mid-century modern furniture evolution: 7 designers who changed the industry part 2

7/31/2019 Mid-Century Modern Furniture Evolution: 7 Designers Who Changed the Industry Part 2

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A Complimentary eBook Provided By:

Copyright2011ParadigmGallery.Learnmoreatwww.ParadigmGallery.com

Mid-CenturyModernFurnitureEvolution:

7 Designers WhoChanged the IndustryPart 2
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Table of Contents

1: Eero Aarnio! 32: Harry Bertoia! 43: Eileen Gray! 54: Isamu Noguchi! 65: George Nelson! 76: Verner Panton! 87: Poul Volther! 9

Mid-Century Modern Furniture Evolution: 7 Designers Who Changed the Industry

Learn more by visitingwww.pgmod.comor by calling 1-877-PGMOD-07 (746-6307)

Copyright 2011. Paradigm Gallery. All rights reserved.

Eero Aarnio Retrospective in Berlin Gallery
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1: Eero Aarnio

Imagine yourself inside of a floating bubble, or cocooned into a sleek, plasticball...a plastic ball that is actually comfortable inside! The Ball Chair designwas one of the many creations of Eero Aarnio that caused him to stand out

among designers, and brought him fame around the world.

Aarnio created useful, good-humored, sculptural designs made of fiberglass,colored plastic, and acrylic. These innovative and unique designs havehelped Aarnio become a very esteemed designer, that stands out among theothers. His collection includes more than just furniture. He has produced anarray of products, including chairs, tables, lamps, childrens collections,miniatures, guitars, and room dividers.

Biography of Aarnio:Eero Aarnio was born in 1932, in Helsinki, Finland. He has continued to be oneof the most influential designers in Finland and around the world, and hiswork has stood the test of time. His designs have been featured in moviesets and magazine covers, and are well recognized by many.

In 1963, Aarnio introduced the Ball Chair to the world, and it soon becameknown as the Globe Chair. This design features a hollow sphere on astand, which is opened on one side.

In 1968, Aarnio was inspired to design a chair similar to the Ball Chair. Thischair however, was suspended from above and was clear in color, lending itthe appropriate moniker of the Bubble Chair. Some of Aarnios other famedworks include:

Pastil Chair - a floating plastic chair, similar inshape to a solid inner tubeTomato Chair - looks like a tomato with ahollowed out area to sit inScrew Table - shaped like a giant screwRoom Dividers called The Treeand TheSwan

For over 45 years, Aarnio has been creating manygreat designs that continue to astound. His worksare featured in numerous prestigious museumsaround the world, and he has received a number ofcoveted awards. One of these awards includesEuropes most prestigious award, the ADICompasso dOro Award, presented to Aarnio for hisTrioli Chair design.




The Ball Chair

Eero Aarnio Retrospective in BerlinPhoto courtesy of Flickr User: we-make-money-not-art

The Bubble Chair
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2: Harry Bertoia

"If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture.Space passes right through them." -Harry Bertoia

Harry Bertoia, born in Italy in 1915, designed a line of chairs that were theantithesis to the typical 1950s style of rigid wood. His most famous collectionof furniture were steel chairs comprised of welded wire which possessed aspringy feel. Of these, the most well known was the Diamond Chair, which,as the name suggests, was shaped like a diamond. The highest point in thediamond forms the chairs back support. Bertoias chairs were producedin 1952 by Knoll International, and they continue to produce them today.

Like fellow furniture designers, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, Bertoia attended CranbookAcademy, and was exposed to the world ofmodern furniture. In fact, it is said that Bertoia wasvery instrumental in the design and developmentof the Eames Chair, while he was workingalongside Charles Eames in the late 1940s.During his time at Cranbook, Bertoia won theOrganic Furniture Design Competition sponsoredby the Museum of Modern Art.

After leaving Eames, Bertoia was asked to join thePoint Loma New Atomics Laboratory, whichworked in an effort to scrutinize the human bodyand utilize this in the design of equipment thatwas created in respect to the comfort of humanreach and grip. This is known today asergonomic. Bertoia used this knowledge in hislater designs of practical, comfortable chairs.

Many would classify Bertoia as a true artist. Inaddition to furniture, his unique and innovativevisions inspired him to create original sculptures,

jewelry, prints, and sound recordings.

Bertoias chairs were likened to a sculpture, andremains a popular choice in modern furniture.Following his time with Knoll Associates, Bertoiawent on to pursue a career in sculpture full time.Some of his most famous pieces are now onpermanent display at the Museum ofContemporary Art in Kansas City and the MarshallUniversity Fountain in West Virginia.




Diamond Chair

Bertoias Sculpture:ATOMIC AGE

Sculpture made by Bertoia outside of the Aon Center, Chicago, IL
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3: Eileen Gray

Although our list of designers is slightly maledominant, this female designer was one of thepioneers of the modernist design movement and has

made a significant name for herself in the world ofdesign. Her work attracted the attention of many, in atime when entrepreneurial women had far greaterchallenges to face in their efforts to make a name forthemselves.

Eileen Gray has been described as elegant,intelligent, and independent. She was anonconformist in the turn of the century, and chose tosettle in Paris to explore her unique creativity.

Gray was born into an aristocratic family in South-Eastern Ireland in 1878. She inherited an interest indesign from her father, who was an amateur painter,and took her with him touring through variouscountries.

She is considered one of the pioneers of InternationalStyle aesthetic and modernist design, and possesseda great passion for precious furniture design. This latertransformed into a taste for more functional, moderndesign.

In 1919, Gray received her firstcommission for interior design.This project spawned thecreation of her famous lacqueredblock screens. In 1922, sheopened her own shop and drewthe attention of Jan Wils, arespected Dutch architect.

Gray later began to create her own unique furniture designs which she claimedwere, suited to our existence, in proportion to our rooms and in accordance withour aspirations and feelings."

Although Gray primarily worked as an architect, she continued to createminimalist furniture such as this daybed. One of her most famous designs is apiece called the Adjustable Table, which is an asymmetrical design thatdemonstrates her nonconformist attitude, while adhering to the rational principals of modernism.




Eileen Gray's E.1027 Villa's Living room,Roguebrune Cap Martin, France

Eileen Gray Rouquebrune Rug(Reproduction) design circa 1926-1929

Adjustable Table
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4: Isamu Noguchi

Meet Isamu Noguchi, 1904-1988. Noguchi is a Japanese-American designer who had a vision of making sculpture useful inour everyday life. He was quoted as saying:

New concepts of the physical world and of psychology may giveinsights into knowledge, but the visible world, in human terms, is morethan scientific truths. It enters our consciousness as emotion as well as

knowledge; trees grow in vigor, flowers hang evanescent, andmountains lie somnolent -- with meaning. The promise of sculpture is to

project these inner presences into forms that can be recognized asimportant and meaningful in themselves. Our heritage is now the world.

Art for the first time may be said to have a world consciousness.

Noguchi was the son of a Japanese poet, Yone Noguchi, and anAmerican writer, Leonie Gilmour. Following his parents separation, he

was sent to Japanese and Jesuit schools. In 1918, he was sent to theUnited States to attend Interlaken School in Indiana, and lived with thefamily of a Swedenborgian minister.

His diverse upbringing was evident in Noguchis unique expression ofcreativity through clay, wood, and stone. He relentlessly strove forperfection in all of his work, though it was not always understood.

After spending time in New York, Paris, and Japan, with frequent travelbetween the East and West, Noguchi was hired by Mexico City toproduce a land sculpture in 1936. This was a 20-meter long piece

called, History as Seen from Mexico.

Noguchi returned to New York in 1937 and lived in an internmentcamp on an Indian reservation, where he designed parks andrecreational areas. However, he soon came to the sad realizationthat the authorities had no intent of implementing the designs, so he leftand returned to New York.

Back in New York, Noguchis work consisted of abstract, surrealistsculptures, created with interlocking slabs. His work became verypopular among well known music producers and choreographers.

In the realm of furniture, Noguchi was well known for his paper light designs, coffee tables, couches,and dining tables. His furniture had the appearance of unique, abstract sculpture, but provided thenecessary functionality of furniture.

Experience the Noguchi Coffee Table and other brilliant works frommid-century modern designers at Paradigm Gallery.




Isamu Noguchi - Photo courtesy ofFlickr user Michael Francis McCarthy

Red Cube in NYC by Noguchi

Photo Courtesy of Flickr User Yiie

Noguchis Coffee Table
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5: George Nelson

George Nelson is an iconic Americandesigner, who was an extremelyinfluential figure in the later half of the

20th Century. George was a widelyrespected architect, designer, journalist,lecturer, curator, photographer, andteacher. He attended Yale Universityfrom 1928-1931, where he received botha BA and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Following that, Nelson studied at theAmerican Academy in Rome, andreturned to the U.S. in 1935 to pursue acareer as an editor and journalist forArchitectural Forum journal and PencilPoint magazine. George took thisopportunity to introduce Americanreaders to the European avant-garde.

In 1946, Nelson began working as the director of designat Herman Miller, and remained there for over 25 years.During this time, he introduced many innovative officefurniture designs, including the Swagged Leg Group.This group includes the DAF Chair and the MAAChair which has a flexible back that can be adjustedbackwards at a 90-degree angle.

In addition to office furniture, Nelson also designed somevery popular pieces, such as the:

Platform - a simple and functional benchCoconut Chair - a triangular seat inspired by apiece of coconut shellMarshmallow or Pop Art Sofa - a seat andback made of individual round cushionsBall Clock - wall clock with the hours marked byballs of wood

Nelson, along with designers such as Gray, Eames,Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Breur, and Jacobsen,are some of the most famous Bauhaus architects anddesigners of the Bauhaus era.




George Nelsons Marshmallow Sofa Special Edition -Courtesy of Flickr user Adele Prince

Coconut Chairs by George Nelson
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6: Verner Panton

Danish designer, Verner Panton, was a visionary. Born in1926, he is a quality brand in Danish instrumental furnituredesign, interior design, and architecture. Pantons furniture

and lamp creations are extremely innovative, and makeuse of unusual and creative materials.

The Panton Chair was the first example of single-formedinjection moulded plastic seating. With this design, Pantonsucceeded in creating one of the most daring and famouschair designs of the twentieth century.

Like many of his colleagues, Panton studied architecture atthe Academy of Art in Copenhagen. After graduating, hewent on to work as an apprentice for Arne Jacobsen, andwas assigned to assist in the design of the iconic "Ant"Chair.

Panton first established himself in the world of avant-gardedesign with furniture that was based on extravagant,geometric forms and use of strong colors. A good exampleof this is the Cone Chair of 1958.

Panton has worked with renowned manufacturers such as Fritz Hansen, Louis Poulsen, and Vitra. Hepushed technology to its limits with productions of designs such as the "Flowerpot" Lamp and the"Pantower.

In his designs, Panton had a knack for fusing the various elements of an interior, including floors,walls, furniture, lighting, and textiles.

He combined these elements into an indivisible, melded space that exuded emotion through theunique, geometric shapes and intense colors. This complimented the emerging psychedelic trend ofthe times very nicely.

Pantons well known modern design classics include the Heart Chair and the S Chair.




Prague Church with Panton Chairs.Photographed by Matthew Velcovsky
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7: Poul Volther

Poul Volther (1923-2001) had an amazingability to find potential in things that otherscould not. His first famed work was the

Corona Chair or Petal Chair, introduced in1964. This chair was crafted out of solid oak,and was a design unlike any other of thetime. He incorporated every aspect of thevarious phases of design into one piece.These phases included futuristic, modern,and naturalistic.

The Corona Chair was used by the chiefs ofstate in Europe during the EU summit inCopenhagen in December 2002. The chairpossesses a rare combination of organicexpression and technical streamlining. It hasfour upholstered shells, which are said togive maximum support of the body with

associations to both the spinal column and ribs of the human anatomy. The chair has a sort offloating constellation, which gives it a look of transparency that allows it to blend in with the room

As a teacher at The Danish School of Artand Design, Volther has influencedhundreds of young designers' sense ofcraft quality. He was not a proponent offads and aesthetic smartness, but heloved the simple manufacture of finematerials.

Since the debut of the Corona chair, it hasbecome a highly requested piece, and hasbrought acclaim to Volther. In addition to itsuse in the EU Summit, the chair has alsograced many movie screens, televisionshows, and music videos. The officialmanufacturer today is Erik Jorgensen.Poul M. Volther will always be rememberedfor this magnificent piece of artistry.

Paradigm Gallery is the destination for Mid-Century Modern inspired furniture. Theinception of the Bauhaus Movement signaled the beginning of a new direction of

aesthetic relevance for furniture design. Contact us or browse our online showroomtoday, and immerse yourself in the world of Mid-Century Modern Furniture.




Corona Chair designed by Poul M VoltherPhoto courtesy of Flickr user segundo

Corona ChairsPhoto courtesy of Flickr user Lars Ploughmann
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