5 - Influence of design history on the development of products Flashcards
What are the design movements I am focusing on?
Arts & Crafts movement
Art Nouveau
Modernism
Art Deco
De Stijl
Bauhaus
The Streamlined Age
The 1960s
Memphis
Post Modernism
What are the characteristics of the arts and crafts movement?
Quality craftsmanship led by William Morris
Inspired by nature, often very decorative
Quality materials were used
Only really available for the wealthy
What is the general philosophy around the arts and crafts movement?
The Arts and Crafts movement grew out of a concern for the effects of industrialisation upon design, traditional craftsmanship and the lives of ordinary ‘working class’
people.Although the technical advances of the 19th century brought about new production processes, the design of mass-produced products, such as furniture, was
often overlooked.
Who were the pioneers of the arts and crafts movements, and what did they establish?
emerged the two founding figures of Arts and Crafts: John Ruskin (theorist and critic) and William Morris (designer, writer and activist). Ruskin examined the relationship between art, society and labour. Morris put Ruskin’s philosophies into practice, placing great value on craftsmanship, simple forms and patterns inspired by nature and the beauty of natural materials. In response to the effects of industrialisation, they helped establish a number of workers’ guilds and societies to break down the barriers between architects, artists, designers and makers and pioneered new and unified approaches to design and decorative arts. Their ideas came from the conviction that traditional arts and crafts, including weaving, carpentry and stained glass as a ‘cottage’ industry could change people’s
lives by empowering the individual as a designer/maker of their own products.
What was the arts and crafts movement like in physical form? (Style, Splendour, Nature, Symbolism, Colour and Texture)
- Style - Simplicity – Interiors were visually simplistic by removing clutter and including suitably proportioned furniture
- Splendour - The arts and crafts approach to design led to designers often experimenting with different materials and new techniques in artistic ways. Therefore, small and highly ornate artefacts were produced - working with unusual materials and precious metals.
- Nature - Natural plant, bird and animal forms were a powerful source of inspiration. The use of stylised flower patterns emulating the natural rhythms and patterns of plants and flowers was a reflection of the purity of the approach.
- Symbolism - with motifs such as the heart symbolising friendship or the sailing ship representing the
journey of life into the unknown appears in many pieces of work. - Colour and texture - Colour was used in Arts and Crafts interiors to provide unity and focus. The link between colour and nature was particularly close
in Arts and Crafts style.
What are the characteristics of the art nouveau movement?
Early part of century
Popular in Europe
Based on the flowing lines found in nature
Charles Rennie Mackintosh is famous for working in
this style.
The lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany are often used as
fine examples of this period.
What is the general philosophy around the Art Nouveau movement?
Developed by a new generation of artists and designers who sought to fashion an art form appropriate to their modern age.
The underlying principle of Art Nouveau was the concept of a unity and harmony across the various fine arts and crafts media and the formulation of new aesthetic values.
It was during this period that modern urban life, as we recognise it today, was also established.
Old traditions and artistic styles sat alongside new, combining a wide range of contradictory images and ideas.
Art Nouveau forms a bridge between the Arts and Crafts and Modernism. There was a strong link between the decorative and the modern that can be seen in the work of individual designers.
How does art nouveau showcase new technologies and ideas?
Many contemporary artists, designers and architects were excited by new technologies and lifestyles, while others retreated into the past, embracing the spirit world, fantasy and myth. Many Art Nouveau designers appreciated the benefits of mass production and other technological advances and embraced the aesthetic possibilities of new materials. In architecture, for example, glass and wrought iron were often creatively combined in preference to traditional stone and wood.
Others deplored the shoddiness of mass-produced machine-made goods and aimed to elevate the decorative arts to the level of fine art by applying the highest standards of craftsmanship and design to everyday objects.
What was the art nouveau movement characterised by? (Nature, The Female Form, Other cultures )
Nature — Like the Arts and Crafts before them, Art Nouveau designers were heavily influenced by natural forms and interpreted these into sinuous, elongated, curvy ‘whiplash’ lines and stylised flowers, leaves, roots, buds and seedpods. As a complement to plant life, exotic insects and peacock feathers often featured in Alt Nouveau designs.
The female form — Art Nouveau is frequently referred to as ‘feminine art’ due to its frequent use of languid female figures in a pre-Raphaelite pose with long, flowing hair
Other cultures — The arts and artefacts of Japan were a crucial inspiration for Art Nouveau. Japanese woodcuts, with asymmetrical outlines and the minimal grid structures of Japanese interiors provided vertical lines and height. Celtic, Arabian and ancient Greek patterns provided inspiration for intertwined ribbon patterns.
Who was a key member in the art nouveau movement?
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868—1928)
Why was Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868—1928) significant?
In Britain the Art Nouveau style was exemplified by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Born in Glasgow, Mackintosh was interested in a career as an architect from an early age, At the Glasgow School of Art he met like-minded artists and formed the ‘Glasgow Four’, Through their paintings, graphics, architecture, interior design, furniture, glass and metalwork they created the ‘Glasgow style’ of Art Nouveau, which influenced many designers throughout Europe.
His designs for a ‘House for an Art Lover’ for was achieved during his time at the firm of Honeyman & Keppie where he remained until 1913, becoming a partner in 1904. In his own markedly individual style in a way that is not usually tribute to his thoroughly modern style, the house was built possible for a man without his own independent practice in the 1990s and can be visited by the general public. In 1896, Mackintosh won the competition for the building of the new School of Art in Glasgow — a project which gave Other notable domestic Mackintosh designs include him an international reputation. Windyhill, 1900 and The Hill House, 1902. His experimentation with the possibilities of commercial production is best illustrated by The Willow Tea Rooms, 1903.
What are the general principles of modernism?
- A rise in the industrialised designs are typical of this movement.
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh began to use geometric shapes which were easier to mass produce.
- Rejection of the old style of designing based upon natural form and materials. Modernist designers believed in ‘the machine aesthetic’, which celebrated new technology, mechanised industry and modern materials that symbolised the new 21st century. Modernist designers typically rejected decorative motifs in design and the embellishment of surfaces with ‘art’, preferring to emphasise the materials used and pure geometrical forms.
Examples of modernist principles and architectural approaches across Europe.
Modernist principles soon spread throughout Europe with groups including De Stijl in the Netherlands, Bauhaus in Germany, Constructivism in Russia and Futurism in Italy. Le Corbusier, a French architect, thought that buildings should function as ‘machines for living in’ where architecture should be treated like the mass production of products. This resulted in many high-rise blocks of flats with repetitive ‘cubes’ as living spaces. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adopted the motto ‘less is more’ to describe his minimalist aesthetic of flattening and emphasising the building’s frame, eliminating interior walls and adopting open-plan living spaces.
What was Bauhaus?
The Bauhaus (1919—1933)
The German economy was in a state of collapse following Germany’s defeat in the First World War. A new school of art and design was opened in Weimar to help rebuild the country and form a new social order. Walter Gropius was appointed to head the new institute and named it Bauhaus, meaning ‘house for building’, which was to combine all the arts in ideal unity.
What was the general philosophy of Bauhaus?
The central idea behind the teaching at the Bauhaus was a range of productive workshops where students were actively encouraged to be multi-disciplined and trained to work with industry. The Bauhaus contained a carpenters’ workshop, a metal workshop, a pottery, and facilities for painting on glass, mural painting, weaving, printing, and wood and stone sculpting.
Bauhaus leader Gropius saw the necessity to develop new teaching methods and was convinced that the base for any aft was to be found in handcraft: ‘The school will gradually turn into a workshop.’ Indeed, artists and craftsmen directed classes and production together at the Bauhaus in Weimar. This was intended to remove any distinction between fine arts and applied arts. The Bauhaus workshops successfully produced prototypes for mass production: from a single lamp to a complete dwelling.
The Bauhaus school disbanded in 1933 when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party rose to power in Germany before the start of the Second World War. Many Bauhaus leaders, including Gropius, emigrated to the United States to avoid persecution, where they continued to practise. The term ‘International Style’ was applied to this American form of Bauhaus architecture.
