Paolo Lomazzi- Radical design

Paolo Lomazzi was born in Milan in 1936. While he was studying in Milan he met two other designers. The three of them founded a design workshop and became famous overnight. In 1967 they designed an inflatable armchair made of PVC. After this they went on creating many other types of seating, all by the spirit of Radical or Anti-Design.

In 1970 Paolo Lomazzi and his co-designers designed an armchair as a tribute to the American baseball player Joe DiMaggio. It was designed in the shape of an oversized baseball glove. Both the PVC armchair and the Joe Sofa are now Radical Design icons.

Joe Sofa by Paolo Lomazzi

The Joe sofa is an important icon of the Radical design period. It was originally designed as a tribute to a famous American baseball player called Joe. It was designed as a leather baseball glove with polyurethane foam filling and mounted on casters. The armchair is signed and marked on the leather with 'Joe'.

Joe DiMaggio Chair by nova68

This modern lounge chair was inspired by the Joe chair. Originally it was made in leather, but has now been re-issued in self-cushioning plastic polymer, which is ideal for both indoor or outdoor use.

Ketterer Kunst. no date. Paolo Lomazzi. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/paolo-lomazzi-1936.shtml. [Accessed 26 January 14].

1stdibs. 2012. "Joe" Armchair sofa. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/sofas/joe-armchair-sofa/id-f_637636/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

nova68. 2013. De Pas, D'urbino, Lomazzi: Joe DiMaggio Chair . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nova68.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=nova68&Product_Code=HELLERJOE. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Radical Design

Radical design spanned from the late 1960s until late 1970s. Its main centre of activity was in Italy, namely Milan, Florence and Turin, during a time of social transformation. It was concerned with avant-garde design and was strongly opposed to 'Good Design'. Radical Designers mainly worked with paper and printed media rather than affect buildings and environments. Radical Design left its mark on avant-garde design activity. Superarchitettura in Italy was the trigger to the Radical Period.

Radical design covered general designs in architecture. The actual art movement was also known as anti-design.  This movement focused on vibrant colours, and size disorientation, for example extra large chairs that make you look small. Its main objective was to change the way you think and see an object. This design movement worked against the perfectionists of Modernism. The Italian designers of the Radical period revolted against the whole concept of design for the sake of greed.

Ettore Sottsass Junior was one of the main spokesmen of this design movement. The Anti-designers wished to create unique objects, but their designs were primarily functional not beautiful. Unlike their predecessors, who had the idea of objects being permanent, the Radical Designers believed that objects should be temporary and could be replaced by new and more functional objects, thus resulting in commercialism and more prophets. Again, rebelling against their predecessors who generally used blacks and whites, the anti-designers experimented with a palette of colours decorations and materials.

Carlton cabinet  for Memphis by Ettore Sottsass

Inspired by a cactus plant

El tornillo que te falta. 2012. Ettore Sottsass. [ONLINE] Available at: http://eltornilloquetefalta.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/ettore-sottsass/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Another rebellion against modernism was the contrary of 'form follows function', they experimented with the distortion of scale. The Anti-design period produced anti-design studios namely 'Superstudio', 'Archizoom', 'Studio Alchymia' and 'Memphis'. Memphis produced its own design period and it was founded in 1981.

The Art History Archive. 2011. Anti-Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/antidesign/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Allen Jones- Pop Art

Allen Jones was born in South Hampton in 1937. He studied painting and lithography and later went on to teaching lithography at the Croydon College of Art. In the mid-60s he moved to New York and his attention was drawn to the world of mass produced consumer goods. He began working on 3D erotic sculptures. In 1969 he produced the Table Sculpture and the Hat Stand which have become his most famous Human Furniture. The furniture used in the controversial film Clockwork Orange was inspired by his work. Since then he had been invited as guest lecturer in Universities all around the world.

Woman as an armchair by Allen Jones

The original chair was designed in 1969. It was designed as a set incorporating a hat stand and table. The sculptures were made using fibreglass and their clothing was made of leather. When they were first exhibited in 1970,they caused a storm of protest. This type of human furniture was known as forniphilia. When it was later exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, stink bombs and smoke bombs were thrown at them. Years later when it was shown at the Tate, it was attacked with paint stripper. Allen Jones has always claimed that this art was never meant to be offensive, but was a protest against sexism.

The remake of Jones' chair by Bjarne Melgaard

Recently this year, Allen Jones' sculptures are still sparking controversy.  His original Woman as an Armchair design that was created in the 60s was back on the front page of the news. Ms. Dasha Zhukova, an owner of an Art gallery in Moscow posed for a photo to promote her gallery. She chose to copy Allen Jones' design, this time using a black mannequin. The day on which the photo appeared online happened to be Martin Luther King day. She has now sparked outrage with feminists and black rights groups around the world. She too claims that this artwork was never intended specifically against any gender or racial politics. She insists that the artwork was against prejudice.

pHinnWeb. no date. Allen Jones. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.phinnweb.org/livingroom/ILikeToWatch/allenjones/. [Accessed 26 January 14].

MailOnline. 2014. The man who turned half-naked women into chairs - and called it art: How Allen Jones' sculptures are still sparking controversy 45 years on. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2544334/The-man-turned-half-naked-women-chairs-called-art.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Pop Art

Pop Art was actually born in Britain around the mid 1950s. It was created by several young artists, who were members of the Independent Group formed in the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. Pop Art appreciated the popular culture (materialistic) trends of that era. Pop Art was the energy of young people born after the Second World War. It rebelled against abstract art and celebrated being the United Generation of Shopping.

The key characteristics of Pop Art are: easily recognisable image, very bright colours, flat images used in comic books and newspapers, images of celebrities or comic book characters.

Bauhaus Stairway: Large Version by Roy Lichtenstein, 1989

Bell, C. (2005). Public Murals. Available: http://www.lichtensteinfoundation.org/frames.htm. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Pop Art coincided with the consumer boom of the 1950s and 1960s. It coincided also with the growth of pop music (Elvis, Beatles). It was young and fun. Once Pop Art made it over to the United States, it grew phenomenally, making it essentially an American movement. Artists like Andy Warhol, picking it up and producing timeless pieces. He would take images of celebrities or consumer products and turn them from banality into something more interesting. He was against any form of skill or craftsmanship to show his artistic personality.

Turquoise Marilyn by Andy Warhol 1964

Valbuena, C. (no date). Andy Warhol Turns 84 Years-old Today – Happy Birthday Andy. Available: http://artsnapper.com/andy-warhol-84-years-old/. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Pop Art was based on the idea of mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture. It was strongly influenced by the Dada movement ideas.

Hans J.Wegner- Danish Design

Hans J.Wegner is one of the masters of Danish chair design. At the age of 17 he trained in carpentry, later on continuing his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of fine arts, school of design. He then further studied as an architect. In the 1940s Wegner began designing chairs for a master carpenter called Johannes Hansen, who himself had brought modern design to the Danish public. Wegner opened his own design studio and from there produced classics like the Wishbone Chair, the Wing Chair and the Shell Chair. Wegner's furniture brings together form and function, to him, ''a chair isn't just a piece of furniture, but a work of art made to support the human form''.

Wegner CH07 Shell Chair

This 3 legged Shell chair was originally designed in 1963. It stands firm despite its 3 legs. It is made of form pressed veneer and the seat and back upholstered in fabric or leather. Very few of this chair were made, but then it was later re-launched in the 1990s.

Replica Wegner chair by Matt Blatt

This replica chair recreates the organic functionality of Wegner's Shell chair. It is made to the exact specifications and quality of the original. The designs exaggerated curves contours with the human body. It has been crafted using form pressed plywood with real wood veneer and upholstered in pure New Zealand wool.

DanishDesignStore. 2014. Hans J. Wegner. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.danishdesignstore.com/collections/designer-collections-hans-wegner?page=1. [Accessed 26 January 14].

DanishDesignStore. 2014. Wegner CH07 Shell Chair - Featured. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.danishdesignstore.com/products/ch07-shell-chair-by-hans-j-wegner-featured. [Accessed 26 January 14].

MATT BLATT. 2013. THE MATT BLATT REPLICA HANS WEGNER SHELL CHAIR. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mattblatt.com.au/Replica-Lounge-Chairs/Replica-Hans-Wegner-Shell-Chair.aspx?p2578c105. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Scandinavian and Danish Design

This era of design was born in the 1950s. Called so, because its origins were in Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

It is a style of simplicity, minimalism, and functionality. Many ideas in this style were influenced by the Bauhaus school, some still in use till this day like; the Egg Chair and the Sydney Opera House, Australia.

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Republic of Fritz Hansen. (no date). Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair in Gabriel Orange Fame. Available: http://www.stardust.com/eggchairfameorange.html. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Sydney Opera House by Jorn Utzon

Waqar Ali. (no date). Travel Tourism. Available: http://traveltoursim.blogspot.com/2011/09/sydney-opera-house-australia.html. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Designers wished to create beautiful, yet functional objects that were readily affordable by all. They tended to use new, low-cost materials and mass production methods like form-pressed wood, plastic and aluminium or steel.

Some of the most successful designers in this era were:- Borge Mogensen, Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen.

Shortly after the Second World War (late 1940s), emphasis was put on producing furniture. In Denmark industrial production began producing affordable, light wood furniture which added to popularisation of Danish design. So much so, that the furniture school at the Royal Danish Academy of Art was born. Ideas and influences grew and then the first industrially manufactured chair in Denmark was produced, the Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen.

Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Design Museum. (no date). Arne Jacobsen. Available: http://designmuseum.org/design/arne-jacobsen. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Le Corbusier- International style

Charles- Edouard Jeanneret- Gris was born in Switzerland, but later became a French citizen. In 1920s it was fashionable for artists, especially in Paris to take on a single name, so Gris decided to take on his maternal grandfather's name and slightly alter it. It was Le Corbésier, which he changed to Le Corbusier.

Le Corbusier was heavily involved in building commissions. He worked primarily with steel and reinforced concrete. The buildings taking on geometric forms. The first house he designed was at the tender age of 20. He had always imagined the concept of prefabricated houses being built with the same idea of an assembly line manufacturing cars.

Le Corbusier's architectural designs began spreading worldwide, between the 1930s and the end of world war 2 Le Corbusier was working on projects in the cities of Algiers and Buenos Aires.

In the late 1920s Le Corbusier began experimenting with furniture design, after having met the architect Charlotte Perriand. Their first creation resulted in a tubular steel framed chair that composed of four large cushions within the frame.

The Grand Confort chair by Le Corbusier

The actual chair's seating space is very limited, giving the sitter a feeling of being held. It was designed with the idea of a cube and offering a solution to the problem of achieving real comfort. This design has influenced many recent designers who produced super comfortable armchairs and sofas. Also the idea of large, loose cushions had proved extremely popular even till this day.

Le Corbusier Style Red Leather Chaise

The Modern Line Furniture company produces many variations of the Le Corbusier Grand Confort chair. Pictured here is a red leather chaise lounge. They have completely transformed the original style, but still kept the original idea. The frame is made from chrome stainless steel and the leather cushions are heavily stuffed using high density foam.

bio.true story. 2014. Le Corbusier. biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/le-corbusier-9376609?page=3. [Accessed 26 January 14].

iMODERN. 2014. Grand Confort Chair by le Corbusier France, 1928. [ONLINE] Available at: http://imodern.com/le_corbusier_grand_confort_chair.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].

Modern Line Furniture. 2013. Le Corbusier Style Red Leather Chaise. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.modernlinefurniture.com/modern-furniture-le-corbusier-sofa-chaise-st002rchaise.html. [Accessed 26 January 14].