As we could seein the previous article, furniture elements have been linked with architecture and spaces since ancient times. From simplicity to ornamental pieces, furniture has been changing through times ad adapting to human needs and demands. Although even today we are coming back to the simplicity and another interpretation of the cave’s minimalism, furniture pieces have been an essential element to provide our spaces with an extra dose of functionality.
THE RISE OF STYLES
The 18th century witnessed very quick changes in furniture design with a wide range of styles from the William and Mary, Chippendale in England to the Louis XIII to Directoire in France.
Artisans took part in this new golden age of furniture design especially known for the exquisite Cabinets manufactured in this period,
Chippendale Desk- Source Antiques Trade Gazette
The contact with the colonies and far territories in Asia and America brought the explosion of decoration, the passion for colors, finished with lacquer.
This brought new forms of furniture like the daybed, the armchairs, the sleeping chair and the sofas with backs and arms. New textile materials were incorporated into the furniture designs, like velvet, silks and needlework.
Apart from the mentioned pieces, this period of time came with new pieces becoming common in use, like mirrors and canopy beds (some inspired in Chinese style) and chest of drawers.
Louis Style Sofa - Source Pinterest
The last part of the XVIII century brought a reaction to the excesses of Rococo decoration. The Neoclassical style turned for inspiration to Classical art, partly inspired by the new archeological discoveries in Italy, Greece, and the Middle East. This Neoclassical style was mainly based on straight lines and rectilinear forms with Classical ornaments that made the furniture pieces more straight and simple.
Neoclassical Table - SourceNational Gallery of Art
In the next article we will analyse the impact of Industrial Revolution in furniture design and the rise of new styles and modern tendencies.
FURNITURE AND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The 19th century was marked by the Industrial Revolution, which brought radical changes in society and design. Cities grew as the population did, with the rise of a new social class that demanded new furniture pieces. This demand pushed the mass-production and the decay of traditional craftsmen and artisans. Furniture became a mere imitation and a reproduction of the previous times styles, from the Gothic revival, Neoclassicism or Rococo, that became easy and quite cheap to manufacture as technology developed during the industrial revolution.
The industrialization and the transportation improvements meant globalization of the furniture styles, although in general, the introduction of machinery in furniture production meant a loss of quality.
During the 19th century, metal springs were introduced into furniture construction, which made chairs and sofas much more comfortable. Another technical improvement was the use of plywood that gave more stability and the possibility of creating curved pieces.
Senaste Chairs - Source Bukowskis
At the end of the 19th Century, during the rise of the Art Nouveau style, many architects tried their own experiences as furniture designers. Henry van de Velde was one of the more prolific ones, characterized by the sinuous curves and as tyle with inspiration in organic and natural forms. Van de Velde’s furniture was generally designed en suite so that it would give an effect of totality to a room as it happened in the interiors of the Victor Horta House, in Belgium. This artistic tendency was also adopted by Hector Guimard or Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Van de Velde Furniture - Source TL Magazine
THE NEW SIMPLICITY
Continuing with the technology development and the availability of the materials, the 20th century kept the styles diverse and the universal character of the designs. The first half of the century witnessed the rise of styles such as Art Deco, De Stijl, Bauhaus, Wiener Werkstatte, and Vienna all work to some degree within the Modernist idiom.
It was probably the Bauhaus the one that made the biggest impact in the industry and the future generations concerning not only architecture but also furniture design. Founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919, this school aimed for the melting of all arts. As pieces of art and sculptures, furniture pieces produced in the Bauhaus became some of the most influential designs until present times.
Barcelona Chair - Bauhaus, Mies Van der Rohe
The designed pieces aimed mainly to become functional instead of being decorative elements. The pieces were reduced to the maximum simplicity and totally stripped down to the basic materials and elements with geometric shapes. The resulting objects were aesthetically pleasant but mainly easy to be producedand manufactured, to make them accessible to a wider market. As it happened with the Industrial revolution, the Bauhaus brought the experimentation with new materials such as steel, glass, plywood, fiberglass and plastic, mixed in many cases as experimental pieces. The forms of new furniture brought newness, originality and technical innovation together, with an innovative mix of materials, technology and art.
Wassily Chair - Source Connox com
MINIMALISM AND THE FURNITURE EMPIRES
Bauhaus was the seed of the new the 20th century mass-production furniture.
In the second half of 20th century, the Functionalist movement, led by the disciples ofthe Bauhaus program, had gained a substantial following among the younger architects and designers. During World War II, development virtually ceased in most European countries, and subsequently, attention turned again to the Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden, where strict consideration of function led to more simple furnishing schemes that relied on natural wood grains, clear coloring, and texture for their effect.
Marcel Breuer Long Chair - SourceDoyle Auctions
This Scandinavian Modern style was considered modern and functional, with a touch of minimalism. It also turned to be sustainable and accessible, because forms and constructions were easy to comprehend and items were light to handle. In this context, Ingvar Kamprad set the basis of one of the most renowned furniture empires that would rule the market from the last part of the 20th century until our days. Influenced by the architect Le Corbusier and his Casiers Standard storage unit, Kamprad designed in 1925 and the IKEA VALJE storage unit that became the beginning of the IKEA empire.
IKEA Valje Natural Shelf - SourceKaiyo
The 1980’s and 90’s manifested a new plurality of styles with a transformation from high tech and elaborated pieces to a new time of bricolage and furniture self-assembling.
TECTONIC FURNITURE AND THE NEGATION OF DECORATION
The internationally famous French architect, Le Corbusier, stated: 『I am going to maintain that apart from chairs and tables. Furniture is, in fact, nothing more than pigeon-hole boxes. I will make certain that, with the new wood and metal industries, it is possible to construct accurate pigeon-hole fitments with an admirable functionality… These objects are all in proportion to our limbs… they have a common scale… they obey a standard』.
These words were the statement of a new time of furniture and interior decoration as a part of the architecture process. Furniture pieces are reduced to holes in walls and tectonic elements with other technical functions.
Even with the strong influence of the 21st century-Contemporary 『New Modernism』 designs that explored new organic forms, there has also been a parallel tendency off urniture negation as a mere addition of pieces into space. In Minimalist dwellings, the required storage issorted by firm furniture like wardrobes cabinets and shelves concealed andstabled in the walls such as niches. Built-in furniture allows users to defineand provide vacant spaces with some extra flexibility to changes.
House in Alentejo - Aires Mateus
JUAN YRUELA CASTILLO
COOP school Founder and Partner
Master Degree Architect from the Seville Technical University