The History Of Modern Furniture Design

"The richly illustrated monograph tells the story of modern furniture produced from the first half of the 19th century - the Biedermeier period - to the late 20th century. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the modern history of furniture in the Czech lands against the backdrop of significant developments in furniture making worldwide, including one-of-a-kind designer furniture. Particular attention is devoted to the most distinguished artists-designers, as well as the fates of furniture manufacturers and institutions. The volume examines the art-historical aspects of furniture manufacturing, sources of stylistic inspiration, the types of materials used, as well as technological aspects. Profiles of eminent Czech and international furniture designers form an important part of the publication. The book also serves as a catalogue to the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague's study depository of 19th- and 20th- century furniture housed in the chateau in Kamenice nad Lipou"--Wrap around half-jacket.

Summary: The richly illustrated monograph tells the story of modern furniture produced from the first half of the 19th century - the Biedermeier period - to the late 20th century. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the modern history of furniture in the Czech lands against the backdrop of significant developments in the field worldwide, including one-of-a-kind designer furniture. Particular attention is devoted to the most distinguished artists-designers, as well as the fates of furniture manufacturers and institutions. The volume examines the art-historical aspects of furniture manufacturing, sources of inspiration, types of materials and technological aspects. Profiles of eminent Czech and international furniture designers form an important part of the publication. 0Exhibition: Castle Kamenice nad Lipou, Czech Republic (Permanent exhibition). 0.

In 2019, the Vitra Design Museum will publish the Atlas of Furniture Design, the definitive, encyclopedic overview of the history of modern furniture design. Featuring over 1700 objects by more than 500 designers and 121 manufacturers, it includes approximately 2800 images ranging from detailed object photographs to historical images documenting interiors, patents, brochures, and related works of art and architecture. The basis for the Atlas of Furniture Design is the collection held by the Vitra Design Museum, one of the largest of its kind with more than 7000 works. The book presents selected pieces by the most important designers of the last 230 years and documents key periods in design history, including early nineteenth-century industrial furniture in bentwood and metal, Art Nouveau and Secessionist pieces and works by protagonists of classical modernism and postwar design, as well as postmodern and contemporary pieces. The Atlas of Furniture Design employed a team of more than 70 experts and features over 550 detailed texts about key objects. In-depth essays provide sociocultural and design-historical context to four historical epochs of furniture design and the pieces highlighted here, enriched by a detailed annex containing designer biographies, glossaries, and elaborate information graphics. The Atlas of Furniture Design is an indispensable resource for collectors, scholars and experts, as well as a beautifully designed object that speaks to design enthusiasts.

In 1938, Vienna lost its best and most creative minds. This rupture was manifested in all of the arts and sciences and its mark is felt to this day – not least in the field of furniture design. With inexhaustible creativity the Jewish furniture designers who were forced to flee Vienna continued to work while in exile. They taught at the best universities and spread their ideas and vision throughout the entire world. Their creations became classics of twentieth-century furniture design, the epitome of mid-century modern style. This book honors the memory of the exiled designers with a thorough overview of their work. It details their life stories and their visionary designs, which remain as relevant and contemporary as ever, and brings to light new aspects of the history of Viennese furniture design.

During the Progressive Era, a time when the field of design was dominated almost entirely by men, a largely forgotten activist and teacher named Louise Brigham became a pioneer of sustainable furniture design. With her ingenious system for building inexpensive but sturdy “box furniture” out of recycled materials, she aimed to bring good design to the urban working class. As Antoinette LaFarge shows, Brigham forged a singular career for herself that embraced working in the American and European settlement movements, publishing a book of box furniture designs, running carpentry workshops in New York, and founding a company that offered some of the earliest ready-to-assemble furniture in the United States. Her work was a resounding critique of capitalism’s waste and an assertion of new values in design—values that stand at the heart of today’s open and green design movements.

"Modern Furniture presents an overview of the most important developments and highlights in furniture design. Beginning with the latest trends for 2009 the book covers the past 150 years. The spotlight focuses on several individual gems of design, from the most contemporary Heaven series of the Italian manufacturer Emu back to the famous cantilever chair, but also on creations such as laminate and chipboard. Materials that we no longer regard as design innovations but which have nevertheless greatly influenced the home decor of our times. Concise texts accompany the individually featured designs, whilst essays on selected themes and styles, written by experts round off this benchmark illustrated book."--Publisher's description

- A beautifully presented text on the history of modern Western furniture design across the 19th to 21st centuries, containing more than 500 full-color and archival images of original classic furniture, covering the key stages in the history of furniture design and representative works of each stage - Researched and written by two eminent epistemologists in the fields of modern furniture history and design, including important topics such as globalization and informationalization - Covers an important selection of Western and Chinese designers who have emerged on the global design stage in the last two decades This beautifully presented book provides a comprehensive philosophical and cultural overview of design systems and styles of furniture design around the world, with a particular focus on design trajectories from the 19th to the 21st centuries and their global impacts on the furniture design field. Also presented here are details of many masters of furniture design, both Western and Chinese, and their ideas and works in both the temporal and geographical dimensions. Richly illustrated with more than 500 full-color and archival images, chapters include an overview of furniture design systems around the world; the pioneers of modern furniture design from seven different schools; the impacts of the Bauhaus movement on design and the classic design masters of the same period; the masters of different schools in the era of the design revolution post-Bauhaus; and the significant works of a new generation of furniture designers worldwide. Written by two eminent epistemologists in the fields of modern furniture design, industrial design, architectural and environmental design, and design history research, Trajectories: Modern Furniture Design offers incisive and unique insights into historical furniture design references against the context of globalisation and informationalisation, and the emerging design talents across the globe and the scope of modern furniture design in the world today.

Designers include: Michael Thonet, Otto Wagner, Alvar Aalto, Victor Horta, Henry van de Velde, Peter Behrens, Marcel Breuer, Charles Eames, Eero Saarinin, Hans Wegner, Joe Colombo, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann, George Nelson [and others.].