Three Reasons Why Mid-Century Modern Furniture is More Than Just Design

mid century furniture

We’re willing to bet that you either are deeply in love with mid-century modern furniture or you hate it. One way the other, it’s hard not to have a strong reaction or opinion. The furniture can be found everywhere, routinely turning up in offices, restaurants, hip apartments, laid-back homes, even on television.

But that’s no surprise. What is now known as mid-century design has always been more than just furniture. The artists working on these iconic chairs, sofas, and tables were applying modernist principles to mass-produced objects. Think about it for a second – what’s more important to people’s lives than a chair? For someone who has to work all day? Or sit down and eat with their family? Modernism in art and literature set-up the philosophy, an aesthetic to transform our society. The furniture that was made from the 1920’s on put these ideas to work. Read this quick overview to discover why decorators and collectors alike are continuously fascinated by designs from this era. It’s all about understanding the principles underlying this iconic style.

Mid century furniture

Pure Form as Artistic Expression

Mid-century as a planned out style never existed. Instead, what collections gather together are enduring designs from individual artists. True, the period was defined by a breakthrough in materials and manufacturing. And that led to a creative outpouring by the leading designers of the day. The furniture that encapsulates the era is expressive. Sculptural curves dominate, often outlining the body. Except, instead of an ideal form in marble, it is the ideal place to sit, often in affordable plastic.

The forms of the chairs are the often unheralded negative spaces that suspend and sustain bodies. But the true insight was that the ideal chair, more than the ideal body, can actually be a part of everyone’s life. These chairs, tables, sofas, and decor items are works of imagination that define a life infused with beauty. Indeed, the designs that are collected under the name mid-century modernism are among one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century.

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Bold Color Meets Natural Materials

Mid-century designers often used plastics in their designs. However, the full story is much richer. Striking combinations, previously unheralded before the era revolutionized manufacturing, define the look of the period. Plastics and steel, symbols of industry, become part of environments suffused with natural materials like hardwoods. Balance was the end result. Likewise, designers matched bright colors with neutral tones. Many of these pairings reflected a combination of the manufactured world with the natural world. These were designs for life. There was a move away from undue opulence. Neutral tones like walnut and white oak defined the look of the era.

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Design for Changing the World

The period’s greatest legacy, however, is its idealism. Many of the key figures of the era attempted to collapse borders in design and reality. A background or a second career in architecture was common among furniture designers. There was a consistent aim of achieving a balance between indoor and outdoor spaces in their architectural designs that united the many approaches. This impulse was a big break from previous design paradigms. But, in the full light of the rest of the century, it is this aim that is perhaps the most revolutionary. And this idea is the kernel of their desire to make their furniture accessible for everyone.

Not convinced? Put yourself in the context of the times. Access to space has been highly controlled for centuries. Creating affordable housing with easy access to the outdoors in a controlled way was a revolution in thinking as much as design. The same idealism can be seen in the adoption of mass-production techniques and materials. In some ways, the entire aim of mid-century modernism is uniting the whole world across barriers through incredible design – an amazing legacy that continues to resonate today.

Mid century furniture

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Cameron Stuart
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