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24-Dec-04 |
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'furnitecture"
In Googling this term I find little if anything to challenge my ownership of it; previously it has appeared online, from somewhere in Canada, in the late 1990's. It appeared first under my name on the website CustomFurnitureDesign (San Francisco), in my employee profile, in 1999. Herewith my definitions, as recorded in my sketchbook, July 27, 1990:
fur*ni*tec*ture, n. 1. the science, art, or profession of designing and constructing furniture; see ARCHITECTURE. 2. furniture which refers to, is related to, derives from, or is intended to accompany, architecture. 3. furniture which mimics, imitates, or (God forbid) mocks architecture. 4. furniture made of architectural materials, or of recognizable substitutions thereof. 5. furniture which creates an architecture. 6. furniture which attempts to create an architecture. 7. architecture made of, or from, furniture.
Stephen D Ritchings
sdrdesign@yahoo.com
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posted by SDR
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25-Dec-04 |
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many moons ago...
I co-curated an exhibition on chairs. The general structure was to show them in different categories according to the main motivation that inspired the designer/architect. The exhibition and the catalogue was published under the title: The chair, object of architecture or design. Two of the categories fit your classification, one was : chairs made to complement a work of architecture. the second was: chairs made to make an "architectural statement". I will try to find the catalogue so we can compare notes on which chairs enterd which category...could be fun. In any case I find the word most appropriate and it somehow is an indication why we seldomly discuss chairs on this forum that are designed mostly for functional/ergonomical reasons
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posted by koen
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26-Dec-04 |
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I found the catalogue...
The first category was:
Chairs as an innovative element to complement a coherent archtectural environment. To demonstrate that we showed:
Victor Horta's chair for the Tassel Hotel i Brussels (1895)
Henri Van De Velde's chair for Bloemenwerf (1895)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's chair for the tea salon on Argyle street (1897)
Josef Hoffmann's chair for te Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904)
Frank LLoyd Wright's office chair for the Larkin building (1906)
Ernest Cormier chair for his own house in Montreal (1930)
The second category was: Chairs that are architectural statements.
Gerrit Rietveld's Berlin chair (1923)
Le Corbusier/Pierre Jeanneret/Cjarlotte Perriand's pivoting chair (1928)
Eileen Gray's Roquebrune chair (1929)
L.Van der Rohe's Brno chair (1930)
El Lissitzky's Dresden chair (1930)
Arne Jacobsen's chair 3101 (1952)I would not put it in the same category anymore but this was is...1985.
Francois Dallegret's "ressort" chair (1967)
Stefan Wewerka's three legged chair (1980)
Michele de Lucchi's "chaise First" (1983)
Torben Skov's Vio Chair (1984)
Mario Botta's chair "Quatra" (1984)
Gaetano Pesce's Pratt chairs nr 2-8 (1983-4)
Dan Hanganu's chair (1984)
It goes on like this in another three or four different categories. But these are the relevant ones for this topic.
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posted by koen
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26-Dec-04 |
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Quite
an inclusive collection. . .were you able to present an example of each of these designs? (I'm not sure how many of Wright's Larkin chairs survive.)
I'm particularly fond of Mackintosh's chairs and other pieces, and of Hoffman's. (I should think Stickley might belong in there somewhere -- those massive and masterfully simple settees with the wide, plain planks, for instance.) Thanks for the list -- some of those I'll have to seek out.
If I had to present examples of "furnitecture" by architects and other designers, I suppose I'd start
with some of Wright's earlier pieces: a startling table-couch-desk-lamp construction of 1909 (claimed as hers by Marion Mahony) and, later, the gigantic living-room piece(s) for the Barnsdall residence: then to Schindler and some of his large living-room combos from the 'thirties. It's hard to avoid thinking of tables as architectural prototypes or analogues. . .of course, there are multiple ways of connecting furniture to architecture (including literally, as built-ins), as my multiple definitions (some of them tounge-in-cheek) suggest. . .
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posted by SDR
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26-Dec-04 |
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FURNITECTURE:
If this word you are attempting to coin covers your suggested definitions one through seven,it broadly covers all furniture and possibly a few other things as well?Explain...
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26-Dec-04 |
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Yes, those and the...
Bruno Mathsson, Hans Wegner, Poul Kjaerholm, Gae Aulenti, Charles Pollock,an original Standard Mobel Marcel Breuer, Jean Prouve, Alvar Aalto, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames,Verner Panton, Joe Colombo,Michel Thonet, David Rowland...and my all time favorite: Froso kramer's "revolt", they were all there...and yes it was a lot of work!
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posted by koen
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26-Dec-04 |
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It's Friso, not Froso
He is not a hobbit, just Dutch!
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posted by koen
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26-Dec-04 |
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While
there's nothing particularly "architectural" about the great majority of chairs out there, those designed to accompany particular buildings or prototypes would qualify, under definition 2. (above): the Craft Architects (Voysey, Lethaby et al), the Art Nouveau architects, the Craftsman designers in America, the Secessionists, the Prairie Style practitioners, followed by the Bauhaus designers and other Modernists (Aalto and the Saarinens, for instance) as well as Perriand, Prouve and Le Charreau, were all "furnitects." Definitions 3. through 7. are more rarely exemplified, naturally, so (I think) there is still much good work waiting to be done!
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posted by SDR
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27-Dec-04 |
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A recent
issue of Art News illustrates and mentions the recent work of a trio from Havana calling themselves Los Carpenteros, I think; they are making furniture-like objects of wood, some with multiple drawers, etc, in forms suggestive of architecture, either tower-like or "low and spreading," according to a description.
While it is possible that some of the tackiest furniture EVER has been made in forms that suggest architecture (examples, anyone?) and while my own interest in the subject tends toward the less-literal, I thought the definition should be as inclusive as possible.
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posted by SDR
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An interactive place to share your questions and reflections about
modern & post-modern design. |
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