The Mid-Century Starburst

Back in March of this year, I published a month-long series of posts about Mid-Century Modern design. I started the month with a post about George Nelson Associates clock designs in which I mentioned the iconic starburst pattern. The post-war years saw a lot of change. The end of World War II was brought about in part by atomic bombs, and the atom and science were now a part of everyday life. "Better Living Through Science," the motto promised. A sudden boom in the middle class meant the explosion of suburbs brimming with open-plan ranch homes to be filled with furniture and products. And many of these products naturally sported the atomic starburst pattern! Dinnerware, glassware, and lamps as well as drapery and upholstery fabrics were peppered with stylized starbursts or stylized atomic models.

And consider also that, at the time, there was a suspenseful race to space: the United States and the USSR were in competition to see who could make it to the stars, and the Soviets won the first round by launching Sputnik 1 to orbit our planet and then later put Yuri Gagrain in orbit, the fist man in space. We were living in the Atomic Age and the Space Age at the same time!

Vintage objects like these, or even reproductions offer a fun, retro moment for interiors! A bar set with the starburst pattern is actually quite current, as is a ceramic lamp with the classic fiberglass shade, seen in the last two images below. Such collectible items can be judiciously mixed in with contemporary interiors...remember Design Mantra #1: "Contrast brings interest!"

Happy designing!

The Furniture of John Dickinson

John Dickinson's San Francisco-based interior design career spanned decades, through the 60s and 70s, but he will be best remembered for a collection of whimsical, stylish, furniture and furnishings created in matte chalk white. Since his death in 1982, his console tables, side tables, lamps, and mirrors have become highly coveted items by interior designers and collectors. His original designs feature wry details like animal feet and the illusion of draped fabric but made in metal or plaster.

Dickinson's African table is an homage to the kind of rough-hewn anthropomorphic objects from that continent.

The following images of his Etruscan chair and table are a combination of historical elements from Greek and Roman furnishings (and even as far back as the Egyptians who put animal feet on stools and small tables) with the neo-classical sensibility of eighteenth century Europe.

His footed and hoofed demi-console, lamp, table, and stool are now iconic.

Another trompe-l'œil effect from Dickinson is his organic stacked stone console table. The unexpected style comes from the fact that it is executed in his hallmark matte white.

His tin console (part of the permanent collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and table look as if they have luxurious linens draped over them, cascading down into box pleats at the corners.This idea was so copied that we now see the idea in acrylic from various manufacturers and designers.

And finally, Dickinson ventured into "faux-bois" territory ("faux-bois" is a style of furniture that rose to favor during the Victorians and featured pieces in cast concrete that resembled rustic log furniture) with his twig lamp and mirror.

His pieces look wonderful as accents in rooms of any style. See if you can spot his pieces in each room below.

And here is a pine wood version of his African table in Dickinson's own San Francisco home, a renovated fire station!

Dickinson's original pieces were made in plaster but Sutherland Furniture has retooled the formula and has reissued some of these pieces in a mix of concrete and fiberglass. You can see and purchase them here. Take a look at the tableau from Sutherland below which features Dickinson's twig lamp and mirror over the tin console.

Happy designing!

Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort

All of us in the design world are pretty excited about the brand new lighting line design icon Kelly Wearstler has created for the extraordinary lighting company Visual Comfort. A collection of chandeliers, wall sconces, and table and floor lamps all feature Wearstler's signature flair for stark geometric shapes and interesting materials. Burnished brass, alabaster, ceramic, quartz crystal, silver leaf, and perforated metals suggest, as most of Wearstler's designs do, both a retro and contemporary sensibility. Current and future clients be forewarned: you should expect a Kelly Wearstler light in your future!

Cleo Desk Lamp

Cubist Chandeliers

Liaison Triple-tier Chandelier

Linden Table Lamps

Marmont Table Lamp in Burnt Gold and White Porous Ceramic

Melange Sconce

Melange Table Lamp

Precision Sconces

Halcyon Desk Lamp

Strada Flush-mount Light

Strada Sconce

Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort is available to the trade. If you like what you see, give me a call and we can scatter some gorgeous Wearstler lights around your house!

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Bauhaus and De Stijl

After the opulence, glitter, and excess of the holiday season passes, my mind usually turns to more simple forms and styles. After the shiny ornaments are put away, we are left with bare branches and grey skies. With this in mind, this installation of History of Furniture focuses on two simple, sleek styles from the early part of the 20th century known as Bauhaus, or International Style, and its counterpart De Stijl (deh STEEL).

The Bauhaus School was founded by architect Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany in 1919. The Bauhaus Manifesto touted the unity of all arts, and emphasized the idea that artists are actually craftsmen. "Salon art" is a "world that must build again," according to the manifesto. "Let us then create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist! Together let us desire, conceive, and create the new structure of the future..." Gropius proclaimed that "we want an architecture adapted to our world of machines, radios and fast cars." The Bauhaus school was heavily influenced by Modernism. The long list of teachers and students who graduated from the school forged a new, abstract, spartan sensibility that went on to influence generations and decades to come. The movement's influence can still be felt, especially with the return in popularity of Mid-Century Modern design.

Concurrently in The Netherlands, a similar idea was brewing in a movement called De Stijl, or "the Style," founded in 1917, in which total abstraction and a simplification to basic shapes and colors was promoted. Although the two movements are referred to under their respective names and produced work that is identifiable as belonging to one movement or another, there was enough crossover and similarity to warrant my presenting them together for this post. In fact, Dutch painter and De Stijl founder Theo van Doesburg moved to Weimar to teach at the Bauhaus.

The Bauhaus style announced itself in the main structure when the school moved from Weimar to Dessau. The no-nonsense concrete, steel, and glass elements set off the Bauhaus font beautifully.

The furniture, rugs, and pottery that came out of the school were equally as severe, startling, and ultimately functional as the building itself. Take a look.

The famous Bauhaus child's cradle designed by Peter Keler was a traditional idea distilled down to only what was necessary for its function. Keler used a theory of color and shape developed by one of his teachers, the painter Wassily Kandinsky, to fashion the piece from a square, a circle, and a triangle.

Below we can see the classic lamp designed by Bauhaus follower Wilhelm Wagenfeld. Next to it are some multi-colored Bauhaus nesting tables. As always with Bauhaus, form (and style) follows function.

One of the most famous Bauhaus designers (both a student and later a teacher) created one of the most famous chairs in history: the Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer. It was revolutionary at the time because the German steel manufacturer Mannesmann had recently perfected a way of producing steel tubing without any seams, making the bend of the steel frame possible. The taut black leather gives it a very architectural look.

Breuer also created one of the most copied chairs of the 20th century, the Cesca Chair, made of steel tubing and a woven cane back and seat. My parents had these chairs at our dining table when I was growing up.

Meanwhile in The Netherlands, De Stijl designer Gerrit Reitveld was almost single-handedly changing the way the Dutch saw furniture. He had a close artistic friendship with the artist Piet Mondrian whose rigid canvases of squares and rectangles served as inspiration and fodder for Reitveld's own ideas about the nature of design, and the importance of horizontal and vertical planes.

His most famous chair, the Red and Blue Chair, held to the De Stijl self-imposed restriction of using only primary colors along with black or white.

He created many other pieces, all adhering to the same properties and ideas he developed. Below we can see a buffet, a side table, his iconic Zig-Zag chair, and finally, his masterpiece, the Berlin Chair.

We can see echoes of Bauhaus and De Stijl in subsequent design movements like Mid-Century Modernism in the 1950s, clear through to the 1980s with the Memphis Style, both of which we will be examining in future posts.

In the meantime, happy designing!

Lighting Basics: How To Illuminate A Space

Each space I am hired to work on is individual, unique, and has its own personality. But there is one element that is consistent in every single space I design and that element is: light. It is the invisible element in the room since many people only consider furniture or furnishings, or finish materials such as tile, wood, or paint when thinking of a room. Yet lighting is such a vital part of each and every space.

Lighting greatly effects mood. I am sure we have all had the frustrating experience of being in a room with insufficient light when we are trying to read or work on a task which requires us to see well. And by the same token, I am sure we have all been in a room that was simply too bright when we wanted to relax. Too much light or not enough can create a subliminal annoyance that manifests in a dislike of the room itself. But don't hate your kitchen or living room for bad lighting. There are easy ways to fix this problem.

Whether you are building from scratch, starting a down-to-the-studs remodel, or just planning on furnishing an existing space, below are some tips and thoughts for working with lighting.

First, we want to think of lighting as being flexible. We want to be able to choose bright light for any task we might want to work on, but we also want to be able to control that light for when we wish to watch a movie on a nice new flat screen or spend a nice, intimate evening visiting with friends. In order to achieve this, we can layer our lighting.

There are three main types of lighting:

1) Ambient
This is light that completely illuminates a room. Think of this as the base coat of paint on a wall--you want good coverage, to spread the light out as much as you can. Well placed recessed ceiling lights do a good job with this layer. In the photo below, you can that the recessed trough lights create an even blanket of light for the center of the living room.

2) Task
This is lighting that allows us, as the name implies, to complete a certain task. Sconce lights on either side of a bathroom mirror cast light ONTO our faces, allowing us to shave or put on make-up without any annoying shadows. A table lamp or reading lamp next to a chair allows us to read without eye strain. Under cabinet lighting in a kitchen allows us to use sharp knives safely.

3) Accent
As I wrote at the beginning of this post, each room has its own unique personality and accent lighting allows certain traits to be highlighted. The swing arm lamps in the Robert Couturier-designed library below are a lovely element to limn the shelves of books. Strategically placed spot lights can illuminate art, whether it is two or three dimensional. And lighting under a bathroom vanity toe kick or hidden in a soffit can define the edges of a room. Accent lighting can also bring some sparkle and drama to a space.

Accent lighting can also highlight architectural details such as cove or tray ceilings. Wall washers (recessed lighting positioned to send a beam of light cascading down a wall) can call out the texture of stone or wood wall details.

Successful spaces incorporate all three layers of light. In the living room, and the Candice Olsen-designed kitchen below, see if you can identify the three layers at work in each room.

If you are remodeling or simply refurnishing a space, remember to include multiple sources of light in your layering. Ambient layer: If you have the opportunity to add recessed ceiling lights, by all means do so. If you can't recess into the ceiling, unobtrusive surface mounted spots can be just as effective. Task layer: Use several table lamps instead of one torchiere in the corner. Accent layer: Include a decorative light here and there for some interest. And remember that small up-lights can be positioned behind furniture to brighten dark corners.

Happy designing!