Many of today's modern furniture designs and creations are inspired by the greatest minds in architecture and design. The idea of mixing form with function, style with ease and minimalist looks with comfort have been captured by simplistic geniuses. Designer pioneers like Le Corbusier, Eames and Philippe Starck have cultivated a modern furniture style that has become globally appreciated and anointed into modern design museums all over the world. Materials such as metal, steel and wood were first introduced by these men along with a unique and exquisite artistic furniture design aesthetic that is limitless and will forever hold a candle in modern furniture history.
The French theoretician Le Corbusier
A French architect who gained popularity during the 1920's, Le Corbusier believed in functionalism. Before he created some of his notorious high design models of furniture, Le Corbusier studied modern high design, opened an architectural firm with his son and designed housing projects for the poor. In doing this, he attempted to use as little of the space allotted by injecting it with as creative utilities that made things easier in the household. For example, a chute in the kitchen was installed for milk and bread to be delivered daily. With as little ornamentation as possible, Le Corbusier introduced intelligent architectural frameworks to modernize society. He believed in harmony, proportion, subtlety and mathematical order in creating his design masterpieces. One of his most famous quotes is: "Chairs are architecture, sofas are bourgeois."
Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in Switzerland, he later changed his name to Le Corbusier (which might correlate to the French verb courber, meaning "to bend"). One of his first projects was an architectural model of the "Dom-ino" House, which was a minimalist approach to constructing a three-level home, with a single staircase on one side of the floor plan. Many of his designs were invented along with the help of his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and partner Charlotte Perriand.
In 1928, Le Corbusier and Perriand spoke of three different furniture types in his book, "L'Art Decoratif d'aujourd'Hui": Type-needs, type-furniture and human-limb objects. He explained how furniture is a tool to extend the human limbs and serve the human being, and he wrote about how he combined that philosophy with good taste and modern touches.
In 1928, they introduced a line of metal furniture that is now noticeable worldwide and is still extremely successful to this day. The LC1 sling chair is one of his most popular designs. It is now included in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The idea is for the chair to adjust and shift according to the sitter's position, giving continuous support. The steel frame of the Sling chair can be upholstered with leather, but is most recognized with pony skin. Another one of Le Curbosier's famous models is the high-armed LC-2 Chair and Sofa, which was used in the 1980's Maxell commercial of a man sitting low in the leather chair, and is almost blown out of his chair by a stereo system. It will forever be an icon of pop culture history. Other staples include the LC-4 Chaise Lounge, which mimics the human body form and is also known to come in pony skin.
Husband-and-wife team Charles & Ray Eames
Among the most influential designers of the 20th century, Eames has introduced revolutionary and modern furniture icons that have become staples in the design world.
In 1946, the pair was living in a small L.A. apartment and Charles Eames worked at MGM studios, designing movie sets. At night, he would stay up late with Ray working on furniture inventions. The pair created the wooden LCW chair, one of furniture's most desirable items. It is still hugely popular to this day and has been named the Best Design of the 20th Century by Time Magazine. In 1958, the Eames created the standard aluminum management chair. They used materials like plywood and chrome-plated steel and mixed them together, which at the time, was taboo for furniture design. What followed was the Elliptical Table, the LC-7 Swivel Chair, the molded plastic Eiffel side chair, storage units and folding screens.
One of their most popular designs was the molded plastic RAR Rocker, a plastic chair designed to sculpt the human body with steel rods and wooden slats for the rocking element.
The La Chaise is another massively popular furniture piece that was designed in 1948 to capture Gaston Lachaise's 1927 sculpture Reclining Nude. Too expensive to mass produce at the time, the design went into production in 1990 and has since gained international appeal, becoming one of the hottest selling modern furniture items on the market. In 1956, Eames came out with the lounge chair and ottoman, which is one of their most recognized pieces. Designed with the "the warm receptive look of a well used first baseman's mitt," said Charles Eames, many modern furniture stores and in turn, households, now carry a similar version of this item.
Modern design king Philippe Starck
Another pioneer of Modern furniture design, French born artist Philippe Starck has taken furniture design to new levels and broken boundaries with his creativity and daring minimalist designs. Starck, a high school dropout, set up his first design firm in 1968 to produce inflatable objects. He eventually took on a project to design two Parisian nightclubs in the 1970's and this led to more prestigious opportunities. He was asked to design the French president's François Mitterrand's private quarters in the Elysee Palace, and the Café Costes in Paris, which he did with much accolade. Since then, Starck has designed hotels, including the Royalton and the Paramount in New York, the Mondrian in Los Angeles and the Delano in Miami, Florida. In Paris, a whole street block, la rue Starck, is devoted to his designs.
Starck has produced modern furniture pieces that gained instant popularity. Some of his most famous products include the Rosy Angelis lamp, the La Marie chair, the transparent Louis Ghost chair, Ero [S] chair, the Bubble Club sofa, the La Boheme stool and the Dr. No chair. Like Le Curbosier before him, he's said that he hopes "to create more happiness with less."
Starck is notable for breaking the mold by combining materials like glass and stone, plastic and aluminum, and plush fabric and chrome. For the famous Victoria Ghost Sidechair, created in 2005, he used transparent polycarbonate to interpret the Baroque-inspired Louis XV-style chair, which added a modern touch and a chic element of design. A pure example of Starck's brilliance is highlighted in the Prince Aha stool, which is equally a seat and a base in one piece. It also serves as storage space with detachable caps. In addition to modern furniture and design, Starck has also gone on to design clothes, kitchen utensils, luggage, motorbikes, yachts and cars.
