Investigation into Chair Design Essay examples -- essays papers

Investigation into Chair Design For my Investigation into chair designs I choose to investigate how simplistic and basic the chairs have become. From Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was renowned for his style and applied decoration to Philippe Stark who has taken simplistic to another level. I have investigated how the designers have used applied decoration to enhance the look of their chair, to how functional the pieces are (or in some cases un-functional! ). HIGH BACKED CHAIR - CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH - 1902 Mackintosh produced designs on a whole range of furnishings as well as his architectural designs. Many of these were purely functional but he also produced many ‘artistic’ pieces throughout his life. Because of the large amount of applied decoration on Macintosh’s pieces that it could be argued that each piece is a finely detailed work of art itself. Probably the most famous of such pieces are his famous high backed chairs. The high backed chair I have chosen to study was made for the International Exhibition of modern Decorative Art, held in Turin in Italy in 1902 The chair appears to have a very low seat, being only a quarter of the height of the actual chair, this also may perhaps be due to the fact the seat is fairly broad at the front, widening out from a fairly narrow back. The back of the chair is as wide as the back of the seat but tapers towards the top. This main support is framed with two tall slim struts. The construction of the low seat and tapering back makes the chair look almost abstract because of these bizarre proportions. In the photograph it looks as if the picture has been taken from a strange angle which has distorted the shape. There is little in the way of applied decoration on the chair except for the back, which on a portion is padded and covered in a light blue-grey colour. On this is a painted stylised rose bush design that fills the width of the padded portion. Beneath this is what appears to be wilting petals falling from the bush. At the top of the chair carved into a piece of wood is an organic form of sorts with the typical Art Nouveau whiplash stretching the length of it. Mackintosh was renowned for his stylised design - taking the natural form of something, for example a flower, and altering it to fit his style - this could possibly be a very developed stylised design Against the white wood work of this desi... ...d in adds plentiful character to the chair. The function of this chair is to be ‘fun’, to add character to someone’s dining room and I think that this chair would look good in any room regardless of the decor. From this investigation I was surprised by the range of different styles and forms that a chair could take. I enjoyed the form of the God Raysse, but my favourite would have to be the Pepe Chair by far due to its larger than life personality. From the ‘classic’, ‘traditional’ designers like Macintosh who revolutionised and popularised the style of Art Nouveau and to this day still has an impact and influence on designers world wide whether it be on furniture, windows or clothes, to modern designers who have also revolutionised the ‘simplistic’ style making it take many forms from ‘drips’ to ‘giraffes’. For instance the Pepe Chair took the high backed chair and gave it a modern day simplistic twist. Who knows where our rears shall sit in years to come? Shall we be sitting on more simplistic designs than the ones I have used as examples in this investigation or pieces complex beyond the imagination. Who knows? We shall just have to wait and see where our bums shall lead us! Investigation into Chair Design Essay examples -- essays papers Investigation into Chair Design For my Investigation into chair designs I choose to investigate how simplistic and basic the chairs have become. From Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was renowned for his style and applied decoration to Philippe Stark who has taken simplistic to another level. I have investigated how the designers have used applied decoration to enhance the look of their chair, to how functional the pieces are (or in some cases un-functional! ). HIGH BACKED CHAIR - CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH - 1902 Mackintosh produced designs on a whole range of furnishings as well as his architectural designs. Many of these were purely functional but he also produced many ‘artistic’ pieces throughout his life. Because of the large amount of applied decoration on Macintosh’s pieces that it could be argued that each piece is a finely detailed work of art itself. Probably the most famous of such pieces are his famous high backed chairs. The high backed chair I have chosen to study was made for the International Exhibition of modern Decorative Art, held in Turin in Italy in 1902 The chair appears to have a very low seat, being only a quarter of the height of the actual chair, this also may perhaps be due to the fact the seat is fairly broad at the front, widening out from a fairly narrow back. The back of the chair is as wide as the back of the seat but tapers towards the top. This main support is framed with two tall slim struts. The construction of the low seat and tapering back makes the chair look almost abstract because of these bizarre proportions. In the photograph it looks as if the picture has been taken from a strange angle which has distorted the shape. There is little in the way of applied decoration on the chair except for the back, which on a portion is padded and covered in a light blue-grey colour. On this is a painted stylised rose bush design that fills the width of the padded portion. Beneath this is what appears to be wilting petals falling from the bush. At the top of the chair carved into a piece of wood is an organic form of sorts with the typical Art Nouveau whiplash stretching the length of it. Mackintosh was renowned for his stylised design - taking the natural form of something, for example a flower, and altering it to fit his style - this could possibly be a very developed stylised design Against the white wood work of this desi... ...d in adds plentiful character to the chair. The function of this chair is to be ‘fun’, to add character to someone’s dining room and I think that this chair would look good in any room regardless of the decor. From this investigation I was surprised by the range of different styles and forms that a chair could take. I enjoyed the form of the God Raysse, but my favourite would have to be the Pepe Chair by far due to its larger than life personality. From the ‘classic’, ‘traditional’ designers like Macintosh who revolutionised and popularised the style of Art Nouveau and to this day still has an impact and influence on designers world wide whether it be on furniture, windows or clothes, to modern designers who have also revolutionised the ‘simplistic’ style making it take many forms from ‘drips’ to ‘giraffes’. For instance the Pepe Chair took the high backed chair and gave it a modern day simplistic twist. Who knows where our rears shall sit in years to come? Shall we be sitting on more simplistic designs than the ones I have used as examples in this investigation or pieces complex beyond the imagination. Who knows? We shall just have to wait and see where our bums shall lead us!