bold surreal josef frank fabric and furniture design

a designer savy friend is incorporating panels of josef frank’s wallpaper into her new home in florida.  frank’s dramatic designs are clean, crisp and full of color.  my friend is expecting a new baby.  perhaps she feels there should be more perk in the child’s upbringing.  or maybe she is freaking out from her move to florida from europe and this is a coping mechanism…..

Svenskt Tenn at Strandvägen in Stockholm displays Frank's furniture and random design style.

frank’s designs come from vienna in the 1920s and then sweden from the 1930s on.  they are remarkable given their time and place.  while the severe minimalist bauhaus designers were becoming vogue, frank and his partners rejected those restrictions but still advanced in a modern direction of their own, adapting various 1800s styles and forms, european and asian.   

vegetable tree, josef frank

 

dixieland, josef frank

 

Gröna fåglar, josef frank

 

catleya, josef frank

 

teheran, black, josef frank (he made a lot of patterns with an alternate white background)

 

US tree, josef frank

“Mix old and new, colors and forms. Things that you like will all the same melt into a quiet unity. The home does not have to be planned in detail, not artful, just linked together by parts that its occupants enjoy and love.”

Josef Frank (1885-1967)

easy chair 568, josef frank, 1936

 

easy chair, 336, josef frank

 

Sofa 968, josef frank

 

chair, josef frank

you can see this ‘chuck a whole bunch of unlikely things together’ philosophy in the fabric dsigns themselves.  personally, i do not see it all melting into a quiet unity.  although there are some more mellow designs in their inventory (see many more samples and info about frank at  Svenskt Tenn ) i cannot conceive of an inclusion of his fabrics on chairs or walls in my home without creating a loud disunity.  

fran, where is your sense of adventure?, you might ask. (and i have been asked many times…) sorry, maybe i am a bit dull, but i find the surreal aspects of his designs unsettling.  surrealism  has a disorienting, hallucinatory dreamlike quality.  like reading ‘alice in wonderland’ as a child, or singing along to ‘the yellow submarine’ as a teenager.  wow, strange but cool ideas. then later, when you are a mother reading ‘alice’ to your children, you are relieved to discover that lewis carroll was on drugs when he wrote the book, and so were the beatles much of the time.  ah, you say to yourself, that explains it.  not that you trash alice and the beatles, but they become less marvelous.  

i am not accusing my friend of being on drugs because she likes josef frank’s designs.  i cannot find any evidence that frank was on drugs.  he did live in disorienting times, though.  vienna was a dynamic crossroad of culture and history during his early training.  radical crossroad upbringings can be disorienting.

i wonder what his viennese jewish family suffered while frank and his wife took refuge in sweden from the nazis.  maybe to frank the world was surreal. understandable.   

for myself i need to hold on to truth and real ordered uncluttered design.  i find this settling in an unsettled world.   

but maybe i am looking at this the wrong way.  frank and his partner, estrid ericson, loved life, family, pets, and the ability to rearrange furniture and furnishings often.  they liked to incorporate new things and a variety of styles in one room, as if it had been thrown together by accident.  perhaps i am confusing accidentalism with surrealism.  even so, i find neither very calming….

you should have more color in your life, though, fran, my friends say…..  just spare me from too much pink…

Josef Frank and Estrid Ericson admire Josef Frank’s "Primavera" pattern. (Photo: Gösta Glase)

hollywood regency interior design: glamorous… and dusty

 

creamy vintage paris boudoir vanity chair

the glamor of the hollywood regency interior design style is a mimicry of the early movie heyday star’s lifestyles and tastes.  these people entertained lavishly, their homes were adorned with exotic furnishings and dramatic flair. they were adored almost as royalty.  hollywood regency furniture is a broad category difficult to define.  the look is not minimalist, but some pieces within the design can be.  it can include mid-century modern or older styles, asian pieces, blacks, whites, wood grains, just about any kind of color combination that suits your taste.  but heavily carved and heavily upholstered pieces are often included.  

designers william haines and dorothy draper lived this life and developed this look for others.  they were gutsy, wealthy, successful and admired.  these websites are worthwhile.  

william haines interior

 

william haines, 1900-1973

lobby of the hampshire house, completed in 1937, dorothy draper

 

dorothy draper 1889-1969

we do not have to spend thousands to incorporate this style (just look like we did), thanks to online used furniture dealers. there is a large assortment of hollywood regency style furniture online, especially on ebay.  my favorite companies are ts and company and art collector-usa.  they offer an excellent blanket wrapped furniture moving service, tsc moving.

a regency is a substitute government or rulership.  they had them in europe when the royal heir was still a boy, for instance, or when there was no clear ruler for a time, or when the ruler was absent.  some would argue that hollywood movie stars are the royalty of america, substitutes because we don’t have anything else.  you don’t vote for or against the stars and argue endlessly about their ideas and actions.  the adored actors are just there.  wonderful, rich, envied.  this was especially true during and the decade after the second world war.  their world was a welcome escape.  it was a reminder that war and the hardships it created were not the only reality.  we welcome the same kind of refuge in these times.  when we mimic their style, we attempt to capture something of their lifestyle for ourselves, the ability to impress and offer the comfort and luxury to our friends as we entertain. 

but be warned: this style is dusty.  writing this piece i cannot help thinking about numerous vintage furniture items i have dealt with in the hollywood regency style.  you need a maid (or you are the maid).  these people had maids, believe me.  the tufted upholstery chairs are tricky to clean.  folds of fabric and those fabric covered buttons trap dirt and animal hair.  the buttons tend to go missing.  they are one of the most expensive re-upholstery jobs, the most time consuming if you attempt it yourself.  lots of carved woodwork, chandeliers, interesting ornaments sitting on coffee tables, all gathering dust.  do we honestly have time for this?  does the imagined serenity of the rich and famous really rule our desires?  maybe that ambition is also dusty.

globalization, interior design, and art nouveau

tassel house, brussels, 1893, victor horta, first floor landing with view toward staircase

if i could be transported to another time and place, i would be fascinated to visit the few decades before the first world war.  ideally i would not be in one place. i would travel the world and the world would be traveling to me.  globalization on the rise.  

orchid desk, louis majorelle and daum frères, mahogany, gilded bronze, and glass, france 1903

vilmos zsolnay, vase, 1899, hungary

a crazed group of 1910 british bankers sing a frenzied song at little micheal banks in mary poppins, trying to induce him to invest his tuppence  in railways through africa, dams across the nile, fleets of ocean greyhounds, majestic, self-amortizing canals, plantations of ripening tea. 

this economic globalization paralleled a radically changing europe’s outlook and lifestyle. interior design and furniture design would be forever changed. you can argue for or against globalization, but this seems to be a waste of time.  it just happens.  go with the flow.  

interior designers, especially in the art nouveau movement, began the modernist trend toward lighter more open rooms and furnishings. forms and techniques used in islamic and asian, especially japanese, art and architecture were incorporated. new materials and techniques were possible because of the industrial revolution.  ancient styles, materials and techniques were rediscovered.  

the result was a grand flourish of exotic possibilities, pushing design away from the heavy, stodgy forms of the past.  

for more info go to the art nouveau exhibit at the national gallery of art from which i borrowed these four images.

the ladies' luncheon room, ingram street, glasgow, scotland, 1900, charles rennie mackintosh and margaret macdonald.

high brow furniture website, a great find in my lounge chair search

highbrowfurniture.com is my great find of the evening.  i spend bits and pieces of time during my week working on my blog and quick research finds are bonus.  at this site, they focus on “twentieth-century iconic classics byAmerican designers,” and when you scan down the list of possibilities, a neat photo pops up to give you a first look.  web designers take note. this beats scrolling through long pages and lists, only to click and find it is not what you were after.  i shall add them to my blogroll and pop back often. the whole design is invitingly uncluttered.  

what do you think of this design for some outdoor lounge seating — i am leaning towards some folding pieces and a wood frame to compliment our wood deck and woodsy back yard. 

 

wegner folding chair @ high brow furniture, tn

wegner folding chair with hanger

high brow price: $6126,  $6502 with hanger.

lounge chair design, the need to unwind, furniture classics up to thonet

 

upholstered chaise lounge thonet brothers 1900

can you picture lying around in this lounge chair in 1900?  this is the edwardian era in england of ‘upstairs downstairs’ and ‘mary poppins.’  who had the time to lounge then?  only the few, only the rich.  but life is stressful for all walks of life and the chaise lounge offers a welcome attitude-in-waiting to unwind.  

i was glad to find these pics on designboom.com.  they have several pages of the history of the day bed.  nice idea, history had, to bed in the day.  i concur (today, at least).  to go all day and stop only at night does not always cut it.  not that i do not believe in hard work, and live to work, but some moments of calm, of thought, of rest, of sanctuary, are needed to pause in the day or to unwind in the evening. having your feet up at such moments helps.    

here are some of thonet’s chaise lounge predecessors and others of their designs of that era.  relax and imagine.  

medieval drawing of a day-bed, early 13th century

 

resting bed (in french 'lit a repose'), england, later 16th century

 

chair 'a duchesse' , france 1765

 

kangaroo day bed, virginia 1830s

 

napoleon III steel camp daybed circa 1850

 

rocking reclining chaise-longue, thonet brothers, austria 1883

 

thonet chaise-lounge, austria, ca. 1890

 

thonet chaise lounge ca. 1980

 

garden recliner, thonet brothers, ca. 1900

 maybe they were gazing at a garden like this…. whilst pondering future artistic possibilities of the chaise lounge pose.

furniture design and the lounge chair search: organic form

 

organic form french lounge chair @ bond and bowery

now this is a smooth looking chair, and i find the shape inviting.  it has new upholstery and the wide arm rests, the contrast with the clean fabric and the wood are wonderful.  it swivels and rocks.  made “in the spirit of richard neutra,” the ad says, of a 1950s design.  

if i did not have cats, it would look as perfect as it does in this picture in a few years, in my house. maybe i shall deal with the cats and dash up to center 44 in ny, with $8,500, to get this chair!  

center 44 is advertising on bond and bowery, and their website was a valuable find in my lounge chair design search.  the whole site is a pleasing exploration of art in furnishings and furniture, antique, vintage and modern, with succinct but informative descriptions of each piece.  

thanks to material girls blog for their blog about the bond and bowery website.  

the frenchman richard neutra designed the california landmark, the lovell heath house, by the way, also a classic in architectural design.   

the lovell health house, 1929, california, designed by richard neutra who inspired the lounge chair above

eames was also an architect first, and said that furniture design was architecture, and was inspired himself in part by richard neutra.   we are never an island.

furniture design – in search of the perfect lounge chair – 2/2 meet the eames version

 

eames herman miller classic lounge chair - sold on ebay for $3,251.00

i love the bent rose wood shell, and leather (or vinyl) are my favorite upholstery choices.  in search of a great lounge chair for me, i like an ottoman chair combination.  this is a great chair, but…

the leather is dark (black, usually), and it has a masculine look.  i want a chair that will hold up outdoors, under a porch, but still out in the humidity, in florida. herman miller does make an aluminum lounge chair with ottoman, which they expect to be used outdoors.

 

Herman Miller® - Eames® Aluminum Group Lounge Chair and Ottoman

again, it has a decidedly masculine look.  not as soft.  this one sells for $1,928.00, new. (click on the picture to link).

 

here is part 2 of the introduction of the 1956 eames lounge chair.  note that a man is sitting in it, in the advert, and the woman is perched prettily on the footstool….. nice picture, but i want to lounge some too! (and i don’t think i perch so prettily…and not much perching at all, now that i think about it.)

Eames Lounge Chair debut in 1956 on NBC [2/2]

 

furniture design – how to search for the perfect lounge chair – 1/2 meet the eames

i have been considering the definition of a lounge chair — there seem to be several out there, and most are not quite what i want.  it seems i do not lounge with the same purpose as others.  (more on that in another blog, in a series of how to find the best lounge chair for you).

one of the classics is the creation of the eames.  here is an intriguing clip from 1956, another time another place….  check out the new england (almost english) accents and meet the eames.  i like their style.

Eames Lounge Chair debut in 1956 on NBC [1/2]

keep blogging, or how to blog

this post is a definite bookmark http://blog.ogilvypr.com/?p=157

it explains many different styles of blogging which you can incorporate into your blog

keep the discussion rolling

learning is a life long process

6 tips for practical furniture design – chairs, curves, glasses of wine

life is complicated, it has radical ups and downs.  we need more curves, they calm, they welcome us…. and a long lunch sometimes with a good friend,  good cheese and a glass or two of wine.

i noticed at this cafe (where i was appreciating the company, and the fare, this week) that the chairs were all in the style of thonet’s 14.  metal versions with vinyl seats, but here was thonet’s design, which was originally launched and sold millions in the mid to late 1800s in europe and america.

thonet's innovative no. 14 chair

later the same day i watched the 2005 movie “pride and prejudice” (one of my favorites).  there was nothing like this design in all the interiors. everything was elaborate, ornate, heavy- more so with the more affluent.  i wondered how thonet managed to be successful with this design in the society of those times.  and why, after 150 years, is it still popular?  these questions brought me to today’s blog, and here are my answers.

6 basics that thonet’s chairs have – great for any chair design, but especially for dining chairs.

1. it is curved – most of nature has curved lines.  man’s inventions are most practically made with straight lines and sharp angles. maybe the curves are attractive because we need a break from the ups and downs of our man made days.  there are many angular modern furnishings available today, but i find this style unwelcoming.
2. the design is simple – the french and american revolutions, and the industrial revolution, were pushing away the need for everyone to prove that they were rich and upwardly mobile in society.  class mattered less. increasingly, you could sit with a friend from any walk of life at a local cafe and have a meal together.
3. it is radical – the simplicity and the new lines of the modern were, in thonet’s time, shocking.  this is a good thing.  we often need to be shaken out of our old ways, thoughts and patterns of living.  otherwise there is no change.
4. it is strong – thonet’s chair must have held up well to use, or he would not have kept selling them.  when thonet’s bent beechwood proved to be weak in tropical climates, he worked on twisting the wood while it was being bent, and he bought the glue factory that supplied his factories so that he could improve the glue.  many chairs these days are made of cheap, weak materials, weak at the joints, or the design just does not hold up to use.  and now there is the problem of obesity.  recently i was shopping for a new lounge chair for our deck and the label said, among other things about the care of the chair, “maximum load 300 lbs.”  new challenge for chair designers!
5. the seating can be replaced easily – the seat on thonet’s chair could be replaced and cleaned easily.  the seats were solid wood or a woven grass. when similar chairs are covered with fabric, which will inevitably get dirty or torn in a dining setting, a new covering can simply be stapled on and seat reattached the chair.  sounds like an unimpressive feature, but i have worked on many chairs that were a nightmare to repair or re-upholster.
6. it is light – heavy furniture is made by people who never do any cleaning.

another thonet design for an after dinner rest with curves

interior design colors – a case against pink

i have been thinking about pink.

 my thesis statement today: avoid pink in interior design.

now there are some wonderful splashes of pink in the world that occur naturally or seem just to fit.  

i am not against pink altogether.  who can argue with a pink rose in an english garden, or a pink wild flower by the road in the mohave desert.

 

owl's clover, mojave desert

 

 

Then there are splashes of pink tones in a sunrise or sunset when the atmospheric conditions are in line.  rare because pink sits on the very edge of the color spectrum.

pink flower arrangements are usually tagged with “adorable” and “pretty”, while girls wearing pink are “sweet” and “cute” (=not to be taken seriously?). and the world and people are not by and large sweet, cute, adorable or pretty.  let’s face it, God is wise and he has used pink sparingly. 

when my children were small i worked for six months as a librarian’s assistant in their elementary school’s media center.  the regular assistant was on medical leave.  i love books and enjoyed the work. the librarian was a wonderful woman and good at her job. but she was in the process of redecorating and decided that the whole library should be pink.  it would calm the students and create a nurturing environment, she thought.  all the books were removed from the shelves and stood in stacks all over the place while even the shelves were painted in shades of pink.  i found the project oppressive.  i did not see a change in the boisterous nature of the children either, when they were finally allowed back in to the room.  but maybe the librarian found herself calmed and nurtured and that in turn would have trickled down over time to influence the room.  we moved to a different school district the following year, so i could not follow up on her experiment.  

there is all sorts of psychology connected with color choices, (most seem exaggerated).  i agree that the choices made say something about the people that choose them — who they are and what they want to be: calmed by the tones of dusk, brightened by the colors of day, cooled and soothed by water’s blues…etc.    i prefer the predominant colors found in nature.  

here in florida there is plenty of green (life, growth, change) and brown (solid, stable, usable earth and trees), and blue skies (though clouds and cloudy days are an appreciated contrast).  small splashes of bright color are here and there in the flowers, butterflies and birds.  this is the balance i prefer as i am a practical sort of person not feeling a great need for calming and nurturing, or for bright cheerfulness or emotional stoking.  (others might argue that i would be helped by these influences, but they are not decorating my house.)  live, grow, change, be solid stable and usable….fran, will you wear something other than browns and greens? my friends ask….  well, i do branch out into a few other colors… just not pink.

a little bit of feminine softness goes a long way.  god worked hard to make the world and he did it well.  let’s follow his color scheme and avoid the overuse of pink.

the uncluttered design style

i have been enjoying looking through the modern designs submitted from around the world to trendir magazine.  their interiors are beautifully uncluttered.  the colors, the lines of the furnishings, the open spaces make stunning statements.  the clean ordered rooms look inviting – if i sit there awhile, my life will become clean, calm, disciplined, ordered too…..  or because i live like this, you can all see that i am clean, calm, ordered, disciplined…..

Interior Design Inspiration from Paola Lenti - transparent living room

but don’t you also wonder if anyone really lives there?  where is the random joy of life, where are the books, the children’s toys, the evidence of the last drinks and snacks while enjoying the stunning view? at least a laptop….

but i have noticed that people who focus on just a few things, allow just a few things to be predominant in their lives, their time, their living spaces, their work space, are calmer people, focused in their thoughts and goals and are usually very productive.  

are they happy?  that depends on their goals.  if order, calm, discipline, squeaky clean spaces and lack of clutter are the goal, you will never get there and will have a rather joyless life.  but if your goal is to be productive, to continue to focus on areas in your life that are really accomplishing something, building, changing things, changing people for the better, leaving something for the next generation, then the order, calm and discipline fall into place and there is also a wonderful exuberance to life.

“every man dies – not every man really lives.”  

william ross wallace, american poet, 1819-1881

the cluttered design style

what’s behind it?

possibility #1 – a hectic life, jumbled plans and ideas, time and thoughts unorganised, undisciplined (and confused?)

possibility #2 – a love of many things, people, places, interests, travel, collections. full rooms and closets, walls and floors.  all the colors, many details, often tired but happy (?).

possibility #3 — accumulated functional clutter, not really a style, but the result of the practical need to keep the books and papers, tools and equipment that makes things happen, that will or might be needed.  the lack of time to clean, declutter or organize (or the lack of care to?…..) 

possibility #4 – a combination of the above?

(also see the uncluttered sytle, next post……)