Design (Semester 2)

Task 2

 Organic Design

              

               In the 1930s, there was a belief of that the organic movement was that the furniture and architecture should reflect between the harmony of people and nature. In furniture design this was meant natural materials such as wood, and smooth rounded forms. The legendary French designer Jean Prouve came out of the period showing his bent plywood furniture, as well Marcel Breuer with his laminated birch plywood armchair with a calfskin cushion. The designers were fully dedicated to their craft, and their work was painstakingly made and yet not easily produced.

            In the 1950s Alvar Aalto an architect and furniture designer well known for making use of natural materials and one of the most famous designers of this movement became very successful with his highly mass-produced furniture and lighting. Meanwhile, Wendell Castle the woodworker furniture designer kept a true dedication of his handmade wooden pieces and designs. Later in the 1980s, Castle’s assistant woodworker George Nakashima began working with well-known successful manufacturers to produce his traditionally well-known custom made wooden furniture, only under supervision from the designer himself.

            Since modern technology is changing and evolving too it is allowing a lot of designers to mass produce one of a kind piece on a large scale. For example, take the Dutch designer Joris Laarman, in which he designs furniture using software he creates and afterwards 3D prints the pieces to be assembled by hand just like a jigsaw puzzle. Take his adaptation Chair for example, it is printed using a large low-cost 3D printer than easily welded together coated with metal.

            For me I see that this movement made and brought a lot of change to us people, helping us in creating more creative work in which can be used to help us. As well I see that this movement could also inspire younger generations that are interested in becoming furniture designers.

Reference: Page title: Organic Design | Musei Italiani, Website name: Museiitaliani.org, Publisher: Museo Del Design 1880-1980, The publisher of the document, URL: http://www.museiitaliani.org/organic-design/

International Style

               The International Style emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of modern architecture, as it was first defined by the Americans Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in 1932, with an emphasis on architectural style, form and aesthetic than the social aspects of the modern movement as emphasised in Europe. The most common characteristics of International styled buildings are rumoured to be in rectilinear forms, light and plain surfaces that have been completely stripped of applied ornamentation and decoration with open interiors spaces in which they are visually weightless. These houses are mostly made of glass and steel with the combination of less visible reinforced concrete these are the materials used for the construction.

            After World War 2, the international Style opened a lot of doors allowing designers to easily achieve multiple style options for vast scaled urban projects, in which this intended to maximize the amount of floor space for a given area, while still attempting to convince local planners and politicians would bring much more needed wealth to the city while on the other hand rejecting the proposal would lead the development to be different.

            The International style identified, categorized and expanded upon characteristics were said to be like Modernism across the world and its stylistic aspects. Hitchcock and Johnson identified three of the most important principles and these were: “the expression of volume rather than mass, the emphasis on balance rather than preconceived symmetry, and the expulsion of applied ornament. Their aim was to define a style that would encapsulate this modern architecture, doing so need specific architects.

            For me this movement really effected the world nowadays as if I am outside I do see some of the houses of this design but a few since they are expansive to build. This could also inspire more designers to find ways to design house like this which could be a bit cheaper than the original designs.

Reference: Page title: The International Style Movement, Artists and Major Works, Website name: The Art Story, Publisher: Unknown, URL: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-international-style.htm

Page title: Architecture in the Early 20th Century, Modernism, Bauhaus, DeStijl and International Style, Website name: YouTube, Publisher: Bauhaus Möbel & Designermöbel, URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrol0WsehTM

Pop Design

            Pop Design emerged in the 1950s but remained relevant up to the present day. Product design influenced pop art, and pop art influenced product design. At the time of the post war boom, mass production was already everywhere and brightly coloured commercials were staring people from every corner. The fashion industry also started picking up, pop music as we know it was on the rise and celebrity gossip became a thing.

            Pop Design was mostly known for its bright colours. We see them in commercial graphics, it was a matter of time until it started to influence other design areas. Pop artists often chose industrially mass-produced goods as subjects of their work, and at the same time influencing designers to create completely new original objects. Pop art furniture emerged during the 1960s and relied on bright colours, unusual design and sturdy geometric shapes which were also made of plastic! The reason is that plastic screams consumerism its cheap and can easily be crafted so designers at that time were very successful during this era. The fashion industry did not take long to merge with pop art as well.

            Pop Design was very popular back than although it died a little nowadays and the reason is because of all the heat we have plastic is not that reliable anymore and you can still find most of the first designs if you are lucky enough to find a collector that collects them.

            For me Pop Art and Pop Design are my favourite movements and the reason is that this movement could allow the artist and designer with outstanding ideas brightly coloured. As well another reason I love the movements it is because this is where comics were first introduced to the world and are still mass produced till today. Personally, I think that this is the movement that affected us the most and it still inspires artists and designers till this day.

Reference: Page title: Pop Art Design, Website name: Design-museum.de, Publisher: Unknown, URL: http://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailpages/pop-art-design.html