In her latest book, Judith Gura, a specialist in the history of interiors and furnishings explains the important movements (Bauhaus, Postmodernism, High Tech, and Green Design), forms, and furnishings from the 1950s to the present. Design After Modernism captures the range of influences that have spurred new ideas in design and illustrates many of the most characteristic and most innovative objects in this diverse mix.

With the first decade of the twenty-first century behind us, it is time to reassess the concept of "modern," a term that dates to the Middle Ages, when it signified current or recent events. Not until the eighteenth century did it become a stylistic term; more recently it has generally referred to the aesthetic that evolved from the Bauhaus and flourished in the mid-twentieth century. Though proclaiming freedom from the limitations of style, it became as formulaic as most of its predecessors, as Modern architecture and furnishings conformed to prescribed specifications: geometric forms, industrially fabricated, unadorned, and studiously ahistorical. 

Curiosity Kitchen, Alexander Pelikan (Netherlands) 2010
Annie, Reestore (United Kingdom) 2001 Repurposed shopping cart

Those guidelines are no longer relevant. As Midcentury Modernism has receded into history, Modernism has been redefined, reenergized, and in the process transformed. Today it embraces a cornucopia of design in an almost limitless range of materials: design studios are laboratories for experimentation; design concepts can be as important as finished objects; and furniture has crossed barriers to become a new art form. Tools and technologies never before possible have provided new approaches to decoration, and may incorporate influences from the past. The design profession has broadened its horizons; interiors and furniture are being created by architects, interior designers, furniture makers, industrial designers, artisans, artists, and even fashion designers.

Nomos Dining Table, Norman Foster (United Kingdom) 1989
Lounge Chair, Fabio Lenci (Italy) 1970

Design After Modernism offers an overview of developments in design over the past four decades-some evolutionary, some expected, and some extraordinary. It identifies the diverse influences that have generated new directions in design and illustrates many of the most characteristic, most noteworthy, and most innovative objects in this rich and variegated mix. All are representative of their time, and many of the earlier designs have already gained iconic status. Of the more recent ones, whether or not they will be admired in decades to come is something that only time will tell.

Hanging Lamp, Model SP1, Verner Panton (Denmark) 1969
Sushi III Chair, Fernando and Humberto Campana (Brazil) 2002

Book: Design After Modernism: Furniture and Interiors 1970-2010
Author : Judith Gura
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

The Belgian company Behave was founded recently by Marie Querton and Amélie de Borchgrave. For some of their creations, Marie and Amélie worked with Marc Hotermans, a well-recognised expert in 20th century furniture.

The idea of Behave was born in a simple and intuitive way: to reinvent "vintage" in more sober and more contemporary lines.
"We started from a simple observation: vintage furniture pieces often have that extra touch of charm but can be very difficult to find and are often at high prices. In addition their condition is sometimes disastrous! Thus the idea of Behave! Furniture with a pure design, reinterpreting classics from the Fifties, but with a contemporary feel, which allows them a perfect integration in today's interiors."

be happy
This box is one of the central pieces of the collection. Its sober and elegant line emphasizes all the force of the materials used: oak, aluminium, steel and formica. It was designed with the collaboration of Marc Hotermans. It is manufactured in Belgium in a workshop, which confers it a unique and environmentally friendly character.

be cool
Sobriety of the details and smoothness of the lines characterize this shelf in walnut and ash.

be fun
This sideboard clearly inspired from the Fifties, can also be suspended on the wall.

be smart
This desk in birch has its top covered with a lino. Its simplicity gives it its character. It was entirely conceived by Marc Hotermans.

be easy
This piece of furniture can be used either as a bench or as a coffee table.

The City of Charleroi (Belgium), initiated "Label Charleroi" an encounter between companies from the city and Belgian designers.

So far, six collaborations were successful and the result is shown in an exhibition called « Quand Charleroi pointe la technique » hosted by the Museum of Glass on the site of a former coal mine "Le Bois du Cazier".

Caterpillar, the well-known construction company for civil engineering machines, applied its techniques of cutting and bending metal to build a very versatile lamp designed by Sylvain Busine + ADA.
This lamp can be placed in a multitude of positions that allow it to be used as a desk lamp, a table lamp, an ambiant lamp, or even a book-end lamp. It can also be hung on the wall to free the space of a desk or become a bed side table lamp, small shelf, etc.. The wooden lighting module clings to any edge of the lamp with two small but very strong magnets.

Following the inspiration of designer Damien Gernay, Plastiservice, a company working with plastics, has crushed and melted vinyl records to create a new material to be manufactured as a vase for the occasion.

During its collaboration with Trans'Form, a work training company specialised in the repair of appliances, ADA (Atelier Design Addict) focused on residual waste materials and turned them into useful objects. The lamps are build from washing machine and dishwasher parts. The candleholders are made from different types of gas burners.

Amazed by the possibility to "print" transparent 3D objects, Raphaël Charles, product designer, designed a bonbonniere that Sirris, an accredited collective center in thechnological industry, achieved through the stereolithography technique.

GVK, a company in the steel sector, and Atelier Blink, an interior and product design office, focused on the development of steel production in different countries in 1910, 1960 and 2010. They present the results of their research as a "three-dimensional mapping."

A chocolate bar in the shape of a tire called "Royal United" is the result of the meeting between the technical work of ceramist Hugo Meert and Belgian chocolate factory Bruyerre.

Exhibition: Label Charleroi
From October 1 to November 27 2011
Musée du Verre - Site du Bois du Cazier - Marcinelle - Belgium

'Korea Design' is an exhibition showcasing the best in contemporary Korean furniture, lighting, product and textile design through the work of fifteen companies and designers.

Stool for Child by Kyunglae KIM 
The Stool for Child is designed using natural materials. The legs are made of natural oak or hard maple with a seat in sustainable anti-bacterial coconut foam.

In the past, Korean design has too often been associated with electronic goods, TV's, mobile phones and other ephemeral consumer products, but is now starting to gain international recognition for a booming design and craft sector.

Lion Penseur lamp by i-Clue Design  
The Lion Penseur lamp was designed as an accent light to provide light against a wall or
ceiling. This type of indirect lighting tends to be hidden away out of sight, but the Lion Penseur is specifically designed to turn the lighting fixture into a design statement.
Lion Penseur is made of leather.

The exhibition, which includes product, furniture, lighting and textile design, gives insight into what Korean design means today. Whilst countries like Sweden, Spain, Italy etc have well established design scenes of global repute, other countries, like Korea, are proving to have vibrant creative industries that are starting to reach international audiences.

Crack Bowl Pendant Lamp by Jaemin KWON    
Jaemin Kwon was trained as a fine artist. His Crack Bowl Pendant Lamp uses unprocessed elm which is dried and split, showing off the natural characteristics of the wood.

Looking through the work of these different companies, one can identify a number of common themes, the most prevalent of which is the driving force that design isn't just about aesthetics, it's about a desire to re-evaluate the role it plays in our lives and to create products that are sustainable, skilful, beautiful and individual.

Tension Bentwood Chair by Dohoon KIM   
The Tension Bentwood Chair is made using wood's inherent tension and features a series of curvilinear shapes. Made of ash, the chair is available in three different designs, including a side chair, wing chair or with a wide back as shown above.

Ta-rae Lighting by Design Virus
Ta-rae Lighting is inspired by the spool of threads on industrial sewing machines.The lamps can be clustered in groups to create a bold statement.

Hanji-plastic Chair by Design Taiho SHIN  
The Hanji-plastic Chair is made of 'Hanji' paper, a traditional Korean paper made from mulberry tree fibres that have a lifespan of over 1000 years. As the co-founder of Design Studio Maezm, he collaborated with artisans to produce this new material to replace toxic plastics in furniture manufacturing. The paper gives the chair its structure while a carbon fibre surface gives it its 'skin'.

Antler Stool by Minho LEE
The Antler Stool is part of the Antler Series, a range of furniture that explores the habits we display in everyday life, like throwing a jacket on the back of a chair. Each work in the series combines two functions in one product.


Exhibition 'Korea Design'
From September 22 to 25 2011
100% Design - London - Stand B60

The Czech Center New York presents a selection of artifacts from the Home Art collection in Prague.

Svícen – Klecící žena kov                                                              Tulipány kov

Home Art is a phenomenon that arose in the second half of the 20th century in communist Czechoslovakia. Home Art was made by people with no art education and with ambition not reaching beyond the intent of creating a piece of art simply for their and their family’s joy. These artifacts decorated the interiors of Communist era housing projects, countryside cottages, offices and workrooms, pubs and military dormitories. Artistry, craftsmanship, and a peculiar design inspiration is much in evidence as one tours this collection which serves as a kind of document of the personal and widely felt response to the social and economic constraints of that era.

Dekorace chemlon                                                     Hodiny prekližka, drevo, budík

Home Art, especially at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, complemented the “atomic style”, for which the name “Brussels style“ is used in Czechoslovakia after the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, where Czech designs won 27 gold medals.

Svícen kov                                                                          Ferda Mravenec kov

While bursts of Czech Home Art activity can be seen in the mid 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the 1960s was the time when it reached its peak.  By the fall of the communist regime in 1989, this modern folklore has more or less disappeared.

Cert kov                                                                                              Palmy kov

What these Home Art pieces may lack in formal aesthetic, they more than make up for in sheer creativity and whimsy, and it is in this light as artifacts that they are best appreciated as they represent important historical and social evidence belonging to a bygone era.

Pantofle chemlon                                                                Prostírání chemlon

Exhibition
Home Art
At the Czech Center New York
From June 16 to September 15 2011

The 'Rocker' rocking horse designed by Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien is a great addition to the new collection of children’s furniture from Richard Lampert.

This plastic hourglass-shaped body rests simply on two wooden runners, providing hours of rocking fun, and, at the same time, producing a wonderful design object.

Many things of interest to young children are not figurative but simply everyday objects that are not intended for play! Children find their own imaginative purpose for any object already in the home. This observation prompted Doshi Levien to create a 'Rocker' that is like a found object, an improvised ride.

Doshi Levien is a London based design office, established in 2000.