Darrel - Herman Miller

Herman Miller is a furniture company that began in 1906 with the name of Michigan Star Furniture. The company focused on manufacturing residential furniture pieces in a Victorian and gaudy style. These pieces were cheap to medium priced. At 18 years old, DJ Depree took out a loan, bought the company and renamed the company, Herman Miller, after his father in law, When sales began to decline, DJ realized he needed to update his products so he consulted with a modern furniture designer and later hired George Nelson who created modern pieces and helped to bring sales back up. However, it was Charles and Ray Eames who developed furniture that really rose Herman Miller to the top. They now sold unique furniture that was ergonomic and many other manufacturers copied these designs so they conceal a stamp or medallion to represent that it is real.
After consulting with a few other designers and realizing how terrible the work environment was in commercial settings, the company came out with office furniture including the 'Action Office'.

Michigan Star Furniture Co.



Herman Miller Products:

Art Deco Review

Angie - She does a good job giving a brief overview of the history of Art Deco characteristics and its history of how it made its way to other countries. She also included the important designers of the time which is very important.

Ashley - She has some great examples of interiors that really showcase the main characteristics of this time period. I like that she listed the time's designers and also how she mentioned this style's impact on the fashion industry.

Art Deco

Art Deco began in France in the 1920s and spread throughout the U.S. and European countries at the beginning of WWII, largely due to the Normandie French Ocean Liner. This era was not concerned with functionality or technology. Art Deco was influenced by Art Nouveau and the style shows this characteristic through its fashion oriented and strongly decorative designs. It brought a tension between the functionalists who supported mass production and social good and the decorators who were advocates of labor intensive craftsmanship and not concerned with social theory.
The exhibition of interior design at the 1925 World's Fair showcased furniture, lamps, textiles and accessories which all included sharp angles and cubic forms. Aluminum, black lacquer, and glass were the most common materials and finishes as well as the zigzag or chevron design. Folding screens, stepped profile of furniture (skyscraper furniture), large mirrors, and prominent light fixtures of modern materials were the essence of Art Deco.
Furniture was made with rich materials such as tortoise shell, leather, ebony, and polished metals as well as glass and mirrors.  A few significant architects and designers include Maurice Dufrene, Jean Dunand who moved more toward geometric forms and was a decorator for the wealthy, Jean Michel Frank who was a minimalist and created plain-lined furniture, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann focused on glamour and used unusual materials, and Eileen Gray who has already mastered the lacquer screens and designed many notable pieces of furniture.

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Animation of House by Eileen Gray:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5JjOChTioA

Emergence Of Modernism Review

Amanda V. - She does a great job of giving the history of how the Emergence of Modernism came to be. She also includes the main characteristics of the movement's architectural style and lists some of the main designers of the time. She then goes into further detail of one the most influential designers, Frank Lloyd Wright, and gives a lot of information about his history and career. She also gave very good examples of past and present work.

Angie - This history of Emerging Modernism was a good lead into the career of Walter Gropius. Angie merged them together nicely and gave some great information about Gropius' accomplishments during his career. She also gave really good examples of his designs and modern applications of them.

Emergence Of Modernism

  Bauhaus Dessau, Germany:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuWl5gH5TPI

     International Style emerged in the 1920's and 1930's, the decades of Modern architecture. The book in which this term came from outlined three principles of Modernism: the expression of volume opposed to mass, the emphasis on balance opposed to symmetry, and the expulsion of applied ornament. The International Style has a significant contemporary characteristics of those displayed in the Dutch de Stijl movement. This time consisted of simplified forms, rejection of ornamentation, use of glass, steel and concrete, transparent buildings, construction, and acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques.

     Walter Gropius was one the few significant architects during this time. His style was unornamented, functional and industrial free.  Gropius was the director of the schools of fine art and of applied art at Weimar, he merged the two schools together to form the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus became one the most famous structures of this period. The Bauhaus was one of a number of European schools concerned with reconciling craft tradition and industrial technology. This new educational program held a relationship between emerging modernism and all types of art and design. The building also included an industrial design, utilizing materials such as wood, metal, ceramics and textiles. The location at Weimar closed due to economic and political problems and a new one was built in Dessau, but was forced to close in 1933.

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Current Applications

Frank Lloyd Wright Review

Micah has very good examples of his work and a good, brief overview of his history as a designer. I also enjoyed her video on the falling water home.

Morgan has a great recap of Wright's history behind the horizontal design style and very good examples.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Prairie Style

Meyer May House:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPJekSRBRjI

Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect who did commercial designs but focused on residential homes. He developed an "American" architecture but called his personal style of architecture "Prairie Style". Wright's color pallet was derived from indigenous plants within the Midwest. The exterior of his Prairie style designs had a hipped roof and strong horizontal profile. He used horizontal bricks, concrete slabs, and other materials to emphasize this design. His goal was integrate the house, material and landscape. The interior of his homes focused on the family. The fireplaces was always the center of the home. Other characteristics included built in furniture, stained glass windows and unique light fixtures. He would often design unique furniture and light fixtures for each of the homes he designed for the home owner.

Previous Application - Designed by Wright










Other Prairie Style Homes

Protomodernism

1898 The Vienna Secession's interest in culture and design brought about word wide advances in art, history, psychology and philosophy. This time had no ties to previous architecture or interior design which helped them lead the way for the Modernism and Art Deco Movements.  The design style protested against Historicism and did not embrace Art Nouveau, however, movement was ideal.

Gustav Klimt, an Austrian symbolist painter, was one of the most prominent members of the Austrian Secession Movement. He believed that there should be unity between art and design. His paintings were a play on the subconscious and included gold paint to create dramatic effect.
Otto Wagner was another designer of the period who designed his furniture to relate to his architecture. Some of his creations include the Postal Savings Bank, Postal Savings Bank Chair and Stool.
Josef Hofman was another important designer. He created the Palais Stoclet building as well as furniture. Some of his furniture pieces include the Morris Chair, Armloffel Chair, Kubus Chair, Palais Stoclet Chair, and Circular Fledermaus Table.
Adolf Loos was influenced by the Arts and Crafts style and created the Cafe Museum Chair.

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Palais Stoclet interior


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Moderation of Palais Stoclet Chair

Art Nouveau Review

Alicia S. - I really like how she chose a few important designers from the period and went into more depth about their design style, their use of materials and important pieces they have created. Also, her pictures were strong and enhanced the information she gave us in the previous paragraphs.

John - He really hit the main points of the era and focused on the inspiration of nature. His examples were perfect for showing the curved lines that represent insect wings.

Art Nouveau

Victor Horta House:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZVli-rlPCI

The Art Nouveau Movement was from 1890-1910. This movement was lead by Belgium and France but became popular throughout Europe. used nature's elements, flowers, birds, vines, insects, as inspiration. This period's designers and painters had an admiration for Japanese art and inspired many paintings.

Characteristics of the movement include the rejection of the Victorian style, based on nature, the use of modern techniques, embracing manufacturing, electric lighting, and curvilinear forms. 

Curved lines were dominant, "Whiplash" was the most visible motif. Decorative ornamentation consisted of abstract forms that were inspired by flowers, vines, shells, bird feathers, and insect wings.

Victor Horta was the most influential designer of the period. His designs included unique iron railings and hardware, large glass frames, and an asymmetrical facade.

Henry Van de Velde contributed sculptural and ergonomic  furniture design including the armchair.

Hector Guimard was the most significant figure in Paris. He designed residential and street furniture which looked hand crafted but were made in factories.

Antoni Gaudi was a significant designer in Spain who continued using curves and unusual decorative details to create structures that resemble fantasy. He used glass, masony, ceramic tile, and wood seamlessly.

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Review A&C

Katie Lane:
I like how she recaps on why each designer is important and outlines the characteristics of the movement and how to recognize it.

Amanda M:
She has very good images of past and present applications. I like that she mentions what inspired the designers of important pieces and that she separately states the main characteristics of the movement.

Arts & Crafts Movement

'Arts & Crafts In A Nutshell'
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBq73yxha0o

The Arts & Crafts movement began in England, founded by William Morris, and lasted from 1860-1910. It became very popular in England as well as in the U.S. This movement was a reaction against the Victorian period and born of ideals. Simple, honest designs characterized the Arts and Crafts movement as opposed to cluttered and overdone in the Victorian. There were curves in the wood and each piece was handmade and very well done and thought out. The furniture and design was also made functional with the use of built-ins. The furniture was influenced by shaker furniture substantial, heavy with large exposed hinges giving it a distinct look. Philip Webb designed a chair, named after William Morris, which became the symbol of the Arts and Crafts movement. Charles Voysey later introduced design combining Gothic and Japanese details on lighter furniture. The Red House, Orchard home, Gamble House, and Hill House were some important structures at the time. As far as furniture goes, the Argyle Chair, Hill House Chair, and Willow Chair were also influential.

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Argyle Chair