Final Week Blog - Reflection on Course and Content

Taking this course on the history and theory behind design has truly left my eyes opened in a number of ways. I have always been interested in art and have especially appreciated industrial and automotive design for many years. With this introduction to internal and external architecture however, my knowledge of what surrounds me everyday has been noticeably heightened.

I will certainly forever look at chairs differently, starting at the beginning of the semester with the introduction of the Curule seat and later ending with such contemporary pieces like the Eames Chair has left me attempting to identify countless items since. I am now constantly pondering what the correct definitions for various chairs and other pieces of furniture are, where I would have previously just walked by and thought, "cool couch."

The introduction to different design and architectural firms along with the various movements we focused on has also left me skimming my memories of being around my grandparents and other relatives in Germany.  I now realize that my grandparents were huge fans of the Bauhaus Schule and certainly identified with the Aesthetic movement. My grandmother was an opera singer and my grandfather an internationally working salesman which makes this all the more understandable. Both have sadly been dead since I was a young teenager, but through this course I have learned a huge deal of information about of them, and I honestly cannot describe how important that has been for me. I have taken several mental tours through their long sold home since learning how to identify these different reaction movements, and have begun to appreciate their taste with far more complexity.

Apart from these more emotional aspects I have to say that studying successful icons like the famous Charles and Ray Eames, along with Frank LLoyd Wright and Louis Sullivan has left me with a true inspiration to further study American architecture and design. These often turn-key designs always resonated deeply with me, whether it was Fallingwater or the famous Case Study # 8, which the Eames called their home.

Overall I am really thankful for this eye opening experience, what started out as an interesting elective has awoken an essentially unknown passion within me. I look forward to further studying all these subjects, and would certainly further pursue a direction at the IAR department.

Blog #10 - Famous American Designers

When looking at the history of art and design in the United States, it is hard to overlook the collaborative work of Charles and Ray Eames. The combined vision of this architect and artist respectively has arguably had a profound impact, as many of their creations are considered stellar pieces of 20^th century American design.

The style of this duo grew as a reaction to modernism, and the two saw their work to be an extension of art. This led to a seamless merge with industrial design, in order to produce useful furniture and other concepts. As Charles himself noted, “Make the most with the least.” One finds this motto applied to much of his work, as he essentially revolutionized the production methods used to mold goods from plywood. As his designs were often dictated by the shape of the human body, many of Eames creations required the application of complex curves achieved through a molding process. This approach enabled him to use minimal amounts of padding and upholstery, allowing for a reduction in production costs.

Eames Splint

Plywood in particular has proven to be difficult to mold, as the pressure required in bending these sheets of wood easily results in splintering. Nevertheless, this material was an ideal substitute to metal and plastic. These industrial inputs were very limited during and after WWII, pushing Eames to continue the pursuit of reliable plywood molding. We see his attempts come to fruition in two of his most notable projects. It began with a splint designed for troops to use while deployed on oversees battlefields. It would enable for lightweight transportation, and replace metal splints which were far more prone to vibration and could lead to further injury. Because the splints were still considered prototypes in their manufacturing, they required sections to be drilled from the material, in order to relieve excessive pressure within the plywood. The grooves and passages produced by this removal of material gave medics the unique ability to secure bandages used to stop bleeding.

The knowledge Eames gained in developing this splint led him to once again approach the idea of building a chair, which he had previously considered as too complex to mold from plywood. The design was to be dictated by the material, a decision that would prove to be the key in developing the Eames Chair. This iconic piece of furniture has become a true collector’s item, as we see it gracing the office of Dr. House in the FOX TV show.

While Charles was commonly the visionary behind the form of his work, it was Ray which had the gift of dictating color. The black and white world of her husband’s design was thus illuminated by her, and led to an array of successful furniture collections after the release of their first line in 1946. The collaborative efforts of the Eames have consequently proven to be innovative for their time, yet remain advanced in the eyes of furniture connoisseurs today. 

Blog #9 - Reaction Styles

Arts and Crafts:

The Arts and Crafts movement flourished during the second half of the 19^th century, and was largely a reaction against the growing influence industrialization had on traditional design and craftsmanship. The movement was greatly inspired by William Morris, who wanted to emphasize the intimate customs involved in the creation of art and architecture created primarily by hand. The unique attributes which characterize such work was considered to be lost in a society moving towards the rapid output of an industrialized economy. The Arts and Crafts movement deemed this not just harmful to design, but also to the economy, as the work of individuals was being replaced by that of machinery. 

A particular example of Arts and Crafts design can be found in the Morris chair. This chair was originally designed and built by Morris & Company around the 1860s, but is still being copied today. It features traditional use of wooden materials along with characteristic joinery. The chair was built to recline, and commonly featured an upholstered seat and back cushion.

Aesthetic Style:

The Aesthetic style was greatly focused on the concept of beauty. Largely considered a philosophical movement, the idea was to create art and design that was naturally beautiful, for whatever reason. One was to consider beauty as a separate concept all together, an attribute anything man made or found in nature can carry. Pioneers of this type of thought were individuals such as Oscar Wilde, who essentially wanted to be engulfed with beauty and aesthetic design in all aspects of his personal and professional life as a writer and poet. 

This concept of transcending beauty meant that design following the aesthetic style was largely unrestricted when it came to selecting captivating design from around the world. We consequently see progressive English designer Edward William Godwin influenced by Japanese furniture in establishing his own style. This is seen in the reliance of right angle geometry, employing square shaped patterns to create what will ultimately be considered Anglo-Japanese design.

Art Nouveau:

The Art Nouveau movement became a prominent art and design philosophy at the end of the 19^th century. The name is originally French, and translates to “new art.” This movement was popular all throughout Europe, and was seen as the transition between the neoclassical style and true modernism. Where the Arts and Crafts looked to emphasis historical knowledge in creating contemporary design, the Art Nouveau movement wanted to reject any historical influence. This led to very fluid and natural design, capturing a sense of movement and motion.

Mackintosh:

Charles Rennie Mackintosh develops a style that draws on all three of the previously mentioned styles. He was a Scottish designer that worked together with his wife Margaret MacDonald in creating many noteworthy turnkey designs at the end of the 19^th century. We see his design become very much a reaction to the influence of industrialization, as his designs focus greatly on creating primarily attractive and unique homes and living spaces, rather than generic or mass produced goods. We see his style incorporate free flowing designs of the Art Nouveau with the clean lines of Japanese design to create a unique and one off environment for his clients. This creates the contrast in his work, as he employs natural motifs like the Scottish rose alongside stark geometric statements like his ladder-back chairs.

Vienna Secession:

The Vienna secession was very much the Art Nouveau of Germany and Austria. This stylistic movement wanted to completely distance itself from an historical influence, in order to create purely contemporary designs. We consequently see the emergence of the “Jugendstil,” which translates to Youth style, in order to symbolize this new approach. This reaction to traditionalism was well incorporated in Josef Hoffman’s designs, as he borrowed little from the past in creating furniture like the chair seen on the right. These pieces of furniture often captured a delicate balance between form and function, as they offered striking appearances blended with comfort considerations.

Blog #8 - Monticello and Fallingwater

Monticello

Thomas Jefferson was involved in the continuous remodeling of his plantation and the structures within it for the better part of forty years. He used this property as the grounds for experimentations ranging from architectural to horticultural, and in many ways tried to found a new vision for construction in the United States. Consequently we see Monticello reflective of an alternative to Federal design, which was based largely on the Adamesque style originating from England. Monticello is thus less a statement of urban design, and is rather focused on the incorporation of nature and the many surrounding gardens of the property. 

The main structure is built to be a vantage point of what is outside, instead of simply serving as the central marvel of the plantation, as would be common in the Adamesque style. Jefferson’s home was hence becoming an example of neoclassical architecture, largely influenced by Andrea Palladio, of whom he owned several books. Jefferson gained this influence after serving as Minister of the United States to France following the death of his wife in 1782. This led Jefferson to discover Palladio’s Villa Rotunda, a structure which influenced him greatly in the layout and design of Monticello. Features like the Sky-room along with the use exterior and interior cornice work, and selected symmetry of Monticello are subsequently design features adopted from Palladio’s structure. In fact, Jefferson often referred to Monticello as a “Villa” himself. 

Overall this property is therefore very much an extension of Jefferson’s curious and experimental nature, drawing from his influences gained while serving in Europe. The many gardens and elevated landscape led Jefferson to pursue a layout different from the Federal approach common at the end of the 18^th century, and resulted in a mesmerizing structure reminiscent of a chateau or villa in the country side of France or Italy, rather than a traditional Colonial dwelling.

Fallingwater

With Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright created a structure that distanced itself greatly from the vastly industrial conquests shaping the United States at the time. The organic layout of this building evokes a spiritual nature usually reserved for age old temples or other ancient structures. This organic approach is matched with modernism in functional and visual form, as the layout of this structure requires engineering complexity concealed by minimalistic design and material uniformity. 

We find the use of cantilevers to support the floors and ceilings of the home, giving Fallingwater the appearance of having grown into place above the rushing currents, much like the course a first leaf would take in becoming a tree. The construction of these sophisticated support structures was not perfect, and noticeable sag has developed in these cantilevers due to inadequate settling and deflection considerations. 

Yet even with a few engineering fallbacks, this structure remains commendable in its vision and execution, appreciating a truly modern appeal even though it was built in the 1930s.

Chairs

Morris Chair:

The Morris chair was designed and built by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. of England in the late 1800s. These chairs were unique in that they featured an adjustable backrest, along with elevated armrests. This gave the chair a traditional appearance, but also provided for a good level of comfort. The chairs were commonly upholstered, and typically representative of the Victorian style.

Slant Back Chair:

The Slant Back Chair was a staple in Frank Lloyd Wright’s turnkey designs, and can be found in many of his creations, including the Hillside Home School, Unity Temple and the Larkin Administration Building. These chairs reflected Wright's love for local materials, especially wood, but primarily employed machining work in place of traditional finishing techniques. This created clean geometric designs, using natural materials. These chairs were built predominantly in the early 1900s.

Ladderback Chair:

The Ladderback Chair was one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s many great pieces of interior design. It shows great design considerations, and includes the word “ladder” due to its tall slender shape, and its 25 individual steps within the back panel of the chair. This chair was ideal for filling narrow spaces that would otherwise remain void, and incorporated considerations of lighting and atmosphere typical to the art nouveau of the early 1900s.

Voyeuse Chair:

The Voyeuse chair is a characteristic representation of the growing pursuit for leisure activities and entertainment emerging during the time of the Rococo. With the rejection of strict stylistic adherence, and an emphasis on comfort and informality, the Rococo developed furniture like the Voyeuse chair. It was designed for the game-room, and offered comfort both to the participant of a certain game, as well as an observant bystander, keen to look over his or her shoulder. This is why we see the use of upholstery not just for the seat and back cushion but also on top of the backrest, in order to allow a second individual to comfortably rest their arms while leaning slightly forward. One finds these chairs primarily appearing during the 1700’s, built at the hands of gilded craftsmen in France.

A look at Modern Woodwork

Although no formal blog post was required this week, our introduction to the intricate woodwork the English were performing as early as the 16^th century had me motivated to research a bit of modern wood manipulation. 

I was quite fascinated in how the Tudor furniture we saw often employed the use of lathe work in order to achieve some of the stunningly symmetrical wooden furniture presented during lecture. 

This certainly added to my understanding of the craftsmanship heritage the English share, and to see how far back the use of machining dates within English history was striking. 

I wanted to gain a bit of insight on how some of this furniture is made, and soon realized that YouTube is once again a powerful resource in gaining a bit of introductory knowledge. One channel that particularly stood out to me was that of Frank Howarth. He films beautifully detailed videos that explain his craft in great detail, while he creates furniture and other useful items using numerous types of wood, employing various joining techniques, all at the aid of his detailed sketch work. This is brought together with great knowledge of machine work, in order to create some truly unique pieces of art.

His posts are certainly best enjoyed in YouTube's HD formats, and I would encourage to watch them directly on the website.

These first three videos involve the building of a desk for his son, from initial sketching all the way to finished product.

  

These next two videos involve turning a large piece of Walnut wood into two impressive segmented bowls.

Although these videos do not pertain to the Tudor style in particular, they help to illustrate how foundational the use of lathe work is and has been in the manipulation of wood for hundreds of years.

Blog #7 - The Dutch and Tudor English

The Dutch lifestyle of the 17^th century was marked by an environment shaped at the hands of a merchant society, living along the coastal flatlands of Holland. The Dutch were Protestant Bourgeoisie people, largely unconfined by the social hierarchies that were otherwise so prevalent throughout Europe at the time. This formed a predominantly middle class culture that valued the preservation of informal family living, rather than aristocracy.

The Low lands of Holland provided the Dutch with an often challenging landscape to populate, and required careful manipulation to evacuate the vast amounts of coastal waters hindering safe construction. This led to an early understanding and pioneering in the damming of sea water, along with a continuously reshaping network of dykes to stem these masses. When it came to building their homes, the Dutch understandably favored lighter materials such as brick, in order to minimize sinking that may plague heavier stone structures.

The communal lifestyle of the Dutch also saw the use of “Party Walls,” in order to separate houses or apartments with a single wall and regularly led to tight living quarters. Because the Dutch were so involved within the sea faring import/export community, their homes commonly resembled the rough dimensions of a ship’s hull, leading to long quadrangular structures. When combined with the fact that these buildings typically had multiple floors to accommodate sleeping arrangements, it was often difficult to move large furniture. A sturdy iron hook would consequently be cantilevered from the top floor of a building in order to hoist heavy or bulky  objects from the street to the floors above. The resulting narrow rooms generally convey a sense of comfort, and lead to a space that “hugs” the individuals within them.

The furniture and decoration of these homes was an addition to these shared values of comfort and family living, and was designed to fit well within these unique dimensions. We also find an early adoption of childproofing, through the use of elevated cupboards and baskets for cleaning supplies or other things one may have deemed hazardous in the hands of little ones at the time. Although a combination of decorative and functional aspects was often appreciated, one finds very little in terms of variety within the furniture of the time. We see the use of the Palisandre chair throughout the home, and rugs or other textiles are frequently employed to provide insulation from the cold weather. Black and white tiling patterns are also used within the home, along with whitewashed walls throughout.

The exploratory nature of the Dutch was also underlined by the display of large travelling maps, crediting the owner with merchant success and knowledge of the oceans. Great understanding of natural science was not just evident within the complex water stemming abilities of the Dutch, but was further revealed in their complex horticultural understanding. Thus plants rich with a perfume like scent were regularly grown indoors to provide for decoration, and more importantly mask the smell of excrement and bodily odor. Although the Dutch had good habits of keeping clean layered clothing on, bathing was rather infrequent, as producing a hot tub of water was still difficult, and the cold weather conditions made it far more favorable to simply wash ones face, hands and feet.

The experience in England can be described rather differently, as the Tudor and Elizabethan styles evolved during an era massively influenced by aristocracy and the quest for nobility. The strong sense of independence from the rest of Europe resulted in the general rejection and distancing from the stylistic influences of France and Italy, who were rapidly benefiting from the advancements brought about by the Renaissance. Thus while the English royalty of the 15^th and 16^th century had the means to continue displaying their wealth, the people of England were largely faced with scarcity when building their homes.

Consequently we see 16^th century English interiors appearing largely archaic when contrasted with other European hot-spots of the time, overwhelmingly relying on simple plank furniture to fill the poorly illuminated spaces of their homes. This lack of light was a result of rudimentary glass applications, as larger sheet glass was not being rolled domestically and was essentially unseen in England at the time.

Carpenters of this time were also working with rather elementary principles at the time, commonly splitting large cross sections of oak wood along its medullary rays in order to cut component planks that were uneven as a result. This was just one production inefficiency, that in combination with the massive ship building endeavors’ practiced by the navy, and the great amounts of charcoal being consumed in the production of industrial iron presented the small island of England with the rapid depletion of its timber.

Thus we really do not see much distancing from the basic furniture found within the great hall of previous generations. One finds stools with three legs to accommodate uneven grounds, and overall dark tones remain within their decoration. For the wealthier people of England however, these issues were becoming less relevant, and the use of heraldic devices was much more central in their quest for nobility.

This is where a figure like Henry VII becomes interesting to consider. Following the Battle of Bosworth on August 22 of 1485, Henry VII killed Richard III in the war of the roses. Richard III was the king of the house of York, and in his defeat Henry VII claimed succession to the throne in the name of the house of Tudor. Although acting by the right of conquest, Henry VII was not next in line to be king, and therefore needed to solidify his reign in any way possible. He began fostering relations with France and other European entities in order to discredit any negative claims against him originating from the house of York. In order to gain the greatest influence over the allies Henry VII was trying to win however, he needed to present himself with as much credibility and royal heritage as possible. Thus he began employing a host of heraldic devices, frequently using of the Tudor Rose and Shield to decorate furniture and create various coats of arms.

Henry VII used these devices to shape his royalty in a way that portrayed his reign as powerful and justified, and began his expansion of the House of Tudor by marrying powerful women such as Elizabeth of the House of York. The combination of expanding his royal influence while promoting the House of Tudor through the use of heraldic devices led Henry VII to overcome his establishment struggles effectively, and solidified the importance of these techniques in preserving the English monarchy for centuries to come.

When analyzing both the Dutch and Tudor interior around the 15^th and 16^th century it becomes once again evident how little geographic vicinity plays in the shaping of a region. Although separated just a short distance from one another, these people shared common merchant endeavors and motivations, yet the resulting societies emerged vastly different.