Various designs in Europe

Viewing designs from different places inside the same continent (Europe), one would realise how the aspect of design still varies with different qualities of creativeness. Such as the citizens that live in the North, of course they have cold temperatures, so their designs may be designed more on materials that will keep their place or environment, warm and cosy. Very often they also install parquet flooring or fitted carpets in their houses.

 The contemporary minimalism and modern design concept is currently on its highlight, then you start observing and spotting ornaments that are being decorated in their interiors including a lot of vintage and retro styles with other simple plain natural colour backgrounds.

This is one example of the Northern side of Europe, a Scandinavian interior kitchen design, that has minimal, clean and simple lines. The visual qualities have been stemmed from the early 20th century art movements and the simple lines became influenced from the inter-war art movements which this made the style become very elegant and neat.

Scandinavian Interior, image source: The Kitchen Designer 2015

Nordic, Scandinavian Interior Design, 201

I take the picture below as a revival  design that has been engaged from the old times and the style has been collaborated with the modern design that is being expressed with the most simplicity in its form and aesthetics, nothing to be hidden, admirable with all the geometric lines and shapes created within the furniture and the window framing. The eyes will automatically focus on the materials.

Interior Design and Luxury Decor

Furthermore I believe that aesthetically on the contemporary design style, natural colours such as greens, browns, blues and more are being used and these underlie on earthy pigments.

In fact, in many of the mid-century modern houses are being established in wood and brick materials, along with newer materials that are being launched, such as the man-made flooring parquet. More than that the technology is being incorporated within the category of designing certain, products, home digitalization features or functions in buildings, such as; the radiant floor heat, and building techniques with construction atop slab concrete foundation, the touch-sensitive switches (to turn on and off the lights) that make it modern and more fit to the description of the interior. All this is being reinvented to give a better service and comfort, such wants and needs for the human being. 

In picture #1, there is shown a comfortable big living space with large windows. This style derived from the architect designer Frank Lloyd Wright of the house that he designed what was inside became on the outside and what was outside became inside. This is to blend with the interior environment.

Interior with Large Windows #1

Here I am representing the LED lights which at the time they are being on demand in the markets, since they save a lot of electricity, its light source is found very strong and lasts for long and also it makes a lovely environment.  

LED lights 

These are the touch sensor switches that are being installed in homes. It is basically an operation system that will function with the mimics of the human body and lightens with an optical light that will be connected to the electricity or magnetism.

Touch switches

References:

Distinct Build, 2010-16. Modern Architecture Defining Characteristics. [online] Available at:<http://distinctbuild.ca/modern_architecture_defining_characteristics.php> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Fantastic Viewpoint, 2013.14 Animal Inpired Decor Ideas for your Living Room. [online] Available at: <http://www.fantasticviewpoint.com/14-animal-inspired-decor-ideas-living-room/> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Einrichtungshaus Wetscher, 2016. Salone Del Mobile 2016 -Trendanalyse. [video online] Available at:<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiLoFoIq3hY> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Winston. A, 2016.Tipics Smart Tuler Kitchen features a sink that appears with the wave of a hand. Dezeen, [online] Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2016/04/20/video-tipic-smart-tuler-kitchen-offmat-milan-design-week-2016-disappearing-sink-movie/> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Lavinia, 2009. Touch switches, the modern way to turn off the lights. [online] Available at: <http://freshome.com/2009/10/15/touch-switches-the-modern-way-to-turn-off-the-lights/> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Little. S, 2014.10 design lesson you can learn from Scandinavian Homes. [online] Available at:<http://freshome.com/2014/09/15/10-design-lessons-you-can-learn-from-scandinavian-interiors/> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

Eyporsdottir. K, 2011. The story of Scandinavian Design: Combining Function and Aesthetics. [online] Available at: <https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/06/the-story-of-scandinavian-design-combining-function-and-aesthetics/> [Accessed 23 April 2016]

New Materials, New Products 1960's onwards

After all these movements in design when they come to want to produce something, designers look back to see how they would come up with a new design inspired from the past.

New materials and new products were being introduced from the 1960's onwards. Technology and design in the period of the post war has brought in a challenge, regarding socialism, morally, economic and political tensions that all this has made a change for a new beginning to a new century and millennium.

Such food processors, microwaves ovens, cellular phones, compact disks and personal computers are among the most obvious examples of technologies, these are affecting the contemporary world of products and the power that defines the relationship between work and leisure in the industrially developed nations of the world.

Computers and internet have stimulated the marketing and merchandising,as it also accelerated the emphasis upon the design of information and communication technology.

One could tell that design implies to what's going on in society and its culture, according to news, protests and other highlights. One in many other design examples of that time is of the space age, where here the fashion designer used textile for hats as material, represented with spots and moon prints on them to link more the concept of what was going on at that time.  

Space age look by Paco Rabanne, 1964

Such as the retro Nivico 3240 TV of the 1970's, it was made out of plastic, coloured in red and has a rounded shape that links to the concept of that time being, since there was the space age emphasized.
The contemporary design has distributed many designs that I link to the back days when they were emphasizing so much on such soft round shaped designs.

JVC Nivico 3240 TV, 1970's

This is an advert of the table lamps by Michael Lax which is called the 'Lytegem', it was popularised in the 1960's. It was a development of high-intensity bulbs, a generation of minimal design for table lamps. This had such features that could make the lamp 6 inch tall, with an antenna-like arm adjustment and could be used as a paper weight when not in use, this was made out of metal, zinc, brass and aluminium.

Lytegem table lamp by Michael Lax, 1965

Another design from the 1966 is the ball chair by Eero Aarnio, where the design aspect has an isolation and intimacy feeling when sitting in it.

Ball chair by Eero Aarnio, 1966

I compare the ball chair with the Wicher Egg chair design. This design is quite known, as we see it in many different markets. It is made out of aluminium, which the tubular steel stand is hanging the chair furniture. The concept of the design itself is very close to the one of the ball chair and very possible that this design have been inspired from the design of Eero Aarnio.

Wicker outdoor round egg chair 2014 -hanging swing rattan pod

In addition to plastics, plywood and plastic laminates were also common materials for industrially designed furniture.

Advertisement of Masonite wall paneling. Better Homes and Gardens, January 1962

The plastic laminated surfaces gives a smooth and durable work surface that could be easily cleaned. The appeal of this material led to its popularity for tables and cabinet surfaces in kitchens, manufactured and widely marketed by the Formica company. This has been developed as a form of plastic insulation and a coating for machine gears, this application evolved after World War II.

It's function is of a stool or can also be used as a side table, as there is shown in the picture below. 

Murai Reiko Tanabe stool by Tendo Mokko, 1960

References:


Cripmotions, 2014. Luxury Wicker Outdoor Round Furniture Egg Chair Hanging Swing Rattan Pod. [online] Available at: <http://cripmotions.xyz/luxury-wicker-outdoor-round-furniture-egg-chair-hanging-swing-rattan-pod/> [Accessed 29 April 2016]

Casey, 2011. Element Timeless Design for Modern Business -Single post. [blog] Available at:<http://themes.simplethemes.com/element/video> [Accessed 29 April 2016]

Raizman, D., 2004. History of Modern Design.Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

The Evolution of Modern Design

An architecture that I find so simplified yet, attractive to it's twentieth century modern, elegant, structural shape is the famous Farnsworth House by the well known German-American architect, Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969).

The structure is located to a very quiet, peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable ambient, where one can rest and appreciate the beautiful surrounding of nature. The construction that is coloured in white gives a clean and a higher definition to its connection with the association of greenness, it gives a glance of a simple, stylized and luxurious place, with large glass installed along with wide open spaces.

Mies van der Rohe, Farnsworth House 1951.

Another significant building that was first constructed for the Barcelona's International Exposition in the 1929, was of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. which was unique and extraordinary at the time, since it was the beginning of the new architectural movement. It is where he displayed strong lines, form and design in this beautiful construction, built from glass, steel and different kind of marbles that expresses luxury and richness in its material. As one can notice the chosen colours are also based on earthy pigment, that until today that vogue is still being used, verifying from all these junk mail magazines, TV advertisements, bill boards and web pages adverts that we see of furniture, products, interiors and fashion. 

Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona Pavilion 1929

An example of modern to contemporary to classical home furniture design, found in one of the junk mail magazines, using natural and earthy blended colours. Thinking and relating the quotation that Mies van der Rohe used to paraphrase, is that ''less is more'' in use of the minimalism in characterising simplified, massive forms.

Looking at the picture below, I can tell how the dining pendent lighting is made with such a simple shape and form, including the chairs, the TV unit handles and the rest of its light coloured cabinetry furniture, leaving the natural wood vein showing, observing the book shelve that is placed at the top of the TV, it has a geometric, squarish and straight lined shape.

Studying the rest of the room I can also spot that as wall decorations, it has become a trend using typographic font frames as well with wall stickers, which some you find that are designed using different fonts and type, like the Sans Serif and Serif fonts that has come from an old century style (look at the picture on the right).     

Home furniture magazine,
spring-summer 2016 

Wall Typography Decal Sticker 

The only furniture objects found within that building is the famed Barcelona chair, that the German government has requested to Mies van der Rohe to add in the building as a showcase for the world affair. The intrigue of van der Rohe was to place just two chairs and that they will be intended there as thrones for the King and the Queen of Spain. The materials used were leather combined with modern chrome frames. 

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Rache, Barcelona chair 1929

Mies van der Rohe was one of the first creators that started establishing modern architecture in the twentieth century, along with other important master pioneers that are; Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. Together they started this new era of a modern style that states simplicity, clean lines, smooth and a sleek trend. 

I relate my work that I have manipulated using the 3Ds Max software, to the Barcelona chair of Mies Van Der Rohe and Lilly Rache. Through my findings of the off white leather material at the beginning was a bit hard only until I found the right match. I did my best to find the right reflection gloss and colour of the stainless steel.   

3Ds Max Manipulation, 2016

References:

Barcelona Tourist Guide, 2016. 'Barcelona Pavilion: A Guide to Barcelona's Mies Van Der Rohe Pavilion'. [online] Available at: <http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/attractions/barcelona-pavillion.html>  [Accessed 22nd April 2016].

Fundacio Mies van der Rohe, 2015. Pavilion, documentation. [online] Available at: <http://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/> [Accessed on 22nd April 2016]

Strizver, I., n.d. A typographic foundation: Serif vs. Sans Serif for text in print. fonts.com blog, [blog]  Available at: <http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-anatomy/serif-vs-sans-for-text-in-print> [Accessed on 22nd April 2016]

Burns,M., 2016. What we mean when we say ''less is more'',[blog] Available at: <http://theothersideofcomplexity.com/what-we-mean-when-we-say-less-is-more/> [Accessed on 22nd April 2016]

Post 1# General introduction

Seeing the world from an outer perspective, one would notify how design changes when travelling from one country to another, what would mostly be notable is the culture. The creation and construction of the quality of life, cultural behaviour, norms which all influence the circle of design in architecture, furniture, products, fashion, art, traditions, and so much more that all this represent the fruitfulness of the historical and contemporary connection and there also, one could understand how the trend of design by time has changed and been developed to a more sophisticated and simpler way for the human being's comfort and taste of liking.


Something that I wanted to highlight about, is the contrast and definition between the difference of Art and Design. Although many people link the two words together, the terminology behind them is signified differently and according to my recent research on design vs art states that ''art asks questions, while design answers them'', (Addison Duvall, n.d.). I found that phrase very easily explained and straight forward to understand.


Detailing about all these small significations by means of when discussing about the profession line of design, one would note how one thing is alluded different from another and on how one thing could lead to another.


To begin with in the blog I will be introducing how design is reflecting the world to nowadays and how it got influenced by the old system or technology, the historical and contemporary connection. Design can mean and imply different things, it also implies with how things work. There one could understand how and why designers has informed all this knowledge from ideas, inspirations and developments taken from opinions or suggestions. All this would be underestimated through the understanding formal analysis of the principle of design.


Throughout the years design has got simpler in shapes, forms, space and use of materials, all this can be surveyed at the recent modern style in architecture, interiors, industrial designs, fashion, graphic design, and so much more... In addition to the advanced technology that we have now, developments went into overdrive. To the contemporary world the representation of models and visualisations are being made with the computer aided design (CAD). This software generates graphics and resolves the mathematics automatically, such like; scale, proportions, dimensions, curvatures and so much more. CAD enables the designer and their clients to see virtual models of their outcome design result.


Coming up with an extraordinary and a modern building structure that fascinates me so much is the Sydney Opera House that is found in Australia (1957-1973).

The Opera House, backed by the Sydney harbour bridge 1973. 

This masterpiece building was made by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon, it's where he was mostly notable for his late modern architecture that with its performing art, it has become a symbol of both Sydney and the Australian nation.

The building is constructed mostly with excessive roofs, comprised with sets of interlocking vaulted 'shells' and led to other multiple strands of creativity, in architectural form and structural design. One of its special feature of the structural design is that it glints along the day and glows at night, another element about the building is its location which helps the whole structure to blend  naturally with surroundings. Additionally, the design is able to stand out due to its  contrasts.
The architect as any other professional has encountered and influenced himself by many other great people.

There was a time where Jorn Utzon worked with the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, which was considered as an architect, designer, sculptor and a painter. Pointing out his characteristics especially on the profession line of the product design, I could notify that he also had used curvatures on chair constructions and another work of his that he came up with on the architecture is the Riola Church and Parish Centre that is found in Italy, I related the arches with the ones of the Sydney Opera House. The difference is that the ones in the picture at the bottom are straight and employ ordinance whilst the ones constructed on the Opera House are placed distinctively.

Alvar Aalto, Beehive Pendant Lamp A 331 

Riola Church and Parish Centre in Italy, Alvar Aalto (1975-78)

The modern characteristics of the structure have evolved from the forms of Alvar Aalto's lamps that he designed himself, along with the intention of letting light going into the interior that was built with vertical, asymmetrical ribs. This was intended to create a closer community and a closer relationship with the presence and functioning of the mass in the church. The exterior of the building that is formulated with asymmetrical arches is built in concrete, with windows that are made in silver glass.






References:

A.Duvall, n.d. Design vs art -The difference and why it matters, [blog] Available at: <http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/design-vs-art/> [Accessed on 17 April 2016]

J. Paul Getty Museum, 2011. 'Understanding formal analysis on principles of design'. [image online] Available at: <https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/principles_design.pdf> [Accessed on 17 April 2016]

Sydney Opera, n.d. 'Sydney Opera House'. [online] Available at: <http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/house_history_landing.aspx> Accessed on 17 April 2016.

M. Robinson, 2012. 'Riola Church and Parish Centre in Italy, Alvar Aalto'. [online] Available at: <http://the189.com/furniture/riola-church-and-parish-centre-in-italy-alvar-aalto/> [Accessed on 17 April 2016]

Great Buildings, 2013. 'Riola Parish Church'. [online] Available at: <http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/riola_parish_church.html> [Accessed on 17 April 2016]

S. Edwards, 2011. 'Ad Classics: Riola Parish Church / Alvar Aalto' [online]. Available at: <http://www.archdaily.com/161448/ad-classics-riola-parish-church-alvar-aalto>[Accessed on 17 April 2016]

The Hyatt Foundation, 2016.'Biography of Jorn Utzon '. [online] Availale at: <http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2003/bio> [Accessed on 17 April 2016]

Glancey, J., 2006. Architecture. Norfolk, Cobaltid: DK, pp. 484-485.