Archive for the ‘Modernism’ Category

MODERNISM
ITALY
MODERNISM IN ARCHITECTURE and
furniture design first emerged in Italy in 1926 under the banner o I Razionalismo, or Rationalism. Most prominent among the Rationalists, all of whom espoused a functional, pared-down approach to architecture and design, was Gruppo 7, a collective that included Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, and Giuseppe Terragni.
Mussolini’s government, whose rise to power coincided with the emergence of the Rationalists, initially embraced the nascent design style. Gruppo Ts
advocacy of industrial progress, clean living, and moral reform appeared to [it well with the Fascists’ own ideals. Indeed, such was the relationship between the Rationalists and the Fascists that in 1934 Giuseppe Terragni completed both the building and the fittings for the Fascist headquarters in Como, near Milan. Needless to say, the architecture was unremittingly stark, with equally uncompromising furniture. Employing primarily tubular steel, Terragni
produced a range of tables and chairs that owed much to Marcel Breuer’s work at the Bauhaus, although the furniture was more expressive in its lines than Breuer’s deliberately
anonymous-looking pieces.
THE USE OF TUBULAR STEEL Italian designers would have seen the tubular-steel designs developed in Germany at the regular Triennial exhibitions, held for the first time in Monza in 1923. Ten years later, the
exhibitions were moved to Milan under the title of International Triennial of Decorative and Modern Industrial Art. The Triennials showcased the latest developments in design from Italy and across Europe. The idea of using tubular steel, which Italian designers first saw in 1930, struck a chord, as Italy was, in the interwar years, suffering a severe wood shortage. Mussolini’s hard-line approach to rule had seen the country fall from favour with more liberal governments across the world, and Italy was suffering under sanctions. As a result, tubular-steel designs by the likes of Terragni, Piero Bottom, and Gabriele Mucchi were developed during these years, although they rarely met with popular success. Designed as prototypes for mass production, many designs of the era were only produced in significant numbers much later.
The Rationalists eventually fell out with the Fascists after Mussolini deemed their approach “too
international”; Mussolini opted to support the Neoclassical style of the Novecento group. But where Hitler hounded all Modernist architects and designers from Germany, Mussolini took a far more lenient view. Indeed, the 1930s and 40s was a time in
which many of Italy’s most celebrated manufacturers and designers got their start. The likes of Cassina and Fontana Arte were not to gain until the 1950s, but they put down roots in
the interwar period. Although the years 1925-45 were not the most distinguished in Italy’s remarkable design history, they certainly paved the way for much of what was to come.
Detail of leather straps
Tubular-steel frame
The lounge chair The Modernist era saw many pieces made for sanitoriums. The lounge chair was a favourite, with versions made that could be easily moved from inside to outside or
transformed from a seat to a day bed.
The chair’s frame is made from laminated beechwood. On each side, the arm and legs are one continuous loop of wood; joined beneath the seat by a cross-stretcher. The seat has a beech frarne with a woven cane seat and back. Designed by Giuseppe Pagano. 1938. H:71crr? (271,m), W.61clo (,?4il?): D:68cm (26,Xin).
TELEPHONE STAND
OCCASIONAL TABLE
The most striking feature of this side, or occasional, table is its thick plate-glass top, which has a bevelled edge. The circular glass table top collects light like a lens, producing a brilliant reflection below. The table top rests on a walnut support from which emerge four splayed legs, that taper sharply towards the bottom. The legs are made of lacquered walnut. Designed by Pietro Chiesa, the table was manufactured by Fontana Arte. c.1950. H:48.25cm
09in): D:66clo (26in).
This occasional-table-cum-telephone-stand was designed by G. Levi Montalcini and Giuseppe Pagano. It has a chrome-plated, tubular-steel frame. Two circular, black-laminate shelves sit at the top of the stand and are cantilevered over the base. 1932, re-issued by Zanotta In 2004. H:80cm OIAW; W.37.5cm (14A17). ZAN
COMACINA DESK
This writing desk has a simple, tubular-steel frame. The rectangular, white-laminate top offers a plain work surface; a storage unit with four drawers is below, to the right. Designed by Piero Bottoni in 1930; this example was re-issued by Zanotta in 2004. H:75cm (291in); W.130crn (511n); D:65cm (251in). ZAN
FOLLIA CHAIR
The cylindrical headrest is strapped to the chair o minimize bulk.
LOUNGE CHAIR
Made from tubular steel and slung fabric, this innovative piece can be used as a chair or a chaise longue, depending on which end it stands (see above). Designed by Battista and Gino Guidici. 1935. F1:98cm (38in); L113cm (451n); W.49crn
WKA
The black-painted, rectilinear wooden seat and back of this Giuseppe Terragni chair are connected by chrome-plated spring supports.
1934, re-issued by Zmoh’t in 2004. 1 I:Wcm (311,in); W.50cm (191in); D:60cm (931,si). ZAN
The armrest padding is kept to a bare minimum so as not to disturb the clean lines of the chair
Tubular steel is used to form the chair’s frame.
Simple, black upholstery covers the mattress on the footrest.
The chair’s seat appears suspended, giving it a sense of weightlessness.
Cushioning on the ottoman is strapped to the tubular steel base, accentuating the contrast of natural and synthetic materials.
GENNI LOUNGE CHAIR
This lounge chair’s seat sits within a tubular-steel frame and is adjustable, having two positions. The upholstered mattress and headrest match the black elbow rests. The footstool echoes the chair’s rectangular frame. It was re-issued by Tecta in 2004. H:82cm (321′irl) (Max); W.41cin (161n); D:109cm (43in). Footstool: f-1:41cirt (161n); W.45cin (171in); D:55cm (211in).

MODERNISM
CHAIRS
AS FURNITURE PRODUCTION steadily
shifted emphasis from craft-based manufacturing to industrial methods, so the look of the chair changed dramatically Ornament was doggedly erased from designs as structure became more important to the aesthetic look. Solid wood began to fall from favour (too expensive and inflexible) as moulded plywood and tubular steel stepped into the spotlight.
Just as the notion of open-plan space was creeping into Western architecture, so furniture was freed from fulfilling just one function. Chairs became
increasingly ambiguous, with some made for indoor and outdoor use, and others equally at home in an office or dining room. Chairs became lighter, too, as they were frequently moved around the house.
With mass production in mind, designers began to concentrate their efforts on fixtures. The aim became
to produce a chair made of a minimum number of components that fitted together easily and quickly It’s no surprise, then, that the cantilever chair became so popular, as the continuous loop of legs and base eradicated the need for numerous nuts and bolts.
While the structure of the chair became increasingly celebrated in its design, as opposed to any stylistic conceits, so the designer as an
individual receded into the background. Industry became more important than art, as designers sought to express nothing more romantic than the manufacturing process.
The reason the chair dominated the focus of designers’ effort`_ is because a person’s emotional attachment is far greater to a chair than to, say, a shelving unit. If Modernist designers wanted to alter their audience’s emotional and intellectual outlook, it was through the chair that they tried to do so.
The slender armrests display a use of cushioning that is rare fora chair by Marcel Breuer.
The steel struts beneath the seat have been bowed so they cannot be felt by the sitter.
The chair is made from non-reinforced tubular steel, thereby making it less rigid.
B34 CHAIR WITH ARMS
The frame of this cantilever chair is made from one continuous loop of tubular steel. Although the base looks as though it is all in contact with the floor, the side pieces bend slightly so that only the corners touch the floor — the idea
being that most floors are slightly uneven and the smallest change in level would make the chair wobble. This chair has arms with elbow supports, and a blue canvas seat and back. Designed by Marcel Breuer and produced by Thonet. 1928. H:85cm (33Vzin); W.57.5cm (22Vain); D:63cm (24-Xin), Qu I
This armchair was inspired by a model made by Alvar Aalto. The chair’s seat and back are made from a single sheet of laminated wood and sit within an oak open-arm frame. H:76cm (30in) CA
LANDI CHAIR
This easy chair comprises a series of square-section planks of pine, joined by wooden dowels. It has a slatted section on both seat and chair back. Designed by Hein Stolle. c.1930. BonBay 2
SIDE CHAIR
The seat and back of this early cantilevered chair are made of ebonized moulded plywood and sit on a chrome-plated tubular-steel frame. The armrests are ebonized beech. Mart Stam for Thonet. c.1930. BonBay 2
ZIG-ZAG CHAIR
One of a pair, this chair has a tubular-steel frame reminiscent of Rietveld’s Zig-Zag chair. The wooden seat is supported on steel rods and has a later vinyl cover. H: 82.5cm (321in); W.41.5cm (161in); D:63.5cm (25in). Qu I
Lightweight and durable, this stacking chair is made from pressed and bent aluminium. Each armrest and pair of legs is from one piece of aluminium. Hans Coray. 1938. H: 76cm (290); W.51cm (19in); D:55cm (21in). BonBay 2
CLUB CHAIR
AALTO-INSPIRED CHAIR
EASY CHAIR
The rectilinear frame is made from stained pearwood secured with brass fittings. The chair is upholstered in hand-woven woolen fabric. Peter Keler, Bauhaus Weimar. 1925. H:69cm (27in); W.62cm (24V:ln); D:68cm (26%0). WKA
LOUNGE CHAIR
CANTILEVERED ARMCHAIR
One of a pair, this armchair has a tubular-chrome frame and seat with cushions upholstered in a dark brown, brushed fabric with red trim. The armrests are black-enamelled. H:86.5cm (34in). SDR I
Designed by Gilbert Rohde, this cantilevered armchair has a bright chrome base and black laminated armrests. The cushions are upholstered in ivory leather with a black trim. H:94cm (37in). SDR 1
THE STACKING CHAIR
STILL FOUND IN CAFES WORLDWIDE, THIS ICONIC DESIGN IS PERHAPS THE FIRST STACKING CHAIR, AND CERTAINLY THE FIRST WIDESPREAD DESIGN, OF ITS KIND.
The so-called Bistro chairs These have a pressed-steel frame and are painted red; with plywood seats. c.1926. H:82cm (32Vin). DOR 3
The origins of this chair, despite the efforts of numerous historians, have proved murky at best. The design is most likely to have been developed in France some time around 1925, specifically for the country’s booming cafe culture. The chair bears a strong, albeit rather crude, resemblance to chairs designed by Emile Jacques Ruhlmann, although it’s doubtful whether the French high-society designer ever had a hand in its conception.
What is perhaps most impressive about the chair, apart from its stackability, is its economy of materials. The steel used is incredibly thin and, to give the legs rigidity, the steel has been subtly curved. To save further on metal, holes have been cut from the seat back. While the perfect low-cost, space-saving chair was to become something of a holy grail for 20th-century furniture designers, few ever bettered the chair design that first set the ball rolling.
FREE SWINGER ARMCHAIR
The base of this chromed-steel cantilevered armchair from Austria is the only part of the structure that is exposed. The chair seat and back are filled with down and upholstered in sand-coloured velour. H:84cm (331in). DOR 3
LAMINATED LOUNGE CHAIR
This chair has been made from one sheet of cut and moulded laminated birch and resembles the Gerald Summers classic (see p.438). The arms are fixed to the back with metal brackets. Hans Pieck. 1944. H:76cm (30in). Bon Bay 4
BAUHAUS ARMCHAIR
This chair was designed by Erich Dieckmann for the Weimer Bauhaus, in collaboration with Ernst Mayo. Made from solid beech, it has a bowed back and slatted seat. c.1930. H:81.5cm (321:in); W.52.5cm (21in). WKA
DINING CHAIR
This is one of a pair of stacking birch plywood dining chairs that were produced by Artek. The chair has a circular wooden seat and a pierced plywood back, supported on L-shaped plywood uprights. c.1930s.
DIAGONAL CHAIR
This chrome-plated, tubular steel chair is named after the supports between the seat back and legs. The arms, seat, and back are of laminated wood. W.H. Gispen. c.1927. H:82.5cm (321-in); W-54cm (2111n): D:60cm (23,Xln). QU 2
SLATTED CHAIR
This Viennese chair has a tubular-steel frame and solid, stained-beech wooden slats for the seat and back. The arms have wooden armrests. One of a set of four. 1925. H:84.5cm (33V4in). DOR 3

MODERNISM TABLES
AS WITH MOST FORMS of furniture
during the interwar period, tables were subjected to a radical process of reduction. All details deemed superfluous were stripped away to leave what designers considered to be a pure, practical form.
Marcel Breuer, the Hungarian-born student-turned-teacher at the Bauhaus, was the designer who most successfully achieved the desired, pared-down look. Utilizing tubular steel, a material that he is said to have borrowed from the bicycle-making industry, he produced tables that expressed little beyond their own function.
Eileen Gray’s tubular-steel and glass side tables, now known as the E1027 tables in reference to the house for which she designed them, may not be as rudimentary as Breuer’s tables, but they display more invention. The tops of the tables can be adjusted to sit at differing heights, and the table’s stem
is placed at the side to allow the table top to come over air item of furniture (which, in Gray’s case, was her own bed). Such versatility was to become a key feature in table design of the Modern era.
Since many designers in the interwar years were reacting to the excesses of the Art Nouveau style, most table tops were either a simple, unadorned circle or square. It wasn’t until after World War 11, with the advent of a more organic style, that this strict design principle was relaxed and irregular shapes came into use.
Glass, plywood, and tubular steel were always considered the most cutting-edge materials from which to make tables (due to their close association with industry), although some designers did use solid wood. If this was used it was considered important to avoid all efforts to carve or decorate it, thereby keeping its surface as clean to the eye as possible.
The tables “nest” so as to save space in small apartments.
The black-painted tops hide the wood grain and give the tables
an industrial look.
Chrome plating g) ves the tubular steel an alluring gleam.
NESTING TABLES
This series of four nesting tables fits neatly, one above the next, in a stack. They all have the same depth, but increase in width and height as they grow in size. Each table has a simple, rectilinear, chrome-plated tubular-steel
frame and a black-painted wooden top. The top sits flush with the table frame. Designed by Marcel Breuer at Bauhaus Dessau in 1925-26, it is thought that they were initially designed as stools. This example was re-issued by Toots in 2004. Largest table: H:60cm (231-,in);
W.66cin (26in); 0:38cm (151n). TEC 2

GLASS DINING TABLE
Made of tubular steel, the frame of this table consists of a rectilinear base. At the top, at each end of the table, is a semi-circular support for the glass table top that interlocks the base. There are rubber pads on the
supports, where they come into contact with the table top, to cushion the glass and prevent slippage. The glass top has been ground at the corners to produce smooth curves. Attributed to Emile Guillot and produced by Thonet, Paris. 1930. H:79cm (311m): W:120.5cm (471in); D:725cm (281in). WKA 4
BLACK-ENAMELLED TABLE
The chrome-plated tubular-steel frame of this dining table offers a support for the black-enamelled rectangular table top, before dropping to the floor in each corner to form the legs. Each leg is made from two parallel
lengths of steel. As the legs reach the floor, they join in the centre to form one single length of tubular steel below the table top. Designed by Wolfgang Hoffmann for Howell. W.147.5cm (581n). SDR 1
EXTENSION DINING TABLE
This extension dining table was made in America. The simple, straightforward design consists of a plain, rectangular wooden top with two pullout leaves. The leaves, which are concealed
underneath the table top, increase the table’s
width by 45cm (18m) on each side when extended. The top rests on a trestle base that ends in tubular-steel stretchers and bracket feet. Designed by Gilbert Rohde. Closed: W.152.5cm (60n7). SDR 2
SUNSHADE TABLE
This two-tiered end table is one of a pair. Each black laminate table top has a chrome trim. The smaller, top table sits flush with the tubular-steel frame, and the larger, bottom table is supported by the table base and legs. Designed by Gilbert Rohde for Troy. W.45.5cm (17Yin). SDR I
PALADAO DINING TABLE
This flip-top, wooden dining table has a simple rectangular top with rounded corners. It has two additional leaves for extending the table size and a fifth leg for extra support. The legs taper sharply as they reach the floor. Designed by Gilbert Rohde for Herman Miller. H:91.5cm (3617). SDR 1
TABLES 447
MODEL 91 TABLE
The rectangular top of this table is made from unlimed oak and has a black-linoleum surface. The corners have been slightly rounded. The table top rests on four rigid, chrome-plated tubular-steel legs. Designed by Marcel Breuer for Embru. c.1933. W.120cln (48io). DOR 4
SIDE TABLES
These side tables are made from chrome-plated tubular steel, where the table’s stand is placed to one side can be adjusted to raise or lower the height of the circular glass table lop to still a range of purposes. Designed by Eileen Gray. c. /9`/. 1) !z/( m (20in). DOR I
CAFE TABLE
The square top of this table has a black-linoleum surface with a riveted, plate-steel surround. It rests on four chrome-plated tubular-steel legs, which bend to meet each other in the centre above an X-shaped, tubular-steel base. The linoleum top is new. Produced by Thonet Mundus. (-.1930. H:75cm (291m). DOR 3
GAMES TABLE
The square, orange-laminate table top rests on a chrome-plated brass base. The base hinges in the centre, making the table collapsible. At each corner is a swivel plate for holding a glass. Designed by Boris Lacroix. c.1930. H:70cm (271in). DOR 3
BEECH SIDE TABLE
Designed and manufactured in Sweden, this small side, or occasional table has a circular, white laminate top above three bent-beech legs. The legs taper slightly as they reach the floor. Designed by Bruno Mathsson. 1936. D:44.5cm (17Yin). SDR 3
ROSEWOOD TROLLEY
The circular, rosewood top of this trolley table has hinged sides and rests on a chromium tripod base. The front wheels are also made from rosewood. The caster at the rear of the table is used to stabilize the trolley. H:56.5cm (221in); D:80ca) (311in). L&T
BAUHAUS SOFA TABLE
The table’s frame consists of a rectilinear, nickel-plated tubular-steel base, with a rectangle of tubular steel suspended below the circular, plate-glass table top. Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1929 and produced by Thonet. This example is a Tecta re-issue from 2004. H:60cn7 (231,in): D:80cro (311in).