Week 13

 Modernism in America (pt.2)

Gina Christopher

The 1950’s was a time for exploration in furniture design. Furniture of this time was made out of molded plywood, fiberglass, plastic, and aluminum. This is due to the philosophy during this time that good quality furniture can also be affordable for the masses. There were two companies during this time that were the producers of all this furniture: Herman Miller and Herman Miller and Knoll. These companies were all the rage during this time period. Also during this time there was a high push to encourage human movement within furniture design, instead of designing based on perpendicular lines. Also multipurpose furniture and interchangeable furniture were present during this time. There was also a new identify for pieces of furniture, such as the coffee table and lounge chairs. These were created due to the invention of the television, and making people feel most comfortable while watching  television. 

My Favorite design/ furniture 

Marshmallow Sofa - George Nelson 

George Nelson was the Director of Herman Miller and created many iconic American modern furniture can we still see remixed today. He created over 80 furniture pieces for Herman Miller. I really like this marshmallow sofa that he created, because it reminds me of the huddle sofas today.

Bubble Lamps - George Nelson 

George Nelson also made these bubble lamps in the 1950’s. I guess I’m just a George Nelson fan at this point. I love this lamps because they create an intrest in the sky plane. I also like the modern day fixtures that resemble these lights, they bring some much fun and character to a space.

Walnut Stools - Charles & Ray Eames 

Charles and Ray Eames created a lot of furniture during this time. They were the prime experimenters of the materials I listed above in the summary of this portion. they really tried to make high quality materials that anybody could afford. I really like this walnut stools because they look like huge chess pieces, but can also be well suited for many of our modern day aesthetics.

Current Applications 

One step further 

Euro Saarinen

Eero Saarinen went to the Yale School of Architecture. He worked with Charles and Ray Eames a lot and also produced a lot of furniture with Knoll. He was not committed to one particular style but considered the desires and needs of his clients. He is known for the use of swiping cures and abundant use of glass. He crated a lot of furniture during this time made out of materials such as fiberglass and aluminum. He used primary colors in his furniture and focused the human movement part of chair designing that I covered in the beginning of this blog. I really like his chair designs and think they are definitely iconic.