INT331

A knoll showroom in the 50s. During the 1950s and the 1960s, we see a new style emerging, after the end of World War II, that revolutionizes Modernism. Mid- Century Modernism, due to its new aesthetics in architecture with its flat roofs, bi- level structures, the plays between indoor and outdoor, the use of earthy colors and the new materials that changes the furnishing game, it still has an impact today on how we do architecture, interior design and furniture design here in America and throughout the world. The style that emerged is timeless because its ideas still live today. It seemed that the Mid- Century Modernism focused more on the furnishing aspect of design and not really in architecture. Through this chapter, we see the establishment and development of the Knoll Company that was founded by a couple named Hans and Florence Knoll in New York in 1938. The design firm that still exist today and still is successful offers till now office systems, furniture, textiles and c...

It is known as we have seen previously that Modernism started first in Europe, most precisely in France and Germany before it spread throughout America and the rest of the world after World War II due to media ( journals, books and exhibitions) and the flee of many founders of modernism from their countries to America due to unfortunate wars like Mies Van der Rohe, a German architect. Mies van der Rohe was known and was one of the figures of the Bauhaus movement and was known to build the Barcelona Pavilion. In fact, "Mies Van der Rohe moved to the United States in 1937 to escape the Nazis" and sa that he could have opportunities there and was offered to head the department of architecture of the newly established Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Frank Lloyd Wright is considered to be the first American to do modernism (founder in America). He is considered to be the first American to found Modernism in America because he was the one to create the American...

Since the movement of the Arts and Crafts until the Art Deco movement, we saw a total rejection of the Victorian style and historicism that came with an unity and solidarity between the different arts. That led to some prominent figures of these movements to master different arts by studying painting, architecture and sculpture for example. The movement of the Arts and Crafts helped somehow to establish the profession of the decorator because they valued personal style inside the homes. However, when the Art Deco movement rose into prominence, there was a conflict between two categories, which were the functionalists and the decorators. The functionalists concentrate more on the function and how it relates to form when it comes to objects. While the decorators or "ensembliers" rely more on the aesthetic aspect of objects and sometimes promotes the excess of accessories and furnishings. More and more, people saw a need to establish the profession of an inter...

Art Deco is a movement that appeared in the 1920s due to a tension between functionalists and decorators because they valued different things. The movement first appeared in France and its name is derived from the french "Arts décoratifs". In fact, In 1925, in Paris there was a World Fair called L'Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, where they showcased furniture, lamps, textiles and accessories. Through this movement, we saw new popular motifs and patterns that became the characteristics of this specific movement, such as the zigzag, chevron, stepped profiles, cubistic and angled forms. Rich materials also made their appearance such as the use of ebony, leather, zebrawood with inlays of ivory, polished metals, etcetera. Designers were inspired by African tribal art. We can tell that the French wanted people to see that their design was superior to the rest of the world when it comes to craftmanship, design and the choice of...

A lot has changed, during the 1900's due to many significant events that now shapes the world of today. In the world of art and design, many movements rose in the late 1800's and still continued to do so in the 1900's. World War I (1914-1918) changed the way of how architects and people in general see the world and get a chance to redesign the cities. However, before the war begun, Art Nouveau and the Prairie Style movement influences what we call now Modernism. There was also the appearance of new technologies such as skyscrapers, new methods of transports with the train and automobiles, etcetera, which explains the embrace and support for industrial design. The modern movement had four major pioneers that were all architects, which are Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. It is interesting to see that all four of them, while contributing to modernism were somehow indirectly influenced by the previous art movements such as ...

Painting of "The Family" by Gustav Klimt. Protomodernism is what preceded modernism (Proto meaning primitive or original). Its an interesting movement that truly shaped arts today. It is believed to have started in 1897 with the Vienna Secession, and unlike any other movement that we've seen so far, it took place in Eastern Europe with Austria. There are several similarities with the other movements that we've seen precedently due to their large influence ( Arts of Crafts and Art Nouveau) such as the rejection of the Victorian historicism and that there was an unity among the arts. The unity among the art during the Vienna Secession, a design revolution, was greater and stronger than the other movements in a sense that the Secessionnists really shared the same belief that "decorative motifs are carriers of meaning and not necessarily antithetical to artistic expression...