This shouldn’t be news to anyone by now but we’re kind of obsessed with iconic design. And we’ll tell you why. Unlike fashion or tech, modern furniture doesn’t become passé in a couple of years. In fact, the very best examples are loved for generations, escaping the ravages of time in a way that only Pharrel, John Legend and (if these photos are legit) Greta Thunburg seem to have swindled.
Confused? It helps if you think of designs not just as a sum of stylish parts but as ideas. Dig into the story of the Wassily Chair and you’ll learn that it’s not just a cool lounger but a declaration of simplicity. Just like the first beanbag wasn’t just a comfy seat but an invitation to a new laissez-faire way of living. But we don’t want to give it away all away in the intro. If you’re a newbie here and don’t know your Saarinen’s from your Eames, prepare for a thorough schooling. If you’re nerdy like us and just want a chance to reminisce on some of the greatest designs of the last century, then welcome aboard, partner.
1920s: The Bauhaus Is Born
The founding of the Bauhaus School of the Arts was an example of designers turning tragedy into triumph. Founded in 1919 in a Germany ravaged by war and reparations, the school’s aim was simple. To unite practioners of the arts and establish a new lexis for modernity. In stripping stuffy furnishings back to the very essentials, they created a new industrial aesthetic based on clean lines and classic materials. When pushed to describe the movement years later, founding father Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe responded with a (now) familiar phrase: less is more.
1930s: The Era of Experimentation
The desire to define oneself against what has gone before is present in all spheres of public life, but particularly so in design. If the 1920s were defined by essentialism then the 1930s were all about experimentation. Salvador Dali’s forays into surrealism came to life in the form of oversized floor lamps and hypnotic furnishings, each more fantastical than the last. Meanwhile up North, the funkis movement (Scandinavia’s response to Art Deco) was giving way to plush organic shapes like &Tradition‘s Petra. The decade culminated with the explosion of the De Stijl movement in the Netherlands, spearheaded by Gerald Rietveld and best exemplified in his Utrecht chair — all sharp angles and zig zagging geometry.
1940s: A Sculptural Affair
In the 1940s, Europe found itself once again caught in the throes of war. Resources were scarce and designers had to look further afield for inspiration. Good news came in 1945, when Hans J Wegner, under commission for Carl Hansen & Son, designed a series of chairs inspired by the thrones of Chinese Emperors. The CH24 Chair is one the most distinctive designs from the era: a highly sculpted yet comfortable chair identifiable by its shapely Wishbone back. Isamu Noguchi also made waves with his eponymous coffee table. A sculptor at heart, he saw his work as bringing order and meaning to open space through the use of clever juxtapositions. “Everything is sculpture. Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture.”
1950s: Furniture Candy
The mid-century marked a watershed moment in contemporary design. Whereas before designers had been limited to regional hothouses of innovation, they were now drawn into the creative orbit of enormous design houses like Vitra and Knoll. For the first time, designers were able to mass-manufacture the designs they created heralding in a new era of democratic design. The use of new materials such as plastic, vinyl and glass was commonplace — leading to colour-popping creations described as “furniture candy”.
