Discount Designer Furniture

With the close of the twentieth century, the design achievements of the postwar period can at last be seen in perspective. This book presents a visual history of furniture design since 1945 in some of the most spectacular color photographs of furniture ever published. The first half of the century was in many ways a testing ground for ideas that only became reality in succeeding generations, benefiting from the huge technological advances made during the Second World War and from the dynamic force of consumer demand. New materials and techniques created previously undreamed-of possibilities that were exploited to the full by innovative furniture designers. The exciting results began in 1945 with such achievements as the highly sculptural molded plywood chairs of Charles and Ray Eames, who were among the first to use organic shapes derived from the natural world. Revolutionary 1950s designs, including Harry Bertoia's wire Diamond chairs and Eero Saarinen's futuristic Pedestal Group, were followed in the late 1950s by the rise of consumerism -- and the eccentricities of kitsch -- which in turn gave way in the 1960s to the explosion of Pop culture. The following decades were equally rich, with the development of Counter Design by Ettore Sottsass, the factory lights and scaffolding supports of High-Tech, the Craft Revival, Art Furniture, and Ergonomic styling, with each trend continuing to show intriguing national and regional differences. This has become the standard work on the furniture of the entire period: every piece included is able to stand for all time as a classic work of design. Illustrated with over 140 color reproductions, all accompanied by detailed descriptions, it iscompleted by a comprehensive reference section that provides detailed designer biographies, a bibliography, a list of retail outlets and museums, and advice on collecting.

Victorian architect-designer E. W. Godwin (1833-1886), tying himself neither morally nor aesthetically to a single style, approached design with what he called "judicious eclecticism." Seeking to design furniture appropriate to the needs of modern living, he grappled with the problems of affordability, utility, and function and experimented with modular and fitted furniture decades before it became popular in the mid-twentieth century. This book is the first comprehensive study of Godwin's furniture designs. Taking the form of a catalogue raisonne, the book documents and reproduces all known examples of his secular furniture and related furniture designs. Susan Weber Soros traces the development of Godwin's style, examines its sources, and assesses the historical importance of his work. She discusses how Godwin combined antiquarian interests with the study of more recent design traditions from different parts of the world, Including Japan. Godwin worked in six major styles: Gothic revival, Anglo-Japanese, Anglo-Greek, Anglo-Egyptian, Queen Anne or Cottage style, and Old English or Jacobean. Soros also describes his work for leading art manufacturers; the work he exhibited at great international exhibits in Vienna, Philadelphia, and Paris; and his role as designer of choice for such leading artists of his generation as James McNeill Whistler and Oscar Wilde.