE SOTTSASS), REVISITED HERE WITH THE FABRIC COVERING THE UPPER PART OF THE LAMP AND THE BASE TO CREATE A WARM AND COZY LIGHT SOURCE. IT HAS A STRUCTURE MADE OF CHROME VARNISHED METAL BAR WITH A COVER IN WHITE POLYAMIDE AND VISCOSE. BIG SHADOW LAMPS 1997/98

WANDERS’ TULIP ARMCHAIR 2010 SCULPTURAL PRESENCE MAKES THIS ARMCHAIR AN EXCEPTIONAL PROTAGONIST IN ANY SETTING: IDEAL IN SPACIOUS AREAS, BOTH CONTRACT AND PRIVATE, THANKS TO THE EYE-CATCHING ELONGATED BLOSSOM SHAPE AND UPBEAT, CHEERFUL APPEAL. A RE-VISITATION OF THE CLASSIC ARMCHAIR, WITH ELONGATED OVERSIZED PROPORTIONS, IT HAS A SHELL MADE OF FIBERGLASS AND RESIN; PADDED WITH SOFT AND FIRM POLYURETHANE FOAM; THE FIXED COVER IS AVAILABLE IN A VAST ARRAY OF FABRICS AND LEATHERS. THE ARMCHAIR’S CALYX SHAPE EVOKES THE SILHOUETTE OF A FLOWER RESTING ON A BRILLIANT SWIVELING METAL BASE, VARNISHED WITH NATURAL ALUMINUM. 173

174

CHARLESTON 2016

THE SOFT, PUFFY AND STYLISH CHAIR IS A SYMBOL OF THE ETERNAL BATTLE BETWEEN OPPOSITE FORCES IN LIFE. YOU FORGET ALL ABOUT THE MONSTER ONCE YOU SIT DOWN AND ENJOY THE CHAIR’S COMFORT AND SOFTNESS. THE SIGNATURE VERSION, THE FEARLESS LEADER OF THE MONSTER FAMILY, COMES UPHOLSTERED IN MOOOI ORIGINAL BLACK SYNTHETIC LEATHER WITH AN EMBROIDERED FACE. MONSTER 2014

THE BEAUTY OF ICONIC PIECES NEEDS TO BE TURNED AROUND, PLAYED WITH, AND CHALLENGED IN INNOVATIVE WAYS TO REACH NEW LEVELS OF INVENTIVENESS AND SEDUCTION! CHARLESTON BY MARCEL WANDERS IS A CLASSIC SOFA, ELEGANT AND COMFORTABLE, DRESSED IN STYLISH BLACK LEATHER WITH EMBROIDERED ACCENTS, THAT HAS BEEN SHIFTED INTO A VERTICAL POSTURE. ITS GRACE BECOMES SLENDER AND ELONGATED, TALL AND MAJESTIC, WHILE IT PLAYS WITH OUR MINDSET AND EXPECTATIONS. THE TRADITIONAL ARMREST BECOMES A VERY COMFORTABLE SEAT FOR ONE OR TWO PEOPLE. CERTAINLY AN EYE CATCHER, CHARLESTON IS ALSO A COZY COMPANION THAT LITERALLY TURNS THE CORNER TO OPEN A NEW WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES. 175

4.48 BORN IN SPAIN, SHE ATTENDED THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE OF MADRID POLYTECHNIC AND MILAN POLYTECHNIC, WHERE SHE GRADUATED IN 1989 WITH ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI. FROM 1990 TO 1992, SHE WAS ASSISTANT LECTURER TO ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI AND EUGENIO BETTINELLI IN MILAN AND PARIS. FROM 1990 TO 1996, SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OFFICE OF DE PADOVA, WORKING WITH VICO MAGISTRETTI. IN 1996 SHE BECAME HEAD OF LISSONI ASSOCIATI’S DESIGN GROUP. IN 2001 SHE OPENED HER OWN STUDIO WORKING ON PRODUCT DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, INSTALLATIONS. AMONGST HER LAST PROJECTS OF ARCHITECTURE: MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL IN BARCELONA AND W RETREAT&SPA A VIEQUES (PUERTO RICO); A VILLA IN UDINE; SCENOGRAPHY OF THE OPERA “L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA” BY MONTEVERDI; SHOWROOM AND INSTALLATIONS FOR HERMÈS, GIANVITO ROSSI, FLOS, MOROSO, H&M AND THE GENERAL CONCEPT OF PITTI IMMAGINE FIRENZE. SHE DESIGNS FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL FIRMS AS AGAPE, ALESSI, AXOR, B&B ITALIA, BART DESIGN, BMW, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO, FLOS, FOSCARINI, GLAS ITALIA, KARTELL, KVADRAT, MIXING MEDIA, MAURICE LACROIX, MOROSO, MUTINA, PANASONIC, PAOLA LENTI, ROSENTHAL, TRONCONI. SHE IS CONSULTING FOR HONDA AND LG. SOME OF HER PRODUCTS ARE EXPOSED IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF MOMA IN NEW YORK AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS. SHE HAS WON SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL PRIZES AND AWARDS. 176

_ PATRICIA URQUIOLA (1961)

TAKING ON BUTTON TUFTING, GIVING IT A NEW SPIN, REVOLUTIONIZING THE CHAIR APPEAR TO BE LIQUID IN SHAPE AS IF IT IS MELTING OVER THE FRAME TO CREATE SOFT, COMFORTING, ALMOST CASUAL LINES. THE FABRIC FIXED TO THE SHELL USING PRESS STUDS, IT APPEARS TO HAVE A SHAWL DRAPED OVER THE SHOULDERS, AND THE SEAT HAS VARIOUS OVERLAPPING CUSHIONS WITH ATTENTION TO THE DESIGN OF ITS COVERING, LAYERING LEATHERS AND OTHER MATERIALS, COLOURS, AND FABRIC TYPES. A SORT OF LUXURY PATCHWORK WHICH, WHEN WORN, GIVES THE PIECE A NOMADIC, GLOBAL SPIRIT. BOHEMIAN CHAISE LOUNGE 1997/98

FLOE INSEL 2017 ITS ROOTS IN THE ARCHITECTURAL TRADITION, THE DESIGN OF THE FLOE INSEL SOFA TRANSLATES THE PRINCIPLES OF THE MODULE AND OF VERSATILITY INTO BOLD PROPORTIONS, TO CREATE GENEROUS VOLUMES, THAT ARE BOTH INVITING AND CONVEY A DYNAMIC SPIRIT. THE CONSTRUCTIONAL HARMONY OF THE FLOE INSEL SOFA DERIVES FROM THE DESIGNER’S IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION OF THE LINK BETWEEN THE VOLUME AND THE SOFTNESS OF THE CUSHIONS. OPTIMIZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PADDING IN THESE AND THE ELASTICATED BANDS, FLEXIBILITY AND SUPPORT BECOME ONE. EACH ELEMENT INCORPORATES AN ASYMMETRICAL LINE, AT AN ANGLE OF 25 DEGREES FROM THE HORIZONTAL, MAKING IT DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE. THE SEATS AND BACKS, MEANWHILE, FEATURE DIAGONAL STITCHING THAT ACCENTUATES THE SENSE OF MOVEMENT.

TATOU FLOOR 2012

177

178

PAYING HOMAGE TO THE WORK OF VICO MAGISTRETTI, THIS INNOVATIVE SYSTEM OF UPHOLSTERED SEATING IS UNDERPINNED BY A SUPPORTING BEAM ON WHICH MODULES JOIN TOGETHER TO CREATE STYLISH, RELAXING AND FUNCTIONAL COMPOSITIONS. THE HIGH BACK AND THE ARM-RESTS CREATE THE EFFECT OF A WARM, WELCOMING EMBRACE, THAT EFFECT HEIGHTENED BY THE SOFT, INVITING CUSHIONS.WITH THE FEATHER-PADDED UPHOLSTERY COVERING THE CFC-FREE EXPANDED POLYURETHANE FOAM PADS, ADDING TO THE COSY LOOK AND FEEL OF THE SOFA. THE SYSTEM INCLUDES THREE SOFAS AND VARIOUS MODULAR ELEMENTS, INCLUDING SEATING, SIDE-TABLES, A FOOT-REST.

HUSK CHAIR 2012 COMFORTABLE, WITH A MODERN COMBINATION OF BASE AND SEAT, IT PICKS UP THE PROFILE OF THE NAMESAKE ARMCHAIR. THE BODY, WHICH IS SHAPED WITH A DESIGN THAT CITES THE CAPITONNÉ STYLE, CONVEYS A FEELING OF SOFTNESS; THE CUSHIONS, IN FABRIC OR LEATHER, FIXED WITH PRESS STUDS, ARE DISTINGUISHED BY THE QUILTING.

BEAM SOFA 2016 179

4.49 BORN IN TUNISIA, TOM DIXON MOVED TO ENGLAND IN 1963. HIS RESTLESS AND REBELLIOUS NATURE LED HIM TO ABANDON HIS STUDIES AT THE CHELSEA SCHOOL OF ART SO THAT HE COULD EXPLORE HIS OWN CREATIVITY AND A PERSONAL MEANS OF EXPRESSION USING RECYCLED MATERIALS. IN THOSE YEARS, HE OPENED THE LABORATORY “SPACE”: A THINK TANK, AN INDEPENDENT OPEN SPACE WHERE ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS COULD COLLABORATE TOGETHER AND INFLUENCE EACH OTHER CREATIVELY AND DESIGN-WISE. DURING THIS FERTILE PERIOD, TOM DIXON BEGAN COLLABORATING WITH CAPPELLINI, FOR WHOM HE CREATED THE ICONIC S-CHAIR. IN THE 1990S, “SPACE” WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A FULL-FLEDGED DESIGN STUDIO: DIXON BECAME RECOGNIZED AS A TOP-LEVEL DESIGNER, AND HIS NAME STARTED SPREADING RAPIDLY AMONGST INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED BRANDS. HIS COMMERCIAL SUCCESS LED TO HIS NOMINATION AS HEAD OF DESIGN AT HABITAT IN 1998, WHERE HE BECAME CREATIVE DIRECTOR. IN THE MEANTIME, HE ALSO WORKED ON PRIVATE AND INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATIONS, DEDICATING HIMSELF TO SEVERAL NOTEWORTHY PROJECTS AND CREATING A SERIES OF PIECES THAT ARE DESTINED TO REMAIN UNPARALLELED IN TERMS OF POPULARITY AND APPRECIATION. IN 2000, DIXON RECEIVED THE PRESTIGIOUS ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, AWARDED BY HRH QUEEN ELIZABETH II. DIXON’S WORKS ARE INCLUDED IN THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUMS’ PERMANENT COLLECTIONS, INCLUDING THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, THE MOMA IN NEW YORK AND TOKYO, AND THE CENTRE POMPIDOU. 180

_ TOM DIXON (1959)

ONE OF THE MOST IDENTIFIABLE TOM DIXON PRODUCTS, INSPIRED BY THE FAMOUS SPACE HELMET, AND BY DISCO BALLS. MIRROR BALL IS LIGHTWEIGHT YET ROBUST AND REFLECTS ITS ENVIRONMENT, PROJECTING DOWNWARD AMBIENT LIGHT.

MIRROR BALL 2015

BEAT 2014 BEAT IS A LARGE MATTE BLACK CEILING LIGHT WHICH FEATURES A CONTRASTING WARM, GOLDEN INTERIOR. MADE FROM HAND SPUN BRASS SCULPTED BY ARTISAN CRAFTSMEN IN NORTHERN INDIA, THE CREATION OF THIS BEAT LIGHT IS PART OF AN ANCIENT PROCESS THAT TAKES FOUR DAYS TO COMPLETE. THE BEATEN INTERIOR IS RE-PURPOSED TO REFRACT AND REFLECT A SOFT AND WARM LUMINOSITY AND THE ARCHITECTURAL SCALE GIVES OFF A GREATER LIGHT OUTPUT. 181

4.50 BORN IN GERMANY, HE WAS TRAINED AS A CABINET MAKER AT THE JOHN MAKEPEACE SCHOOL FOR CRAFTSMEN IN WOOD BEFORE STUDYING DESIGN AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART IN LONDON. TODAY KONSTANTIN GRCIC DESIGN IS BASED IN BERLIN AND ACTIVE IN SEVERAL FIELDS RANGING FROM INDUSTRIAL DESIGN PROJECTS, EXHIBITION DESIGN, AND COLLABORATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE AND FASHION. AMONG HIS PRODUCERS ARE ARTEK, AUTHENTICS, CASSINA, CLASSICON, FLOS, FLÖTOTTO, KETTAL, LAUFEN, MAGIS, MATTIAZZI, MUJI, MUTINA, NESPRESSO, PLANK, SERAFINO ZANI AND VITRA. AUDI, HUGO BOSS, ISSEY MIYAKE, LOUIS VUITTON, PRADA, RADO, AND SMART/DAIMLER ARE SOME OF HIS CLIENTS FROM THE FASHION AND LIFESTYLE SECTOR. MANY OF HIS PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN AWARDED INTERNATIONAL DESIGN PRIZES. HE RECEIVED THE COMPASSO D’ORO IN 2001 FOR THE MAYDAY LAMP (FLOS), 2011 FOR THE MYTO CHAIR (PLANK), AND 2016 FOR THE OK LAMP (FLOS). FOR TOM AND JERRY FROM MAGIS’ SERIES THE WILD BUNCH HE RECEIVED THE GERMAN DESIGN AWARD IN GOLD IN 2011.

GRCIC DEFINES FUNCTION IN HUMAN TERMS, COMBINING FORMAL STRICTNESS WITH CONSIDERABLE MENTAL ACUITY AND HUMOR. HIS WORK IS CHARACTERIZED BY CAREFUL RESEARCH INTO THE HISTORY OF ART, DESIGN, AND ARCHITECTURE AND SHOWS HIS PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS.

_ KONSTANTIN GRCIC (1965)

CHAIR_ONE 2003 THE STANDARD, STACKING VERSION OF THE FAMILY ONE HAS LEGS IN ANODIZED OR PAINTED ALUMINUM. THE SEAT IS IN DIE-CAST ALUMINIUM TREATED WITH SPUTTERED FLUORINATED TITANIUM AND PAINTED IN POLYESTER POWDER. SUITABLE FOR OUTDOOR USE. AVAILABLE CUSHION FOR INDOOR USE IN LEATHER OR IN FABRIC AND FOR OUTDOOR USE IN POLYURETHANE. STOOL_ONE 2003

182

CHAIR_ONE PUBLIC SEATING SYSTEM 2003 THE SEATING SYSTEM’S POPULARITY DERIVES FROM ITS SOPHISTICATED DESIGN AND THE VERSATILE USAGE RESULTING FROM THE MATERIALITY. THE CONCRETE BASE IS PAINTED IN A TRANSPARENT CLEAR FINISH, SUITABLE FOR FLOOR FIXING. THE CONNECTOR BAR IN ANODIZED ALUMINUM HAS A GLOSSY FINISH. THE SEATS ARE MADE OF DIE-CAST ALUMINUM TREATED WITH SPUTTERED FLUORINATED TITANIUM AND PAINTED IN POLYESTER POWDER. THE SMALL CONCRETE TABLE IS PAINTED IN A TRANSPARENT CLEAR FINISH. SEATING SYSTEM AVAILABLE FOR THREE, FOUR OR FIVE SEATS. SUITABLE FOR OUTDOOR USE. FLAME-RETARDANT. 183

184

TRAFFIC CHAISE LOUNGE 2013 INSPIRED BY TRADITIONAL WOODEN STOOLS IN WORKSHOPS, THE MAGIS TOM & JERRY STOOL 50-66 FEATURES AN UNUSUAL DETAIL ON ITS THREE-LEGGED FRAME MADE OF SOLID BEECH WOOD: THE COLORED VICE FOR ADJUSTING THE SEAT’S HEIGHT. THE APPLICABILITY OF THE TOM & JERRY STOOL 50-66CM IS DIVERSE. THE WOODEN STOOL IS WONDERFULLY SUITED FOR WORKING OR CRAFTING AT HOME. AS A FLEXIBLE CHAIR REPLACEMENT OR AS A CASUAL ALTERNATIVE TO THE CLOTHES VALET IN THE BEDROOM, THE STOOL CUTS AN EXCELLENT FIGURE.

THE TRAFFIC COLLECTION OF LOUNGE FURNITURE PROVIDES A STUDY IN CONTRASTS: HARD AND SOFT, LINEAR AND VOLUMETRIC, PLAYFUL AND SOPHISTICATED. STEEL ROD FRAMES, WITH THEIR PARALLEL AND INTERSECTING LINES, BRING ENERGY TO EACH PIECE. CUSHION BLOCKS, NEATLY UPHOLSTERED IN FABRIC OR LEATHER, COMMUNICATE AN INVITING SENSE OF COMFORT AND CALM. PLAYING WITH PROPORTIONS, GRCIC EXPANDED THE TRAFFIC IDEA TO CREATE A VOCABULARY OF DIFFERENT SEATING FORMS: AN ARMCHAIR, SOFAS, BENCHES, AND A CHAISE LOUNGE. LATER, HE EXTENDED THE CONCEPT TO CREATE LOW TABLES, WITH A CHOICE OF STONE TOPS THAT SEEM TO FLOAT ABOVE THEIR ANGULAR METAL FRAMES.

JERRY - TABLE AND STOOL 2011 185

4.51 BORN IN FRANCE, THEY STUDIED AT THE ÉCOLE NATIONALE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS IN PARIS AND AT THE ÉCOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS IN CERGY-PONTOISE. RONAN BEGAN INDEPENDENT DESIGN WORK IMMEDIATELY AFTER COMPLETING HIS STUDIES, WHILE HIS BROTHER, WHO WAS STILL IN SCHOOL, ASSISTED HIM. SINCE 1999 BOTH BROTHERS HAVE WORKED TOGETHER AS JOINT PARTNERS IN THEIR OWN PARIS-BASED DESIGN STUDIO. THEIR WORK RANGES FROM SMALL UTILITARIAN OBJECTS TO ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS. IN ADDITION TO THE DESIGN OF DOMESTIC AND OFFICE FURNITURE, VASES, PORCELAIN DISHWARE, JEWELRY, AND VARIOUS HOME ACCESSORIES, THEIR WORK’S PRIMARY FOCUS IS THE DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION OF INTERIOR SPACE. CONSIDERED RISING STARS ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE, RONAN AND ERWAN BOUROULLEC OFFER A CONTEMPORARY YET RIGOROUS APPROACH TO DESIGN, INTROSPECTIVE BUT STILL PASSIONATE. THEIR PIECES ARE AUTHENTIC EXAMPLES OF “MICROARCHITECTURE,” SO VERSATILE THAT THEY CAN BE USED FOR MULTIPLE PURPOSES, MANAGING TO ADD CHARACTER AND TRANSFORM THE SPACES THEY ARE PLACED IN. “IS IT POSSIBLE TO ‘GROW A CHAIR’?” WAS THE GUIDING QUESTION OF THE VEGETAL CHAIR. THE BROTHERS INVESTIGATED HISTORICAL GARDENS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, WHERE YOUNG TREES GREW INTO FURNITURE-LIKE STRUCTURES THROUGH CONTINUAL CARE AND PRUNING. CONFIDENT THAT IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO APPLY THE LOGIC OF ORGANIC COMPLEXITY TO INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, THEY STARTED WITH 186

_ RONAN & ERWAN BOUROULLEC (1971) (1976)

VEGETAL 2004-08 DELICATE DRAWINGS SHOWING A STRUCTURE THAT GROWS FROM FOUR BRANCHES (THE LEGS) INTO A BASKET (THE SEAT SHELL). IN A FOUR-YEAR-LONG TRIAL-AND-ERROR PROCESS – T-SHAPES WERE ADDED FOR STABILIZATION, BRANCHES WERE ADDED FOR MORE COMFORT, THE CHAIR BECAME STACKABLE – THE DESIGN WAS ADAPTED TO PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING. WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED, THE VEGETAL CHAIR PROVOKED A FASCINATING DISCUSSION AROUND THE ISSUES OF ‘ARTIFICIAL NATURE’ AND THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN.

BELLEVILLE ARMCHAIR 2015 THE BELLEVILLE ARMCHAIR IS A HYBRID CHAIR, WHOSE SEAT SHELL IS AVAILABLE IN PLASTIC, WOOD OR WITH A COVER IN LEATHER OR FABRIC. EACH VERSION LENDS THE ELEGANT CHAIR A DISTINCTIVE IDENTITY. THE CHARACTERISTIC, FORWARD CURVING ARMRESTS OFFER RELAXING COMFORT AND THE MODEL WITH THE PLASTIC SEAT SHELL IS ALSO SUITABLE FOR OUTDOOR USE.

187

188

ALCOVE HIGHBACK SOFA 2006-08

WITH AIM, FLOS INTRODUCED AN INNOVATIVE TYPE OF SUSPENSION LAMP, WHICH IS HIGHLY REMINISCENT OF CLIMBING PLANTS. THE LAMP’S BODY OF THE AIM SUSPENSION LAMP BY FLOS IS 21 CM HIGH, FEATURES A DIAMETER OF ABOUT 24 CM, AND IS MANUFACTURED OF MATTED OR GLOSSY COATED ALUMINUM. THE DIFFUSOR IS MADE OF POLYCARBONATE AND IS EQUIPPED WITH AN INNER ABS PLASTIC REFLECTOR.

THE DEFINING CONCEPT BEHIND THE ALCOVE PRODUCT FAMILY – CREATING PLACES OF SHELTER AND SECLUSION – IS ESPECIALLY PRONOUNCED IN THE ALCOVE HIGHBACK SOFA: TUCKED AWAY WITHIN ITS HIGH SIDE AND BACK PANELS, THE USER IS SHIELDED BOTH VISUALLY AND ACOUSTICALLY FROM THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT. IT OFFERS A SPACE FOR WITHDRAWAL AND PRIVACY IN A PEACEFUL OASIS.

AIM 2013 189

4.52 BORN IN SPAIN, AFTER STUDYING INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN MADRID AND PARIS, HE JOINED FABRICA IN 1997, WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE LEGENDARY IMAGE-MAKER AND AGITATOR OLIVIERO TOSCANI. IN A SHORT TIME, HE WAS PROMOTED FROM STUDENT TO HEAD OF THEIR DESIGN DEPARTMENT. IN 2000, HAYON FOUNDED HIS OWN STUDIO AND DEDICATED HIMSELF ENTIRELY FROM 2003 TO HIS PERSONAL PROJECTS. TODAY HE IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RESPECTED ARTISTS. HIS WORKS ARE IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF SOME OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS: THE MAK VIENNA, THE DESIGN MUSEUM LONDON, AND THE CENTRE POMPIDOU IN PARIS - JUST TO NAME A FEW. HIS PASSION FOR HANDICRAFT TECHNIQUES HAS LED TO COLLABORATIONS WITH RENOWNED TRADITIONAL COMPANIES. HIS CREATIVITY KNOWS NO BOUNDS: HE DESIGNS FURNITURE SERIES, LAMPS, AND ACCESSORY COLLECTIONS, INTERIORS FOR RESTAURANTS, STORES, AND HOTELS. HIS WORK HAS APPEARED IN THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS ART AND DESIGN PUBLICATIONS IN THE WORLD. HE HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS, AND THE TIMES MAGAZINE INCLUDED HAYON AS ONE OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF THIS TIME. HE CURRENTLY OPERATES OFFICES IN ITALY, SPAIN, AND JAPAN. HE IS KNOWN TO APPROACH TIME-HONORED SHAPES WITH CREATIVITY AND CURIOSITY, TO QUESTION THEM, AND THEN REDEFINE THEM WITH A FANTASTIC SENSE OF EASE AND LIGHT-HEARTEDNESS. HIS SEARCH FOR NEW CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES AND HIS PASSIONATE APPRECIATION OF TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFT TECHNIQUES MAKE HIM A DESIGNER PAR EXCELLENCE. 190

_ JAIME HAYON (1974)

LOW CHAIR AND ROCKING CHAIR ARE THE LATEST MODELS OF THE PIÑA COLLECTION FOR MAGIS. ARMCHAIR FOR MAGIS PRODUCED IN 2011. SEAT IN STEEL ROD PAINTED IN EPOXY RESIN. LEGS IN SOLID BEECH, NATURAL OR PAINTED. SEAT/BACK CUSHION IN EXPANDED POLYURETHANE COVERED IN FABRIC OR LEATHER.

PIÑA CHAIR FOR MAGIS 2011

RO LOUNGE CHAIR 2013 “RO” MEANS TRANQUILLITY IN DANISH. THE NAME WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE IT CAPTURES THE POINT OF THE CHAIR IN JUST TWO LETTERS, THUS REFLECTING THE NORDIC APPROACH AND CONCEPT OF BEAUTY. THE DESIGN IS SCULPTURAL AND ELEGANT, FUNCTIONAL AND AESTHETIC - A CHAIR THAT FASCINATES ITS SURROUNDINGS. HOWEVER, RO IS MUCH MORE THAN AN EASY CHAIR. IT’S A 1½-SEATER WHERE YOU CAN RELAX, CHANGE POSITIONS AND HAVE YOUR NEWSPAPER, COMPUTER OR CHILD NEXT TO YOU AND CREATE A NEW COMFORT ZONE. “MY GOAL WAS TO CREATE A SLIM AND ELEGANT CHAIR THAT ENCOURAGES REFLECTION AND COMFORT,” SAYS JAIME HAYON. 191

192

FAVN FOR FRITZ HANSEN 2011 THE CONTRASTS AND SOPHISTICATION WHICH LEND PERSONALITY TO JAIME HAYONS WORK ARE REPRESENTED IN THE SHOWTIME COLLECTION WHICH RANGES FROM VASES TO CHAIRS. NOW IT IS COMPLETED WITH A NEW PIECE WHICH WILL ALSO SATISFY THOSE WHO HAVE MORE CLASSICAL TASTES: THE LOUNGER. AN ELEGANT AND COMFORTABLE WING CHAIR. WITH ONE-COLOUR FINISHES AND OPTIONAL FOOTREST.

LOUNGER FOR BD BARCELONA 2009

FAVN IS THE DANISH NAME FOR EMBRACE. THIS PIECE IS THE RESULT OF A CREATIVE DIALOGUE “I WANTED THE SOFA TO BE BASED ON A SHELL. A SHELL BEING HARD ON THE OUTSIDE, SOFT AND WELCOMING ON THE INSIDE. I WANTED TO CREATE A FORM THAT EMBRACES YOU, SOMETHING REALLY ORGANIC – THAT’S WHY WE NAMED IT FAVN”. “FAVN IS AN EVOLUTION A DESIGN LANGUAGE THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THE QUALITIES OF SPANISH AND DANISH DESIGN”. THE SOFA INCLUDES A MIX OF 3 FABRICS TO EXPRESS THE FORM OF ITS 3 MAIN COMPONENTS; THE SHELL, SEAT AND BACK AND DECORATIVE CUSHIONS. 193

194

05

_REFERENCES

_TEXT REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Bryan Lawson HOW DESIGNERS THINK Taylor & Francis Ltd 2005 ISBN 9780750660778 Catherine McDermott DESIGN: THE KEY CONCEPTS Taylor & Francis Ltd 2007 ISBN 9780415320160 Don Norman THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS Basic Books 2013 ISBN I9780465003945 Charlotte & Peter Fiell 1000 LIGHTS Taschen 2013 ISBN 9783836546768 Charlotte & Peter Fiell 1000 CHAIRS Taschen 2017 ISBN 9783836563697 Charlotte & Peter Fiell DESIGN OF THE 20TH CENTURY Taschen 2012 ISBN 9783836563697 Philip Wilkinson DESIGN KLASSIKER - Von der Tiffany-Lampe bis zum iPad Dorling Kindersley 2020 ISBN 9783831039142

195

196

05

_REFERENCES

_TEXT REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

Bryan Lawson HOW DESIGNERS THINK Taylor & Francis Ltd 2005 ISBN 9780750660778 Catherine McDermott DESIGN: THE KEY CONCEPTS Taylor & Francis Ltd 2007 ISBN 9780415320160 Don Norman THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS Basic Books 2013 ISBN I9780465003945 Charlotte & Peter Fiell 1000 LIGHTS Taschen 2013 ISBN 9783836546768 Charlotte & Peter Fiell 1000 CHAIRS Taschen 2017 ISBN 9783836563697 Charlotte & Peter Fiell DESIGN OF THE 20TH CENTURY Taschen 2012 ISBN 9783836563697 Philip Wilkinson DESIGN KLASSIKER - Von der Tiffany-Lampe bis zum iPad Dorling Kindersley 2020 ISBN 9783831039142 https://collection.design-museum.de/#/en/designers?_k=7pdile

197

BIOGRAPHY & PICTURE REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ 198

7-8 https://www.archdaily.com/939135/vitra-design-museum-explores-200-years-ofchair-design 9 picture of the author 10-11 https://blog.used-design.com/thonet-design-200-jahre-thonet-in-der-neuen-sammlung-muenchen/ 12-13 https://www.thonet.de/de/unternehmen/geschichte 16-17 picture of the author 18-19 picture of the author 20-21 https://www.dwell.com/article/inspiring-icons-aldo-rossi-d01121ce/6202604050728382464 23-25 https://www.thonet.de/en/all-products/detail/214 27 https://www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/292-hill-house-1 29 https://www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/312-willow-1 30-33 https://www.wittmann.at/produkte/kubus/ https://www.wittmann.at/en/produkte/ sitzmaschine/?cat=armchairs&image=fauteuils-sessel https://www.woka.com/en/detail-lamps/bureau-20302.html 35-37 https://www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/635-red-and-blue https:// www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/280-zig-zag 38-39 https://fritzhansen.com/en/products/lighting/kaiser_idell_6631_luxus?v=6631LYBodyKIEGBStdPower 40-41 https://tecnolumen.com/lamps/wg-24 42-43 https://www.thonet.de/en/all-products/detail/s-33 45 http://www.knoll-int.com/home/by-designer/classic-designers/marcel-breuer/wassily-lounge-chair 46-47 https://www.thonet.de/en/all-products/detail/s-64-v 49 -51 http://www.knoll-int.com/home/by-designer/classic-designers/ludwig-mies-vander-rohe 52-53 https://alessi.com/collections/marianne-brandt https://www.moma.org/artists/741 55 https://www.classicon.com/en/our-designers/eileen-gray.html 56-57 https://www.cassina.com/en/collection/tables/lc15 https://www.cassina.com/en/ collection/low-tables/lc14-tabourets

_BIOGRAPHY & PICTURE REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

59-63 https://www.cassina.com/en/designer/le-corbusier-pierre-jeanneret-charlotte-perriand 65 https://www.cassina.com/en/designer/charlotte-perriand 67 https://www.gispen.com/en/about-us/history/ 68-69 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/490718 71-73 https://www.vitra.com/en-us/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/jean-prouve 74-75 https://www.anglepoise.com/shop/table-lamps 76-79 https://www.iittala.com/gb/en/collections/iittala/alvar-aalto-collection/c/alvar-aalto-collection/intro https://www.artek.fi/en/company/designers/alvar-aalto 80-83 https://www.louispoulsen.com/en/professional/about-us/designers/poul-henningsen 84-85 http://www.knoll-int.com/discover-knoll/designers-/florence-knoll 86-91 https://www.vitra.com/en-de/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/charlesray-eames https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_eur/designers/eames/ 92-95 http://www.knoll-int.com/home/by-designer/classic-designers/eero-saarinen 97-99 https://www.vitra.com/en-me/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/isamu-noguchi 101-103 https://www.hermanmiller.com/designers/nelson/ https://www.vitra.com/ en-de/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/george-nelson http://www. georgenelsonfoundation.org/george-nelson/works/brentwood-or-laminated-chair-pretzel-chair-57.html 104-107 http://www.knoll-int.com/discover-knoll/designers-/harry-bertoia 109-111 https://fritzhansen.com/en/designers/arne-jacobsen 113 https://www.vitra.com/en-de/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/sori-yanagi 114-117 https://fritzhansen.com/en/designers/poul-kjaerholm 118-121 https://www.zanotta.it/en-us/heritage/designers/achille-and-pier-giacomo-castiglioni https://flos.com/products/designers/achille-pier-giacomo-castiglioni/ 122-125 https://www.vitra.com/en-de/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/verner-panton https://collection.design-museum.de/#/en/person/10336?_k=rs11bt 126 - 127 https://www.cappellini.com/en/designer/joecolombo 128-128 https://www.oluce.com/en/designer/joe-colombo/ 199

BIOGRAPHY & PICTURE REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

200

130-133 https://www.fontanaarte.com/en/gae-aulenti 134 -137 https://www.magisdesign.com/product/puppy/ https://www.aarniooriginals.com/collections/shop 138-139 https://www.fiamitalia.it/en/designers/cini-boeri https://www.arflex.it/br/en/cini-boeri 140-141 https://www.memphis-milano.com/ettore-sottsass/ 142-143 https://www.cappellini.com/en/designer/shirokuramata https://collection. design-museum.de/#/en/object/40608?_k=a4c3t9 144-145 https://www.cassina.com/it/en/products/product-page.dodo.html https:// www.cassina.com/it/en/products/product-page.wink.html 147 https://www.artemide.net/en/product/?family=tizio-table 148-149 https://www.artemide.com/en/company/designers/19658/michele-de-lucchi https://www.artemide.com/en/company/designers/25709/giancarlo-fassina 150-151 https://eu.alessi.com/collections/michael-graves 152-155 https://www.kartell.com/PT/designer/philippe-starck/designer_2 https://flos. com/designers/philippe-starck/ 156-159 https://www.vitra.com/en-ch/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/ jasper-morrison https://www.cappellini.com/en/three-sofa-de-luxe 160-163 https://www.cappellini.com/en/designer/marcnewson 164-167 https://www.bebitalia.com/en/antonio-citterio https://www.vitra.com/en-gb/ about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/antonio-citterio https://flos.com/products/table/kelvin-led/kelvin-edge-base/ 168-171 https://www.stylepark.com/en/vitra/tom-vac https://www.magisdesign. com/designer/ron-arad/ https://www.kartell.com/DEfault-collection-for-products/ bookworm/08005 https://moroso.it/designers/ron-arad/?lang=en 172-175 https://www.cappellini.com/en/designer/marcelwanders https://www. moooi.com/en/designer/marcel-wanders 176 - 179 https://www.bebitalia.com/en/patricia-urquiola https://www.cassina. com/it/en/contemporanei/patricia-urquiola.html https://moroso.it/designers/patricia-urquiola/?lang=en

_BIOGRAPHY & PICTURE REFERENCES

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

180-181 https://www.tomdixon.net/en_gb/ 182-185 https://www.magisdesign.com/designer/konstantin-grcic/ 186-189 https://www.vitra.com/en-us/about-vitra/who-we-are/designer/details/ronan-erwan-bouroullec https://flos.com/designers/ronan-erwan-bouroullec/ 190-193 https://hayonstudio.com

201