Presentation Work - Bauhaus Cultural and Social Context

For the presentation, as a group of four, we decided to take the Bauhaus era. Bauhaus is one of my favourite eras during the 20^th century period. We all divided the work equally and at first it wasn’t easy to start dividing the movement so that we can talk a little bit on everything. I had the cultural and social context during Bauhaus and its influences on Bauhaus.

1914 – 1919 World War I Influences on Bauhaus

After First World War I, supplies in Germany were extremely low and in fact there was a huge impact not only in Germany but also in the majority of Europe. The Bauhaus movement was a reaction to the social changes that Germany was facing at that time. Their economy was collapsing in fact they were living in poverty and starving from the lack of supplies. Never-the-less, for the designers of Bauhaus, this was the beginning of a rewarding struggle. They said that is the beginning of something good.

1920 Women’s Suffrage

Before Bauhaus, as we all know, women did not have the exact same rights like all other men. It was during World War I when women finally started to show some effort to get the equality between men and women. During my research, I noticed that there were also women applicants. Bauhaus was a rare art school to accept women.

Gropius quoted that there should not be any difference between the prettier and the stronger gender. But in reality things were different as only men were allowed to paint, mould and design classes while women were only allowed to weave and ceramics workshop.

Bauhaus started with around 40 students in 1919, in which one fourth of them were women. By the time Bauhaus was closing, there were about 170 students which 51% of them were women. This means that there were more than half of the students.

1929 Stock Market Crash

As the Bauhaus was coming closer to its end, the stock market crash known as the Great Depression spread across the world, mostly in Europe. At this period of time, the Nazis rose in Germany and at this stage Bauhaus became stronger expressing new form of ideas and new forms of art. As a result of Germany being dictated by Adolf Hitler, Bauhaus under the pressure of the Nazis was closed on the 11^th of April 1933.

Bauhaus Today

Bauhaus had a huge influence on the history of design and continues to do so today. Almost anything that you see today and consider it as a modern look, whether it is architecture, graphic design, fashion, digital media and more – almost certainly had its roots from Bauhaus.

Bauhaus in Fashion and Style

Even though the Bauhaus school existed for only 14 years its influence is still felt today. Not only do you see Bauhaus influences in interiors and furniture design but also in fashion. Many designers are still inspired by the Bauhaus movement.

One of them is Carolina Herrera which was inspired from Bauhaus. Her Spring/Summer 2012 collection was her collection from Bauhaus.

Another good example is the work of Hussein Chalayan who applies the Bauhaus principle of Form Follows function. Here is a 1-minute video were Hussein Chalayan clearly shows how he applied this principle of Form Follows Function. 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE07_aFF4no

Visual Chart

For my Chart, I started out by carrying a brainstorm to see with what type of movements I integrated most. By eliminating one after the other, I remained with five designers which all lived in different movements yet all effective today. The five designers I chose from five different eras were Gerrit Rietveld, Marcel Breuer, Alvar Aalto, Verner Panton and Tom Dixon.

After doing research one after the other, I realised that this chart is not as easy as I taught. Started with the eras then characteristics, influences and social influences that may have influence the designers at that particular time. Somehow all of them are influenced by each other, whether it is design or whether it’s an inspiration.

Finally everything was getting together and it was easier for me to match designer with another. This was not just a task to get corrected on but it was a task were I am inspired and influenced from. These designers are truly great ones.

Ergonomic Design

Changes in technology are changing rapidly and so is ergonomic design. It is changing for type of needs and lifestyle of the person. Ergonomic design applies findings from the study of anthropometrics to the design of objects. It is the analysis of the relationship between the human form and the products, systems and environments. It works in harmony with the human body creating a better performance and more user-friendly with safer solutions that are easier to maintain. You can find a product for an aesthetic look only and you can find a product for an aesthetic look but it’s more user-friendly.  

One great example is the Vertebra armchair by Emilio Ambasz. It was created in 1976 in which is a rare example of an ergonomic solution for seating. The Vertebra seating system provides chair design to meet the particular needs of the person. This chair provides the maximum support one can have. It is generously proportioned, seat and back are upholstered in soft polyurethane which is extended to the edges in order to minimize pressure that otherwise will interfere blood circulation. The Vertebra chair has unique features that enable the seat and back to move automatically and independently to maintain correct support for any person and any type of sitting posture.

Vertebra Chair

Another example is the Boomer which is a mobility aid designed by Daniel Molloy, a student of Monash University. Boomer is emphasizing most on the safety and aims to decrease the risk of stair falls which is a major public health concern among the elderly community. The design key innovation is the stair compatible function to allow mobility aid by transforming from simple walker into a gadget that facilitates the user to go up and down on the stairs easily and safely. The Boomer mobility aid has a modern, organic, user-friendly form and aims to create a new modern aesthetic for elderly mobility aids.

Today designers do not only think for that aesthetic look only but for the needs or disabilities of the person. 

References:

• Archiproducts, N.D. Vertebra [online] available at: http://www.archiproducts.com/en/products/34860/recliner-task-chair-with-armrests-vertebra-castelli.html [accessed on 26th January, 2014]

• Truvie, 2014. Boomer: A User Friendly Walking Aid for Elderly People [online] available at: http://www.tuvie.com/boomer-a-user-friendly-walking-aid-for-eldery-people/ [accessed on 26th January, 2014]

Coco Chanel & Women's Liberation

“She did not just make beautiful clothes but she advanced women’s rights.” – Actress Audrey Tautou. Coco Chanel was a woman that have changed the needs and giving the right advantages to women.

The first movements date back to the days of suffragettes, women that wanted to be considered as more than just wives and mothers. They also wanted to have the exact same rights like all other men. The only way for women to get noticed was through actions that were considered as extremely provocative were like riding a bicycle, wearing pants or organizing protests. From the 1920s, the only one who was able to satisfy the changing needs for women was the inimitable Coco Chanel who designed for the women, become independent , started working and playing sports.

Chanel’s designs are made typically for these women. She used to design sophisticated clothes that were elegant yet comfortable.  A two-piece suit which Coco created represents the most important, richest and powerful men.  

Another instrument of ‘torture’ was the corset which caused serious physical injuries. It was in the post-war period when Coco Chanel felt the need for a revolution in women’s clothes. She started by liberating women from the bondage of the corset and encouraged a casual but elegant range of clothes.

Ethal Granger - The woman with the smallest waist ever

It was thanks to Coco Chanel when women started to be seen in professions and jobs. Her fashion symbolised the social and political changes that were happening at that time. Significant clothing that Coco Chanel helped women pioneer included:

• The collarless jacket
• The bias cut dress
• The shoe string shoulder strap
• The floating evening scarf
• The wearing together of junk and real jewels

The collarless jacket

Coco Chanel - Wearing the junk of real jewels 

You can say that it’s true that fashion proposes a feminine image but it must be said that most of the achievements and freedoms that we now have are thanks to what the world has given us today.

References:

• VOGUE ITALIA, N.D. Fashion and Women's Liberation [online] available at: http://www.vogue.it/en/encyclo/fashion/e/fashion-and-women [accessed on 26th January, 2014]

• Reuters, N.D. Chanel Advanced Women's Rights [online] available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/21/us-chanel-idUSTRE58K2EK20090921 [accessed on 26th January,2014]

• Biography Online, N.D, Coco Chanel Biography [online] available at: http://www.biographyonline.net/artists/coco-chanel.html [accessed on 26th January, 2014]

Essay: Le Corbusier and Arne Jacobsen

Le Corbusier

Born in 1887, Charles Edouard Jenneret took his nickname as Le Corbusier from his signature in architecture from the 1920s. Le Corbusier designed his first building at the age of seventeen were then he made his first trip to Italy. In 1916, when Le Corbusier has moved to Paris with the idea that he was going to practice architecture there as well as designing, Charles Edouard Jenneret published and edited ‘L’Esprit Nouveau’ and it was during that time when he adopted the name Le Corbusier.

Le Corbusier

Many of Le Corbusier projects have never been carried out due to financial reasons. One such example is his winning competition for the palace of the League of Nations. Le Corbusier believed that home was a ‘machine for living’ that should include functional furniture. It was around this time when he designed his iconic tubular steel furniture.

Palace of the League Nations

Le Corbusier, who also was an architect, produced a series of proposals throughout his life. His proposals included his first city plan, the Contemporary city and two housing types which were the basis for his career as an architect and a designer. These are the ‘Maison Monol’ and the ‘Maison Citrohan’ which is also referred to as “machine of living.”

Maison Monol 

Maison Citrohan

Le Corbusier was one of a group of architects to design the United Nations Headquarters in New York which the Secretariat building is essentially Le Corbusier’s design. The Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp is another building in which Le Corbusier is famous to.

United Nations Headquarters

The fact that Le Corbusier was an architect centred the influence he left in that field. He created a proportioning system based on the human body and through it he created a relationship between man and architecture. Le Corbusier’s influence also reached the arms of urban living. Throughout his career, Le Corbusier taught the world how to design modern buildings with the elegance of historic monuments. His approach was clean and simple yet effective. Today’s designers are grateful to Le Corbusier, but he is much more appreciated by the residents of his houses and the visitors of his public buildings. Every person values the feeling the space Le Corbusier designed starting from the Chapel at Ronchamp to the Unite d’Habitation in Marseille. These feelings will for sure be cherished by people throughout different generations.

Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut - Ronchamp

Unite d'Habitation - Marseille 

Villa Savoye

LC3 1 Chair

Chaise Lounge

Arne Jacobsen

Born in 1902, Arne Jacobsen was an architect and designer of furniture, textiles, lighting, wallpaper and silver ware. Influenced by Le Cobusier, Gunnar Asplund and Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Jacobsen has welcomed a new functionalist approach from the outset.

Arne Jacobsen

His most well-known works are the design and also the furniture of the SAS Air Terminal in Copenhagen and the SAS Royal Hotel, where he designed every detail from ashtrays to airport shuttle bus. His famous, elegant Swan chair and Egg chair are part of the sculptural furnishings that Arne Jacobsen designed for the SAS Royal hotel amongst other furniture in which he was called “the punch card” and “the glass cigar box” for his pleasing designs.

One of the rooms of SAS Royal Hotel

Jacobsen’s second most famous architectural building was the St. Catherine’s College at Oxford University. There he designed everything from the college dining room cutlery right down to the species of fish for the ponds in the Jacobsen designed garden.

St. Catherine's College

Arne Jacobsen’s goal was the total quality of the man-made environment and the independent success of his product designs. As an architect, he wanted to have the control of a project and nothing was to be left to chance. As he was obligated also with the details of the buildings, his designed products are such of a high quality that although they were developed in conjunction with the type and the specific of the building, they have such universal application that they could become part of the standard production. Many of his products have achieved the status of international classics and have certainly helped his rise to certain heights.

Through his work, Arne Jacobsen left his mark on generations of architects thus a very few Danes have achieved the same fame as Arne Jacobsen, who today stands for some of his best works produced in the 20^th century.

Denmark's National Bank

The Egg chair

The Swan chair

The Ant Chair

References:

·         CA Design, 2012. Le Corbusier [online] available at: http://www.cadesign.ie/inspired-by-designers/le-corbusier/ [accessed on 25^th January, 2014]

·         RIBA, 2014. Le Corbusier [online] available at: http://www.architecture.com/awards/royalgoldmedal/175exhibition/winnersbiogs/1950s/1953.aspx [accessed on 25th January, 2014]

·         A+E Television Networks, 2013. Le Corbusier Biography [online] available at: http://www.biography.com/people/le-corbusier-9376609?page=1 [accessed on 25^th January, 2014]

·         Ramzi Naja, N.D. Le Corbusier’s  Influence on Architecture and Society [online] available at: http://blog.ramzinaja.com/2010/07/research-paper-on-le-corbusiers.html [accessed on 25th January, 2014]

·         CA Design, 2012. Arne Jacobsen [online] available at: http://www.cadesign.ie/inspired-by-designers/arne-jacobsen/ [accessed on 25^th January,2014]

·         Design Within Reach, 2014. Arne Jacobsen [online] available at: http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/h-l/arne-jacobsen.do [accessed on 25th January, 2014]

·         Maraid, 2014. J is for… Arne Jacobsen (1902 -1971) [image online] available at: http://www.fireflyhouse.co.uk/blog/2011/10/j-is-for-arne-jacobsen-1902-1971/ [accessed on 25^th January, 2014]

·         Danmarks Nationalbank, 2013. The Architect Arne Jacobsen [online] available at: http://www.nationalbanken.dk/DNUK/AboutUs.nsf/side/The_architect_Arne_Jacobsen!OpenDocument [accessed on 25^th January, 2014]

Shaping the Future - Eero Saarinen

“The purpose of architecture is to shelter and enhance man’s life on earth and to fulfil his belief in the nobility of his existence” – Eero Saarinen -1959

Eero Saarinen born in 1910 was a designer in shaping the American post-war design movement. As a Finnish-American architect, Eero Saarinen was very successful throughout his career, designing different projects from large to small buildings – from the Gateway Arch in St.Louis and the TWA Flight Center at New York’s JFK Airport to community churches and individual homes.

In the late 1940s, Saarinen designed a number of curvy, sculptural chairs for the company Knoll. Choosing his best two, Saarinen designed the “Grasshopper” chair in 1946 which is made from bent plywood with an upholstered seat. Two years later he designed the “Womb” chair which is similar to his “Conversation” chair. The only thing that is different is that the “Womb” chair is cosier and an ottoman was added to it.

Grasshopper Chair

The Womb Chair

Tulip Chair

Some other architectural projects over the years, Eero Saarinen designed the General Motors Technical Center in Michigan, TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York and the Dulles International Airport in Washington.

Architectural detail of the interior of the Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York  

Architect Eero Saarinen stands behind a scale model of the Saint Louis Gateway Arch

The newly-completed Saint Louis Gateway Arch 

Design Center interior with stairs in background, part of the General Motors Technical Center, Michigan, 1945

Water Tower detail, General Motors Technical Center, Michigan, 1945

Completed Kresge Auditorium and Chapel on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

Scale model of the David S. Ingalls Hockey Rink, Yale University, Connecticut

A scale model of the Trans World Airlines Terminal, John F. Kennedy, New York

Interior of the TWA Terminal

Model of  Washington Dulles International Airport

Evening view of Washington Dulles International Airport 

Although, Saarinen’s career was really short, he will still remain the one who “Shaped the Future”.

References:

• Design Within Reach, 2014. Eero Saarinen [online] available at: http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/r-t/eero-saarinen.do

• R&Company, N.D. Eero Saarinen [online] available at: http://www.r20thcentury.com/biography_detail.cfm?designer_id=98

• The Atlantic Monthly Group, 2014. The 20th Century Architecture of Eero Saarinen [image online] available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/11/the-20th-century-architecture-of-eero-saarinen/100631/

• CA Design, 2012. Eero Saarinen [online] available at: http://www.cadesign.ie/inspired-by-designers/eero-saarinen/