Constructivism

Alexander Rodchenko - Constructivist graphic design 

Constructivism is a Russian movement to which brought together various prominent architects, designers and artists. Before the first world war the Russian avante grade drew inspiration from cubism and futurism as did their European equals. 

After the 1917 revolution the Russian avant grade wanted new and fresh way to express themselves a way which would coincide with the Soviet urge to suppress the capitalist/ corrupt system which was failing it’s people and trade it with a democratic system. They wanted a movement to match society’s new lease on life, one which could change lives in itself. For this fresh start to take place various artists such as Vladimir Tatlin, Kasimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko and Wassily Kandinsky and El Lissitsky started to advocate a style which was more about aesthetic quality but that also went hand in hand with industrial production.

Constructivist Manifesto

The constructivists went on to publish two manifestos both in the same year (1920). As a group they believed that different sectors of art could bring about social change or order amongst the people this led them to take on useful productions and projects. Although their beliefs were strong and they wanted change badly the constructivists were around at a very difficult time as the post revolution economy and political status was one which was very unstable. This in turn meant not many large projects could be carried out and as a movement they ended up being confined to specific areas such as exhibition design, ceramics and graphic design. In spite of all this the constructivists manage to get their message across nonetheless.

Tatlin's Tower - Model

Tatlin's Tower is easily Vladimir Tatlin's most famous work and also the most prominent catalyst towards the formation of the Constructivists. The tower was supposed to house conferences and be a propaganda centre for the Communist Third International, but as a project was never fully taken on. It was meant to be made up of a steel frame which would rise 1,300 feet high, this would have made it the tallest free standing structure at the time. In the eyes of a constructivist the structure would surpass the Eiffel tower not only in height but also in beauty and this was mainly due to the structure having a purpose. The steel structure was to comprise of three glass units and several other shapes including a cube, a cylinder and a cone which were all aesthetic characteristics of this movement. Tatlin viewed glass and steel as the fundamental building material for modern architecture and construction.

Referencing:

. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://img.weburbanist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/factory_kitchen_1.jpg. [Accessed 23 January 2015].

Lost Art: Vladimir Tatlin | Tate. 2015. Lost Art: Vladimir Tatlin | Tate. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/lost-art-vladimir-tatlin. [Accessed 23 January 2015].

Art Nouveau

This is a style which is ahistorical and that began to take shape in the 1880’s. Art nouveau was a period with many new introductions to design, designers such as Charles Rennie mackintosh and Josef Maria Olbrich began to use abstract naturalistic forms which consisted of curved lines. Herman Obrist and August Endell were introducing the use of the whiplash motifs. 

Josef Maria Olbrich - Darmstadt Germany - Inspiration for fashion Design

One of the earliest examples of architecture in this style came from a very talented and well respected member of the group, Belgian architect Victor horta. Hotel Tassel was a residential project which was innovative in its own respect as the building comprised of steel stem like columns which served both as decorative and supporting features, this is when the term ‘’horta line’’ was born. Another icon of this style were the structures placed at the entrances of the Paris Metro which were made of cast iron and designed by Hector Guimard, these iron strutted consisted of similar intertwining curved lines which were elaborate yet not overly decorative. Over in Germany the style coined the term Jugendstil. In spain the term for the style was ‘Modernisme’ and had gained popularity through the infamous Antoni Gaudi.

Hector Guimard - Paris Metro

Victor Horta - Hotel Tassel

In America the style was to be lead by Louis Comfort Tiffany, he was amongst the first american designers to be inspired by the style. In 1889 Tiffany attended the international exhibition in Paris where he witness first hand the revolutionary glass techniques being introduced by french designers which included Emile Galle and Ernest Baptiste Leveille. Tiffany then started to produce his own works and thanks to his strong connections in Europe he won prizes internationally. His lamps feature leads glass shades over which hung over gilt bronze stands that were adapted for electricity. This particular lamp also shows off the organic dragonfly form which is obviously taken from the European Art nouveau style.

Dragonfly Lamp - Tiffany & Co 

Archibald Knox a member of the british arts and crafts movement who sought to create a more refined variation of the style which at the time was known as Art Nouveau in Europe. When attending college he began to work for the Liberty & Co store in London which was famous for its promotion of the Art Nouveau style and also gave birth to the name Stile Liberty in Italy. A good example of Knox’s work is the Silver buckle which was produced for Liberty & Co, the buckle has features reminiscent of celtic art but also the whiplash curves and the organic forms seen in Art Nouveau.

Archibald Knox - Silver Buckle 

Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2015. Art Nouveau Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htm. [Accessed 22 January 2015].

Beyer, Hilary , 2002. Classics of Design. 1st ed. London: BOOKMART LIMITED.

De Stijl

Founded in 1917 De stijl was a magazine which was published monthly and also served as a group for artists with a common vision, it was founded in Leiden by Theo Van Doesburg. The group became more of a movement as opposed to just a collective of artists, They had a utopian vision which was an answer to the horrors of post WW1 a sort of safe haven for a new people which would be born out of the difficult times. They wanted to create a new art fit for a new kind of people who wanted to forget the past and start afresh, a kind of art based on one universal and modern style which could be applied to all areas of art and design.

RED AND BLUE CHAIR - GERRIT RIETVELD (1888-1964) IN (1917)

 Many of the groups visual aspects were derived from Piet Mondrian’s geometric paintings, made up from a series of squares and rectangles and filled with only bold primary colours. Neoplasticism was the theory and practice of De Stijl which was developed by mondrian himself and was expressed through a range of sectors which included; architecture, furniture, textiles, graphics and other media. Frank lloyd wright and H.P. Berlage were also highly influential to the development of De stijl. Van Doesburg was for a short period a lecturer at the Bauhaus in Weimar where he developed contacts with El lissitsky, a prominent constructivist. The 1923 exhibition at Galerie l’Effort lead the the movement’s international phase and also created big changed within the movement itself and led to the removal of Mondrian

PIET MONDRIAN (1872 1944) - SIGNATURE STYLE 

founding members of de stijl were looking to create a harmonious and ordered ideal. They worked hard for things to be stripped down to their minimum and wanted pure abstraction of form and also colour; this meant simplifying directions to only vertical and horizontal lines and using only primary colours with black and white.

below i’ll be giving some example of how De Stijl has influenced contemporary design. Some argue it has also developed into a more contemporary term which is referred to as ‘’colour blocking’’. While many artists or designers used De Stijl as a direct influence by literally printing the pattern onto clothing or accessories others have taken the use of block colours surrounded by an outline and developed it. Some have used irregular shapes as opposed to just horizontal and vertical lines seen in De Stijl and the colours also moved on from just primary to a range of rich hues ranging to pastel shades.

Wesc Headphones

RAF Simons - High Tops

Axel Kufus - Mondrian inspired shelving

Prada Fall/Winter 2011 collection

geometric shapes, blocked colours and vertical/horizontal oriented patterns all characteristics of De Stijl seen in this collection by Prada.

The Arts and Crafts Movement

William Morris - (1834-1896)

The arts and crafts movement was made up of a group of forward designers and architects who wanted to change design and be influential enough to change society by returning to hand crafting methods. Disgusted by the effects of industrialism both on the environment and society and the design of poorly manufactured products by machinery, designers of this time such as William Morris wanted to advocate change and a return to simpler hand made, good quality products was underway. 

William De Morgan - Tiling

This group of creatives had lost trust in industrial production not only because of low quality products but also due to the fact that skilled craftsmen were being turned into factory working slaves, this lead efforts to take things back to basics with high quality products which were also aesthetically pleasing.

Gustav Stickley - Hand Crafted Chair

The beginnings of this movement found great inspiration from the pre- raphaelite brotherhood but the greatest inspiration came from  the progressive ideas of Augustus Pugin and John Ruskin. Morris being one of the first to put their theories into practice did not embrace industrial production rather wanted to reform it. The early members promoted democracy  and social unity through art. What concerned Morris most was the was the industrial process was divided as labourers were undermined as well as the arts. Morris believed in machine production only if the end product was high quality and the process lessened the wroker’s burden. The downfall to his theories and practice was that the handcrafted objects by Morris & Co were sold at a much higher cost due to labour hours and thought involved, this meant only the wealthiest members of society could afford and purchase these items.

In the second phase of the Arts and crafts movement these later members such as Charles Voysey  and Charles R. Ashbee still held on to Morris’ vernacular views although they argued that such designs which were high quality and hand crafted were widely unavailable to common people and were unattainable without machinery. Ashbee went as far as saying that Morris was too preoccupied with the past.

The movement remained popular until the war and its main traits such as simplicity, utility and using design in order to achieve social change were highly influential to early members of the Modern Movement. During the 20th century the movement’s spirit survived reflecting through work of a group of designers allies of the Craft Revival.

The example above is a rocking chair which draws inspiration from the arts and crafts movement . In my opinion its a representation of authentic hand crafted furniture. With joining methods such as the mortise and tenon and vintage oak it acts as a trip back in the time of Gustav stickily and his hand crafted chairs. Las Cruces is a chair comprising of solid ash and mission oak veneer coloured in a deep henna tone.

Art Deco

Art Deco has its roots set in paris in the beginning of the 20th century. this started of as a reaction opposing the floral, organic and flowing lines of art nouveau which was at the top of it’s game at the turn of the century. Bold colours and straight clean cut lines became popular amongst designer and artists alike in contrast to the pastel shades and swirly lines from a Art Nouveau.Cubism which began as early as 1907 and introduced two dimensional geometric forms and bold colours had a great impact on Art Deco.A new kind of architecture was also being formed thanks to the strong influence of architects like Charles rennie mackintosh and Frank lloyd wright who had moved further away from Victorian architecture and ran with their modernist ideas. 

Chrysler Building 1928 - Architect William Van Alen

Egyptian culture massively influenced Art deco’s characteristics, this all came about with the discovery of Tuthankhamun’s tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Elements from Egyptian culture which influenced the style included; the large columns, the scarab beetle motif,  bright colours and gold details.

1920's Art Deco head piece - influenced by Egyptian jewellery

The fashion world was one of the most heavily influenced sectors and also an extremely important force in Art Deco, for the first time  the fashion industry was undergoing some massive changes. After the first world war women became more independent and also joined the work force which was earlier dominated by men, as a result of this practical yet glamorous clothes were in high demand in order for their lifestyle not to be restricted. Coco Chanel was one of the leading designers at the time who was at the helm of embracing classic, uncluttered and clean straight lines. At the same time Paul Poiret was creating more dramatic designs catering for women with more exotic taste in clothing and wanted to make a statement with their garments, his garments are strongly influenced by oriental clothing.

1920's - suits by Coco Chanel

Paul Poiret with one of his designs 

References:

New York Fine Art Photography, Photos, Prints, Stock Images by James Maher. 2015. New York Fine Art Photography, Photos, Prints, Stock Images by James Maher. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jamesmaherphotography.com. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

Art Deco - A Revolution of Design & Style for the Modern Age | The Culture Concept Circle. 2015. Art Deco - A Revolution of Design & Style for the Modern Age | The Culture Concept Circle. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/art-deco-a-revolution-of-design-style-for-the-modern-age. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/88/243767369_7610038fe5.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

. 2015. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/paul-poiret.jpg. [Accessed 07 January 2015].

The Eames Chair and Ottoman

Ray and Charles Eames were American Designers who were two of the best designers of there time. The married couple were massive contributors to modern architecture and furniture design, they also developed careers of many prominent designers which came after them. the couple worked in other fields too such as industrial design, graphic design, fine art and film making them all round design sensations.

Ray and charle’s philosophy was that good design answered to a need, a gap in a person’s life that no one had filled previously and needed to be solved. On one particular day in Hollywood  the Eames were about to witness one of these needs first hand and change furniture Design forever. This all happened on the set of one of Billie Wilders movies who was a very prominent producer at the time and also a friend of the couple. The two witnessed Wilder trying to build himself a make shift lounge chair to rest and sleep on in between scenes, a place to get away from the hustle and bustle on a movie set. They saw this as a challenge to create a chair unlike no other.

The set consists of two pieces, the lounge chair and ottoman officially entitled dames lounge (670) and ottoman (671). The chair is made up of three curved shells made from plywood these being the headrest, the backrest and the seat. Nowadays in production, the shells are formed using five thin layers of plywood which are covered with a top layer of Brazilian rosewood veneer. These thin layers are joined using glue and form into the curve using heat and pressure. The earlier models are different to the newer models and this can be noticed from the rubber spacers between the aluminium spines and the wood panels which were used in the earlier productions, hard plastic washers were used in later models. Early versions of the set had the arm rests secured by using 3 screws and the second series only had two. Older models also had brown or black zippers around the cushions which had been changed to just black in newer versions. The seats cushions and shells haven't really changed and are composed of two curved forms which interlock to form a solid  whole. Each part of the chair including the back and headrest are identical proportionally as are the seat and ottoman.

Referencing 

Eames Lounge and Ottoman - Lounge Chair - Herman Miller. 2014. Eames Lounge and Ottoman - Lounge Chair - Herman Miller. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/lounge-seating/eames-lounge-chair-and-ottoman.html. [Accessed 03 November 2014].

The Eames Lounge Chair's Design Story. 2014. The Eames Lounge Chair's Design Story. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.smartfurniture.com/products/Eames-Lounge-Chair/designstory.html. [Accessed 03 November 2014].