Rugby School Thailand Design & Technology Senior School

Design Movements 1890 - 1945

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Learning Outcomes

You should develop a knowledge and understanding of:

key historical design styles and related design movements
understand how these were influenced by socio-economic change during those times
key design styles and movements
related advances in technology, materials and manufacturing and how these shaped or influenced style, fashion and design movements
some key names associated with each period

Pre-Modernism and Modernism

The strawberry thief William Morris 1883

Pre-Modern

Before the acceptance of industrialisation Gothic revivalism, Art and Crafts

Red and blue chair by Gerrit Rietveld, 1917

Modern

Embracing industrialisation and modern design De Stijl, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Streamlining

Carlton dresser, Ettore Sottsass, 1981

Post-modern

Post WW2 and often ignoring modernist design principles Contemporary, Pop, Memphis

The industrial revolution

Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the mid 1700’s Britain, along with the rest of Europe, were built around cottage industries. This means that each town or village would have craftsmen and women who specialized in a particular trade or skill which were often run from homes such as farms and cottages; hence the term cottage industry.

The Industrial Revolution was the introduction of machinery into industries otherwise produced using hand tools and allowed for larger scale production to take place.

Early technology was very temperamental, not to mention dangerous and the quality of items produced, while cheap, were not always of good quality.

However, without the move to mechanisation in industry we would not live in the advanced technological society of today.

At the time not everyone welcomed the machine…

Gothic revival

Pre-modernism

Early design movements from the mid 1700’s up to the first few decades of the 20th Century, were generally opposed to the use of machinery. There was a belief that the craftsman put his soul into the work he did; that it was unique and special for being hand-crafted.

The pre-modernists were not against the machine in principle but rather the low quality of the items produced by mechanisation.

** They never referred to themselves as ‘pre-modernist’ as modernism had not been established at that point.

Early movements sought to find shapes, symbols and patterns that were the opposite of mechanisation and the obvious influence was nature. Earthy colours and natural forms such as flowers, plants, birds etc. were prominent in this era and two main movements were established during the mid 1800’s.

The design movements listed below start at the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace, London; an exhibition intended to show Britain how great industry was and how it would shape our future.

Arts and Crafts (1850 - 1890)

A key founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement was William Morris. Morris, along with other founders, believed that machines were unable to produce items as well as craftsmen; they believed that something hand crafted was special and of much better quality. In that respect, their beliefs are very much alive today in anyone who bakes a cake, knits a jumper, sews, paints etc.

A hand made item is still considered to have more personal meaning, higher value and generally be of better quality than a mass-produced item so the Arts and Crafts Movement did have some valid points!

Morris once said:

“Have nothing in your house you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

Arts and Crafts revived gothic and medieval styles as part of its identity.

It was deliberately ‘old fashioned’ in its attempt to resist technological progress.

Arts and crafts

A summary of the Arts and Crafts Movement:

Following the Industrial Revolution, mechanisation in industry was becoming more widespread.
The Arts and Crafts Movement was not against the use of machinery but rejected mechanisation replacing the skill of the craftsman.
The style is full of natural elements and symbolism such as flowers, birds and insects. Colours are earthy and natural rather than bright and artificial.
The ideas behind the movement are still very popular today and we still value bespoke or hand-made objects over mass produced items. This was the prominent movement of the Victorian era (1837-1901). Prominent materials were Hardwoods and Metal (Iron and Brass) Design was very ornamental and ‘busy’.

Arts Nouveau (1890-1910)

A later development during the Victorian era, Art Nouveau took its name from an exhibition of French Art in London. Like Arts and Crafts there was a great deal of natural symbolism in the style but it became more organic and flowing and introduced human forms, particularly female nudes. As this was the Victorian era this was considered by some to be distasteful and offensive and the movement came to an abrupt end around the time that Oscar Wilde was tried and committed for indecency.

It is considered a ‘total’ art style encompassing everything from architecture to textiles. It is considered to be an important transition between the revival style of the 19th Century and early modernist movements.

Key figures of the time include Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

art Nouveau

A summary of Art Nouveau:

A late development of Arts and Crafts with a similar resistance to technology.
The style became increasingly explicit/graphic (for the time).
The style retains natural elements but became more organic and introduced more Oriental and Celtic symbolism.
It is a style the encompassed all forms of design.
This was the end of pre-modernism and crossed the Victorian and Edwardian era.
Prominent materials were Hardwoods and Metal (Iron and Brass), marble and stone, fabric etc.
Like Arts and Crafts it was founded on religious beliefs.
Still a very ornamental and ‘busy’ style reflecting medieval values where ornament signified wealth.

Early modernism

Following from the Art Nouveau period and its continued rejection of mechanisation, design movements in Europe gradually began to accept mechanisation. Rather than designing objects that looked natural they began to experiment with the forms that are more easily made by machines and these were more geometric and angular.

Movements like the Weiner Werkstatte which focused on the work of artists and designers, were more interested in developing style rather than resisting progress, and this attitude in Europe would develop into some of the first modernist movements.

Essentially, they were more interested in exploring style and there was an inevitable acceptance of the machine and mechanization.

The amount of machinery developed and deployed during the Great War (1914-1918) further advanced the acceptance of the industrial machine age.

Modernism

De Stijl (1917-1931)

Early movements such as the Weiner Werkstatte in Vienna, Austria were influential in establishing modernism. They published magazines of their work and a Dutch movement also did the same. It was called ‘The Style’ which translates to ‘De Stijl’.

The movement was heavily inspired by the art of the time particularly Piet Mondrian.

The work often used primary colours contrasted with simple geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and circles.

A key figure from the time is Gerrit Rietveld.

Red and blue chair by Gerrit Rietveld, 1917

Artwork from Piet Mondrian.

Zig zag chair - Gerrit Rietveld

Reitveld Schroder House in Utrecht

richard meier's city hall in the hague transformed into the 'world's largest mondrian'

Bauhaus (1919-1933)

The Bauhaus is a school of design in Germany and it is because its founders were so instrumental in developing a modernist style that this movement took its name. It rose to prominence after the Great War but was ultimately closed down by Adolf Hitler before the start of World War II.

Famous mantras of the movement were:

‘Form follows function’

They believed that an object should look like its purpose so a chair would look like it was meant to be sat on etc.

‘Less is more’

They believed that ornamentation was unnecessary and that by having ‘less’ detail or ornament, the object would be ‘more’ appealing, attractive and better design.

NESTING TABLES BY JOSEF ALBERS

THE BARCELONA CHAIR BY MIES VAN DER ROHE AND LILLY REICH

WASSILY CHAIR BY MARCEL BREUER

TEA INFUSER BY MARIANNE BRANDT

BAUHAUS CHESS SET BY JOSEF HARTWIG

bauhaus video

To summarize the Bauhaus movement:

It embraced the use of machinery and designs took advantage of industrial production.
The movement took its name from the school where it originated.
It was closed down by Adolf Hitler in 1933 before he became the Fuehrer.
They believed the better design relied on less ornamentation and surface details hence ‘less is more’.
Their belief that ‘form should follow function’ implied that items should be simple and practical while making use of modern production methods. Prominent materials were tubular steel, chrome and leather.
Key names include Marianne Brandt and Marcel Bruer

International style

The 1920’s and 1930’s are often referred to as the International Style; a period of early modernism where the simple functional approach to design and architecture was adopted around the world.

This ‘umbrella’ title encompasses styles such as De Stijl, Bauhaus, Functionalism, Streamlining and Art Deco, all of which were developing in different countries around the same period.

Art Deco (1925-1939)

After the Great War the world was ready to embrace modern design but also to celebrate the new world and the technological advances made during the war. In America, following the Great Depression of the 1920’s the country was ready to rebuild itself bigger and better than before and it pioneered a style of design know as Streamlining which, along with the Art Deco style and the golden age of Hollywood defined America as most of us know it today.

Art Deco is very recognisable and, simply put, combined the geometry and industrial production of modernism while bringing back more ornamentation into design.

It was a very opulent look and one that became synonymous with the Hollywood movie theatres of the time.

This was also a time of technological development in transport and international travel was made possible for a wider range of people.

Opening up the world meant that other, more exotic cultures, heavily influenced the Art Deco period.

It was during this period that Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered and the exotic and highly decorated contents soon influenced the world of design. Metals such as Gold, Silver, and Copper soon became common place along with rich hardwoods, stones and gems.

When we think of the Art Deco period we think of adventure and travel, fictional figures such as Indiana Jones and Poirot and those old Hollywood movie theatres, some of which are still running to this day.

It was the last major design period before the war and is considered to be the last great decorative design periods.

Key names include Clarice Cliff

Clarice Cliff

Streamlining (1930’s onwards)

America, having survived the Great Depression of the 1920’s began to build itself into the influential nation it is today.

Young designers such as Raymond Loewy and Norman Bell Geddes developed what would later become known as streamlining.

They were inspired by birds and sea creatures designed for speed and their designs were equally aerodynamic.

Many of their designs have become American icons and, therefore, cultural icons around the world.

Products such as the Lucky Strike cigarette packet, Coca Cola coolers and bottles, the Greyhound bus and the Cadillac car with its distinctive fins.

Everything from hairdryers to toasters were designed using this design style and consumers lapped them up.

Norman Bell Geddes car design

Raymond Loewy pencil sharpener

american industrial design

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