The Emergence of Modernism Review

I got the chance to look at Megan's blog. I specifically liked how she talked about the international style. She made it a point to describe characteristics of that style and how they played in to forming the modern style. She also focused on Meis Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright who I thought were the most intriguing architects.

I also looked at Flor's Blog. I liked how she showed floor plans drawn by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was different than all the other house and structure examples of his work. I feel like the floor plans are rarely looked at for inspiration. I also liked her current applications. They were definitely inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Emergence of Modernism

The emergence of modernism was an extremely exciting time in the history of interior design. What was once thought of as design and style would be totally flipped around as a new era was introduced. This was thought of as the new direction of design. Ideas were brought forth that had never been seen before by the human eye or drawn out by a designers hand.

Being one of the first major modern architects, and one of my favorite architects of this movement was Frank Lloyd Wright. I have always been interested in his work. I have only had the opportunity to have gone to one of his houses, The Mary Thomas house in Springfield, Il, but would love to get to visit other of his creations. I was so impressed with all the detail he put in to his work. I remember standing in the house and thinking about how much time, work, and thought it must of took to reach his final products. He was an incredible architect and designer and a genius from my perspective. It also amazed me how he designed all the furniture and even light fixtures in his houses and buildings as well. He had visions and knew there was only one way to get to those visions, if he considered every detail of the design and was a part of the whole process until the end. During his lifetime, he designed over 1000 structures and completed 532 of those. He was highly inspired by Japanese design which can be seen in numerous pieces of his work.

In terms of his residential design, he was known for adding in separate private and public areas of the houses. His clients at the time favored being able to entertain as well as being able to have more intimate space for just the family.

 The above picture is the Metropolitan Museum of Art but designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a great example of all of his furniture that he designed too. You can see the Japanese inspiration in lamp designs as well as in the ceiling.

The above picture is Falling Waters that Frank Lloyd Wright designed. It is amazing how he designed the house to fit perfectly in with the scenery of the land around it.


My other favorite architect when merging into the modern movement, was Mies Van der Rohe who's motivation was "less is more." He had an International reputation with abstract work of art.

My favorite house that he did was the Farnsworth House in Plano, Il. Not only is there a dramatic love story behind the house, I love how it combines it's surroundings of the beautiful wooded scenery of the Fox River. I would love to visit this glass house and be able to experience walking through it enjoying all of the elements. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van der Rohe also designed the furniture that would be put in his space as well.

 The above picture in the Farnworth house. You can see his suggestion that less is more. The bottom pictures are pieces of furniture that he designed.

Below are some designs that I think Meis Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright would definitely approve of.  It shows the idea of less is more as well as keeping with that modern element.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara

This man still lives in his house he commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build!

Deutscher Werkbund Review

I first looked at Sammy's blog for this movement. It was very informative. She also talked about the Vienna Sucession and some of the designers in that period. Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner were mentioned as well as Adolf Loos and Koloman Moser. I liked how she put a focus on the designers and showed their work.

I also got to look at Paige S.'s blog. I love her modern applications and how she picked designs and directly connected them back to certain designs of the movement. She did this with the kubus chair and a modern club chair. She also showed the resemblance of Koloman Moser's patterns and a modern retro flower pattern.

Deutscher Werkbund

The Deutscher Werkbund movement originated in Germany. In German, it means German workshop. Founded in Munich, Germany. it was set in place to advance the quality of industrial design. The purpose twas to raise the standards of design in Germany's mass produced products and be more even with the British and United States of America. It was founded as a German government organization that was to bring designer and manufacturer together.

The glass pavilion was designed by Bruno Taut as the Werkbund exhibition.

The Deutscher Werkbund movement produced several different styles of chairs. Perhaps my favorite chair of the movement was the Kubus chair. It was square and angular and a fully upholstered lounge chair repeating the cube shape. Joseph Hoffman is the designer. It is pictured below. 

Below are some current applications of the movement. You can see the use of metal, organic art, natural materials, and curved furniture with geometric design. The colors are white and clean as well. 

Art Nouveau Reviews

I was able to look at Rachael's Blog for the Art Nouveau period. She talked a lot about the iron work and was able to show that in modern design as well. The iron work itself and the curves in it are perfect examples of the Art Nouveau movement. Additionally. she chose to talk about Victor Horta who's designs I really enjoyed too.
I also was able to look at Natalie's blog. She pointed out Henry Van de Velde as a designer and how he designed his own house complete with furniture, table silver, and kitchen cookware. She also showed pictures of the many chairs that he designed too. I really enjoyed looking at her modern applications as well.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau means New Art. The Art Nouveau period was during a time of the turning of the century. Belgium and France were the leaders of the movement. It is said that the movement was the first style to stop looking at the past for inspiration. Stemming as a rejection of Victorian styles, modern materials, techniques and even electrical lighting were introduced. To me, this is what makes this movement one of the most interesting. New ideas were being brought forth as economic growth in the world was making it possible for new experimentation in design. Art Nouveau took inspiration from nature and what designers experienced in their surroundings. These natural elements were reflected in fabrics and wallpapers. There was also a lot of influence on Japanese Art.   In terms of color, soft, muted colors were used often. Curvilinear forms were dominant .

One of my favorite designers of this period was Hector Guimard who was the most significant figure in Paris. His work reminds me of Sleepy Hollows. The way his style is so organic and almost has an eerie feeling, He is most famous for his work with the Paris Metro Subway Station on the entrance kiosks and detail elements. He was great with use of organic forms and incorporated this in to architecture, furniture, and other design products. I love his style, how it is so different than most other designs. I love the curves and unique decorative elements he uses. His work is truly the defintiton on Art Nouveau.

Above are some pictures of his work and the bottom is Hector Guimard himself working among some of his pieces.

Above are some modern takes on the art nouveau movement. You can see the Japanese inspiration as well as the curvlinear forms.