The Rise of the Decorator

Along with many other interior designers, I too have my strong opinion towards the difference between Interior Decorators and Interior Designers. Unfortunately, in 1925, our opinions would not have stood a chance because Interior Decorating was the only way to go. The rise of decorators becoming more prominent began in Paris during the Art Deco period. At this time, they were known as Ensemblier or decorateur. The decorators of this time consist of Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper, and Billy Baldwin. Dorothy Draper happens to be one of my favorite out of this bunch due to her colorful style and use of traditional furniture. She designed with a very funky feel and was the type of decorator to transform traditional furnitureinto something unique. She was notorious for a such dramatic use of black and white on walls and floors but lively colors on other aspects. She has had appearances on the cover of both, the Time and Life magazine. Later, she became a writer of a well known news column.

Although Dorothy Draper was my favorite, Elsie de Wolfe and Billy Baldwin played a huge role in this period as well. Elsie was originally an actress that later decided to pursue inerior design. Elsie is the individual that assisted in making interior design a seperate profession fro architecture. Billy Baldwin was known designing for the middle class and rich, famous people. He only used a specific color scheme and believed that "Color is like icing on the cake. I never begin with a color scheme, I end with it." Modern Applications:

Discussion: For this period I viewed Rose and Natalie's blogs. I really enjoyed Rose's current applications of these designer's style. I foud Natalie's blog to be interesting because of her video on the Greebriar Hotel. Video:

Modernisn In America

Modernism first came about in the 20th century with architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Gill, Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, William Lescaze, Philip Goodwin, Edward Stone, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Eero Saarinen. There were many architects and designers that were notable and influential. With Frank Llyod Wright being one of the most dominant and my favorite. Although Frank Lloyd Wright has accomplished may houses throughout his career, Wright's most famous houseof his collection is Fallingwater in Pennsylvania that was built for the Kaufmann family.

The Millard House was built in Pasadena, California using concrete as his new staple building material. Just like with the Hollyhock house, Wright was moving away from the Prairie Style homes and moving more into the Textile Block homes.

Rudolph Schindler also worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. Before they went their seperate ways, The Schindler House was buil as a cooperative living and work space for Schindler and Richard Neurta's families. Neurta was a designer who built the Lovell House after he establishes his own practice in 1926. Neurta was an expert at working with glass, steel and stone.Those were also the materials used to build the Lovell and Kaufmann House. Walter Gropius makes another appearance in America other than in Art Deco style. He started his own firm that allowed the first modern buildings on the Harvard Campus.

Modern applications:

Discussion: For this period I read Emily N’s blog, where she talked about Wright’s Falling Water. I also read Flor’s blog. She went into great detail about Frank Lloyd Wright and Irving Gill. She had information about Gill’s Dodge House and La Jolla Women’s Club, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. Video:

Art Deco

The Art Deco era began in France and came to the US and other European countries at the beginning of World War II. Art Deco was strongly influenced by Art Nouveau. This period had a fashion oriented style, includeing skyscraper furniture. Art Deco consisted of decorative patterns such as chevron shapes, zig-zags, African tribal art, large mirrors and the use of lighting fixtures called attention to modern materials. Furniture design was a major factor in Art Deco design. Ebony, zebrawood with inlays of ivory, tortoise-shell, leather, polished metals, mirrors and glass all make up the rich materials of furniture.

Jean Dunand was a major furniture designer during this time. He moved more toward the geometric forms in his furniture. In his factory he produced cabinets, chairs and tables. He also decorated for the wealthy with his own furniture. In his factory he produced cabinets, chairs and tables. He also decorated for the wealthy with his own furniture. Eileen Gray was an expert in lacquer who designed highly original furniture that was cubist in character.

Gordon Russel. He was an Art Deco furniture designer and spokesman for British design. Also, he was responsible for an exhibition room at the Paris Exposition of 1937.

Modern Applications:

Discussion: For this period, I enjoyed how Allison's blog talked about the comfortability in the furniture for the human body. I also liked how Emily discussed the symmetrical pattern characteristics and the repetition of this design. Video:

The Emergence of Modernism

This era consist of four major architects. There were Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, and Mies Van Der Rohe. These architects took a completely new direction with design. Frnak Lloyd Wright began his careerin 1920. He designed over 1,000 structures and bulit 532 works. His focus was "Organic Architecture". His design phases were separated into early Wright and later Wright. In 1893 he began his own practice in Oak Park, Illinois where he studied archiecture and design. In result, he had many other works like the Robie House, the Unity Temple, and the Winslow House. His most popular style of residential architecture was the Prairie House Form. Wright also had fantastic and interesting commercial work. His most famous projects would consist of the Larkin Company and the Avery Coonley building. Wright first introduced the grid system that is still used in today's designs. That was his main concept for these spaces.

De Stijl was a period of expressing spiritual harmony and order as a main concept. It became a popular style in the Netherlands and originated from a magazin called De Stijl. This means "the style". The use of either vertical or horizontal lines were widely used. The colors were restricted to the basic primary along with black and white.

Walter Gropius established his own architecture in 1911. Bauhaus stemmed from Walter being the director at the School of Fine and Applied Arts at Weimer. Bauhaus was eventually closed due to economic and financial issues. The most famous chairs from this era would consist of the Cesca chair, Wassily Chair, and the F 51 Armchair.

The Wassily Chair

Modern Applications:

Frank Llyod Wright inspired (horizontal lines)

Prarie House Style ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discussion: For this period, I enjoyed Sammy's blog because she not only presented amazing pictures but she also informed us us on background information regarding the different architect's contribution. I also enjoyed Nicole K's blog for the simple fact of her using the "Z" chair as a modern application. It was something that I didnt think about.

Deutscher Werkbund Movement

The Deutscher Werkbund Movement was founded in Munich, Germany by Herman Muthesius. The translation of this movement is the "german workshop". This movement is very closely related to the Art and Crafts movement. Germany's wish was for civilians to set the stage for the International Style and Art Deco style. The collaboration between design professionals with product manufacturers was to improve the competitiveness of German design. The Vienna workshop was established in 1903. This building became known as the Secession building. It is a exhibition building designed by Josef Olbrich. The Secession building is symbolic of the "proto-modern" building.

Fun fact: A symbolic architect from this movement is Otto Wagner. He was part of the Vienna Secession and taught at the Vienna Academy. He designs furniture to relate to his architecture. The perfect way to describe his design is a plain and clean interior with aluminum details.

Current Applications:

Discussion: For this movement I viewed Nikki's blog. I enjoyed her current application pictures and her reasoning for choosing them. She chose them because of the curvilinear lines and it really tied back to the design style we learned about. I also viewed Samantha's blog. She discussed the Werkbund movement took the style of the arts and crafts period with a twist by using mass production in coordination with design professionals and product manufacturers. Video:

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.

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.