Sunday, August 31, 2014

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is a French phrase that means "new art". This period followed the Arts ad Crafts movement and took place from 1890-1910. Art Nouveau focused on economic growth and supported new and experimental directins in design. During this time academic models and traditional designs were rejected. A popular style of art during this period was Japanese Art and was used by Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Gauguin, and Aubrey Beardley. The leaders of this movement were Belgium and France. Victor Hort was a major architect and designer. He work consist of asymmetrical facades, twisted iron balconies, large glass window frames, and curvilinear nature related details.
Henry Van de Velde was also a significant Belgian practitioner. He designed his own house in 1894. He was the bridge between British and contential art.
Antoni Gaudi was the highlighted arctitect and designer in Barcelona, Spain. Similar to the other architects and designers in this period, he used flowing curves and unusual decorative details. Casa Batllo was a significant building for Gaudi.
Hector Guimard was a significant designer in Paris. He used decorative elements that could be reproduced for sale as products. Guimard's most well known creation was the Metro Subway Station. He designed the entrance kiosks and detail elements.
Current Applications
Video Discussion: For the Art Nouveau period I chose to view Paige's post. The main thing that caught my attention were her examples of the lamp shades. I think that we focus so closely on the interior or the exterior architecture that only a few of us take the time to pick out the small things. The second blog that I decided to view was Allison's. I enjoyed her blog and most defintely the current application picture of the bathroom. I like how it still incorporated the curved lines but in a different sense. Instead of it being a railing or wall, it was in the floor design.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Arts & Crafts

This period in history took place between 1860 - 1910. It started in England by William Morris and was the reaction to the Victorian Period. William Morris concentrated on church decoration, stained glass, textiles, and furniture. The Morris chair was one of his most famous pieces.
A well-known cabinetmaker named Philip Webb worked for Morris, Marshall, and Faulkner and was the designer of the Morris Chair. The construction of this chair was simple with a solid wood frame. Out of the other well-known cabinetmakers, Voysey combined Gothic and Japanese details into his design and also inspired by the Stickley design during the arts and craft movement in the US.
Stickley Design
The later period of the Arts and Crafts movement consist of simple construction elements as well as, furntiure using geometric forms. An example of this design is a highback chair. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was the well-known Scottish architect and designer during this time period. The Glasglow School of Art was his most important building of his career. Hill House Chair
Modern Art & Crafts Applications:
Here's a video for those who want to learn more!! Discussion: For the Arts and Crafts period, I enjoyed Emily's post. I like how she took a look at the wallpaper and tables that were used during this time period versus the chairs that are the first things to come to mind. I also enjoyed Alex's modern day application pictures. They were more of a modern style compared to a lot of the other "modern" applications I have seen and even researched on my own.