Week 6- Protomodernism
This week in History of Interiors and Furnishings II we learned about Protomodernism. This movement contained seeds for modernism, being a rejection of traditional styles and ornamentation, it was a time for experimentation in both forms and ideas.
Protomodernism began in Germany, soon becoming popular in Austria as well. Founded in Munich by Herman Muthesius he strived to have high quality designs that could be mass produced.
The Deutscher Werkbund Movement in contrast to the Arts and Crafts Movement embraced the use of machinery, collaborating designers and manufacturers to produce competitive German design.
The Vienna Secession had a wide advancement in art, history, philosophy and psychology. They strived for a unity of the arts, and both the Vienna Secession and Deutscher Werkbund had large influence on Bauhaus Designers such as Mies Vander Rohe. Joseph Olbrich played a role in this movement, being the co-founder, designing the Secession building to be solemn yet festive.
The most prominent member of the movement was Gustav Klimt, influenced by Sigmund Freud, as a painter he endorsed unity between the arts and design.
An architect, urban planner, designer, teacher, and writer, Otto Wagner was a functionalist who advocated for change for quality designs using new materials. His buildings were light and bright while his furniture was dark and industrial, made from wood and metal.
Adolf Loos was an architect and theorist, noting that ornamentation should only be added if functional, he was a great influence on Mies Vander Rohe and Le Corbusier. His designs consisted of pure practical forms from rich materials, finding that beauty was within the form itself. Influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, his furniture was hand made, and many of his overall designs contained curvilinear aspects.
Josef Hoffman was an architect and designer for 50 years, working with furniture, textiles and metal work. He was both innovative and progressive, using geometric lines, focusing on interior elements, his furniture was rectified and fun! His approach to architecture was unique, creating residential designs that related closer to that of a factory.
Kolomon Mosser was another founding member of the Vienna Secession, who was an artist, furniture designer, and graphic designer. Creating anything from a chair to wallpaper, his style is very unique.
Around 25 years later this style became popular in the Netherlands, although it was referred to as De Stijl, meaning “the style” in Dutch, which focuses on elementary shapes, colors, and flat surfaces-vertical and horizontal lines.
The major artist for this movement is Piet Mondrian while the architect is Gerrit Rietveld. Rietveld used simplicity in construction embracing mass production with inexpensive production materials. As an architect he used primary colors, using plaster and brick, he brought the outdoors inside. He is the designer of both the Schroeder House and the Zigzag chair!
(Piet Mondrian- Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow) (Modern Application- Tony Fernandez)
Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist inspired by Cubism art from France with the use of Primary colors inspired by spiritual beliefs.
Lastly of course, is Frank Lloyd Wright, an early contributor to American Modernism he embraced the outdoors by repeating motifs throughout his interiors, using glass, he was inspired by the indigenous plants of the Midwest. His style of architecture was known as “Prairie Style”, using hipped roofs with strong horizontal profile, integrating the house materials with those of the surrounding landscape. On the interior he focused on the family, having a fireplace in the center of the home, he made built in unique furniture and light fixtures, and loved stained glass windows.
(Frank Lloyd Wright- Prairie Style Home) (Modern Application- Prairie Style Home)
One Step Further:
Your blog post highlights important individuals and groups that influenced modern design, giving a fantastic summary of protomodernism. Your observations about how these historical impacts are still relevant in modern applications were really interesting to me!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated how you talked about how the designs helped impact modern designs that use simlar concepts! I also love your pictures!
ReplyDeleteSami,
ReplyDeleteMy goodness this is a thorough summary of "Protomoderism". You covered all of the major influencers of Protomodernism. What really struck me through your presentation is the extensive talent of these men. They were "Renaissance men", in that they were involved in architecture, urban planning, education, the arts.... Your description of the De Stijl Movement was excellent. I loved how Antonio Fernandez Pons carried those design ideas forward for Walt Disney Studios!
50/50 points