"Reinforced concrete is the best constructional material yet devised by mankind", enthused the Italian civil engineer Pier Luigi Nervi in 1956.1 A position Nervi spent a circa sixty year career arguing for, both in innumerable texts and through a canon of varied, and varyingly challenging, constructions throughout Italy, and much further afield. And in doing so Pier Luigi Nervi not only helped advance a popular acceptance of reinforced concrete as a construction material, but also helped
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"Boxing is not an exclusively athletic term in these practical and utilitarian days", noted John Crocker in 1913, rather, "the making of useful and ornamental things for the home, from the boxes, that in other days adorned the rear of stores, is the nucleus of armament that has made "boxing" a pursuit that contains both amusement and substantial results."1 And nobody contributed more to promoting and advancing the amusement and substantial results of the practical and utilitarian craft of
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"¿Qué es diseño?" asked Clara Porset in 1949. What is design?1 Not because she didn't know. Far from it. Over the course of the preceding two decades Clara Porset had ably demonstrated her considered, critical and responsive understandings of design; understandings that saw her develop into one of the most important, interesting and informative furniture designers in Mexico, understandings that saw her develop into one of the more important, interesting and informative protagonists in the
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"Design ist unsichtbar", Design is invisible/unseen proclaimed the Swiss sociologist Lucius Burckhardt in 1981.1 Which surprised a great many in 1981. And may surprise a great many in 2021...... Lucius Burckhardt (1925 - 2003) (Photo Annemarie Burckhardt, © Martin Schmitz Verlag) Born in Davos, Switzerland, on March 12th 1925 Lucius Burckhardt enjoyed, as best we can ascertain, information on his early biography being more gleaned than confirmed, a comfortable childhood in the Swiss alps,
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In 1936 Aino Aalto opined that "homes can be given interior design in other ways than before - not by buying expensive complete suites of furniture, but by concentrating on low-cost furnishings which can be used - with the aid of flowers, carpets, drapery and colours - to create hitherto more practical and more comfortable homes."1 A break not only with the understandings, the ways, of generations long past in terms of what constitutes appropriate furniture; but also a break with the ways of
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The so-called Bielefeld Conspiracy asserts that the German city of Bielefeld doesn't exist. Have you ever been to Bielefeld?, it asks. Do you know anyone who has ever been to Bielefeld? Do you know anyone from Bielefeld? If your answer to all three questions is no........ how do you know Bielefeld exists? A similar conspiracy could be built around Gertrud Kleinhempel, one of Germany's first professional furniture designers and who for the greater part of her career was active in Bielefeld.
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"Only slowly does it dawn on people that modern furniture must be designed on the basis of practical necessities", observed the Danish architect and designer Kaare Klint in 1930.1 How Kaare Klint understood those "practical necessities", how he understood "modern furniture", would not only define his career, but in many regards define the development of 20th century furniture design in Denmark. Kaare Klint (1888 - 1954) Kaare Jensen Klint was born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, on December
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As a general rule we prefer to focus the Design Calendar on positive events, it just seems more, well, positive; however, sometimes a negative event is more illustrative of a situation, provides for better access to a story. An event such as Mart Stam's beurlauben, suspension, as Rector of the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst, Berlin, on September 22nd 1952. The unhappy end of Mart Stam's not altogether joyful sojourn in East Germany. But also a moment that allows for some focussed
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"Wij hebben de nieuwe wereld te scheppen" wrote a, then, 19 year old Mart Stam in 1919.1 "We have to create the new world" And subsequently spent the following decades developing, explaining and demonstrating his understandings of what that meant...... Mart Stam (1899 - 1986) Martinus Adrianus Stam was born on August 5th 1899 in Purmerend, a community to the north of Amsterdam, and which, not uninterestingly, is also the birthplace of Stam's contemporary J.J.P. Oud. Following an initial
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In a letter in 2008 to the editors of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians concerning remarks in an article on the staged illumination of Mies van der Rohe's skeletal frame constructions, the architecture historian Kathleen James-Chakraborty refers to the "linking of Heinrich Tessenow's Festspielhaus of 1910-12 in Hellerau with the installation for the glass industry that Mies designed (in collaboration with Lilly Reich, whom Petty does not mention) for the Stuttgart Werkbund
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On May 17th 1955 Charles Eames*, as assignor to the Herman Miller Furniture Company, was granted US patent 2,708,476 for a "Furniture Frame Construction", specifically for, "a skeleton type metal furniture frame or shell construction" formed from "a plurality of lengths of wire arranged in crossed relation with another plurality of lengths of wire and welded thereto at their intersection..."1 A patent which although important and interesting in itself, is and was in many regards just as
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With the exhibition Citizen Office the Vitra Design Museum staged not only their first conceptual, research based, exhibition, but also one of the first museal reflections on "the world of the office". Reflections which not only pointed towards new directions and understandings then, but which offer insights and lessons for today....... Citizen Office. As visualised by James Irvine The ubiquity of office work in our contemporary society belies the relative youth of "the office" as a
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"The work of the Dresden artist Margarete Junge is largely shrouded in darkness" noted the art historian Gert Claußnitzer in his introduction to the 1981 exhibition "Margarete Junge. Fashion sketches and flower studies"1 And while Margarete Junge's 2D works may have been allowed to shine, if only briefly, in the early 1980s, her 3D works remained stubbornly shrouded: only in recent years being afforded the opportunity, if only partially, to radiate as they once did. Thankfully. For the works,
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"The role of the architect is one of organisation. The house is the considered organisation of our ways of life"1, opined the Austrian architect Margarete Lihotzky in 1921. And in the course of a long, varied career, she repeatedly demonstrated what she understood by such; including most famously, if somewhat narrowly, in a kitchen design............. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897-2000) (Photo 1997, Werner Faymann, source https://commons.wikimedia.org) Born in Vienna on January 23rd
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On December 10th 1869 Gebrüder Thonet voluntarily relinquished their 1856 Privilege in respect of "The manufacture of chairs and table legs made of bent wood, the bending facilitated by the action of steam or simmering liquids"; thereby ending not only a thirteen year monopoly during which time Thonet became a firmly established global brand, but also the culmination of a neigh on three decade story which highlights the importance of patent protection in the furniture industry. Biegen oder
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Qu'est-ce que le design? What is design? A question as old as the word itself, arguably older. But one with an answer? In an attempt to approach one the Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris asked Charles Eames, Verner Panton, Roger Tallon, Joe Colombo and Fritz Eichler, Qu'est-ce que le design?...... A view of Verner Panton's installation at Qu'est-ce que le design Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris 1969 (Photo Pierre Jahan © and courtesy Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris) Organised in context of
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Multi-storey car parks are many things to many people. For skateboarders a playground, for love-torn teens a place of privacy, for authors and film-makers an all too easy metaphor, and for yet others ..... somewhere to park their car. For the German architect Paul Schneider-Esleben the multi-storey car park represents his career breakthrough. And one of his most defining projects. Lichtplatz Car Park (Hanielgarage), Düsseldorf by Paul Schneider-Esleben Paul Schneider-Esleben Born in
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"This exhibition intends to acknowledge the cultural achievements of Italian design in the last decade, to honor the accomplishments of its gifted designers and incisive critics, and to illustrate the diversity of their approaches to design by presenting a collection of the most interesting examples of their work."1 Thus announced the curators of the Museum of Modern Art's 1972 exhibition Italy: The New Domestic Landscape their intentions. The New Domestic Landscape portrayed by the gifted
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"The problem of the construction of affordable housing for the lowest earning sections of the population is currently a primary concern in almost all civilized countries." Thus invited the Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne to their second congress, a three day event which opened on Thursday October 24th 1929 in the Palmengarten Frankfurt am Main, and which saw some of the leading protagonists of inter-war architecture discuss potential solutions for that most primary of concerns.
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The September architecture and design exhibition recommendations are arguably the cruellest to write: the fact that the majority of the exhibitions end in the depths of the European winter meaning that as we sit here hoping that summer keeps going just a little, little, longer.... we're forced to think about winter jackets and gloves. And so before things get that far, best get out there and visit an exhibition!! Our five recommendations for September 2017 feature new exhibitions in Weil am
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Dear Judge Tessin: I will herewith express our delight to have Florence with us this summer. I am sure that it will be good for her to see a little more of the world. We are going to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, and Holland. We will take good care of her. Most sincerely yours, Eliel Saarinen1 And take good care of Florence, Eliel Saarinen did: so much so that she advanced to become one of the most important protagonists in the development of post-war furniture, textile and interior
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The German designer and silversmith Christian Dell is arguably best known for the numerous lighting designs he realised during the 1920s and 1930s. Christian Dell was however also one of the pioneers of plastic design. If all too briefly. Christian Dell (1893 - 1974) Born in Offenbach am Main on February 24th 1893 Christian Dell initially completed a silversmith apprenticeship before studying at the Königlichen Zeichenakademie Hanau and subsequently serving as a journeyman silversmith,
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The German architect and designer Ferdinand Kramer didn't just translate the new principles of construction and design which arose in the inter-war years into his architecture, furniture and industrial designs, he was also a very eloquent writer on such matters, and thus helped, and continues to help, explain the motivations behind, and fascination with, functionalist ideals. Chair B 403 for Thonet by Ferdinand Kramer, as seen at The Kramer Principle: Design for Variable Use, Museum
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Caught up in the all too obvious enchantment of the likes of Eames, Nelson and Girard it is very easy to forget that post-war American design was a great deal more. It was also Edward J Wormley. Edward J Wormley. 1955. (Photo: Edward J Wormley papers; Professional (KA0048.02). New School Archives and Special Collections Digital Archive Edward J Wormley: Designs for Living The July 1961 edition of Playboy magazine features a truly excellent article by John Anderson titled "Designs for
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