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What is Modern
Furniture | | |
Generally
speaking, modern
furniture refers to furniture
from the latter half of the 20th century and on
into contemporary styles. Designers use the term
modern furniture more narrowly to
refer to the furnishings manufactured in the 50s
and 60s in post-war America, and to a lesser
extent Europe. Modern furniture
experimented with new synthetic building
materials, like vinyl and tubular metal, as well
as developed an understated monochromatic color
scheme, integrated modular elements with multiple
uses, and featured curvilinear shapes.
Sometimes modern
furniture is nicknamed "mod" or spelled
"moderne" to distinguish it from all contemporary
pieces. After World War II, families
reconceptualized their living spaces and demanded
mass-produced, comfortable, affordable, and
stylish furniture to match their new perspective.
Designers such as Herman Miller, Florence Knoll
Bassett, Hans Knoll, and Charles and Ray Eames
defined the era of modern
furniture with pedestal tables, modular sofas, sleek sideboards, platform beds, shiny stools in
place of chairs, and abstract light sources.
A pop sensibility informed how the
influential designers wanted their furniture to
function in the average home. To usher in a
futuristic design they turned to vinyl instead of
leather, bright prints in place of dark brocades,
acrylic and plywood rather than carved hardwood,
and tubular steel instead of wrought iron. New
types of fabrication allowed them to manufacture
sturdy, oversized, non-symmetrical, and fluid
furniture that redefined elegance as bright, open,
and minimalist, in place of ornate.
Many pieces of modern
furniture fulfilled multiple functions
and changed the organization of informal living
spaces. Kidneys, ellipses, oblongs, S's, and
flares replaced the circles, squares, and
rectangles of a pre-WW II home. Rich Art Deco
colors became dated as the public desired
captivating monochromes like gray and black,
highlighted by contrasting hues like turguoise,
ruby red, chartreuse, and tangerine. Giant blocks
of color added to the modular, puzzle-piece effect
when they were set off against clear acrylic,
blonde plywood, or shiny chrome. Modern
furniture flaunted style, yet perfectly
complemented the new generation of families and
their homes. |
