Design & Designers

Understanding Visual Culture

Module 10.2

agenda 4.2.15

packaging design (short review)

semiotics of chair design

chairs in art

Whistler's Mother (1871) v. Ingres, Princesse de Broglie (1853)

David Mme Récamier (1800) v. Gérard, Mme Récamier (1805)

famous modern chairs

Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona Chair and Brno Chair

Charles and Ray Eames, DCM, LCW, RAR

Gerrit RIETVELD, Zigzag Chair

Frank GEHRY, Easy Edges Chair and Hat Trick Chair

Side Chair, circa 1880, maple, cane seat

Lebanon, Massachusetts

Name three

visual/functional

elements of the chair.

Compare/contrast: form

Side chair, gilt and Beauvais tapestry, c. 1780

Compare/contrast: meanings

Whistler, Arrangement in Gray and Black #1, 1871

Ingres, Princesse de Broglie, 1853

Jacques-Louis David, Madame Récamier, 1800

Magritte, Perspective, 1951

The Salon of Mme Récamier, with furniture by Jacob Frères, illustration from 1849

Chaise Longue of Mme Recamier, by Jacob Freres, c. 1798

David, Madame Récamier, 1800

Gérard, Juliette Récamier, 1805

"serious fun": Charles & Ray Eames, American designing duo

textile designs

toys and games for all ages

Their home and studio, Case Study House No. 8, Pacific Palisades, LA, 1949

Eames

DCM

1946

Eames, LCW (Lounge Chair Wood), 1946

Eames

RAR 1950

"Rocking

Armchair"

Gerrit

RIETVELD

Zig-Zag Chair

1932-1934

Production: 1935

to c.1955

Manufacturer:

Metz & Co.,

Amsterdam

Material: red-

stained elm,

brass screws

not a chair but a

"designer joke"

The chair is stabilized by

dovetail joints between the seat

and back, reinforcements with

screws and nuts, as well as

wooden wedges in the corners.

Frank GEHRY

Easy Edges Side Chair

corrugated cardboard

1972

Frank GEHRY

Hat Trick Chair

1989-90

what's driving modern

design?

spirit of experiment

using new materials

using old materials in unfamiliar ways

coming up with solutions undreamt of previously

formal innovation

the desire to make it different

the desire to make it new (novelty prized over traditional

solutions—after all, chairs have been around for a long time!)

what else might motivate

designers?

the desire to change the world!

using design to create innovative solutions to real-world

problems, not just making another chair or cocktail shaker

or sneaker

Formal Analysis/Semiotic Analysis

What formal/functional features do these chairs possess?

What do they signify, culturally?

Briefly describe the visual form of the seating pictured in this photograph. Then

speculate: what set of functions are implied in this design? What meanings can we

infer about the people likely to be seated in each chair?