Search result for: the-last-thing-you-aquired-
| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| From "The Natural House" (1954) | 1 Relevance | 21 years ago | SDR | General discussion | |
| From "The Natural House" (1954) "Rugs, drapries and furnishings that are suitable for a Usonian house are those, too, that are organic in character; that is, textures and patterns that sympathize in their own design and construction with the design and construction of the particular house they occupy and embelish (or befoul). A mobile, for instance, should be composed of the design elements of the room it hangs in. Out of the nature of the materials used in building a house come these new effects. The "effect" is not all that the artist-architect gives you. He not only sees more or less clearly the nature of the materials but, in his own trained imagination and by virtue of his own feeling, he qualifies it all as a whole. You can only choose the result that is sympathetic to you. The range of sources is growing wider now. But it is extraordinary to see how the manufacturer is trying to burn the candle at both ends, still hanging on to the old William Morris era and old rococo fabrics. You may -- at your own peril -- get L'art Nouveaux, rococo, Morris, ancient and modern in the same store for the same purpose for the same price. My early approach to the chair was something between contempt and desperation. Because I believe sitting to be in itself an unfortunate necessity not quite elegant yet, I do not yet believe in any such thing as a "natural" chair for an unnatural posture. [Right, Frank, blame the problem!] The only attractive posture of relaxation is that of reclining. So I think the ideal chair is one which would allow the would-be sitter to gracefully recline. [For a meal?] Even the newest market chairs are the usual machines-for-sitting. Now I do not know if whatever God may be ever intended you or me to fold up on one of these -- but, if so, let's say that fold-up or double-up ought to make you look more graceful. It ought to look as though it were intended for you to look and be just that. | |||||
| Hello James. Sweet Jesus,... | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | Mark | General discussion | |
| Hello James. Sweet Jesus,... Hello James. Sweet Jesus, what a lovely room! Do you people not show your homes in design tabloids because of privacy? I am most impressed. We share a liking for wood top tulip tables. I never sell pieces, I prefer to donate to hospice. Thanks. I hate to ask, but did you see my last couple of photos I took today? I'm curious on what you would do to the cyprus paneling. I would love to resurface it. The b&b has to sit in front of it, blocking the bottom 1/3. It is around 10 feet long. I just can't wait to get started...don't be surprised to see the kitchen cabinets change. Is my veiw of the power plant to "high octane"? And no, it doesn't pollute. I do have the fabric for the b&b reupholstering. Maharan Betwixt in the "bark" color. I plan to have seat and back cushions recovered only, leaving the (mint cond)moss colored mohair? as is. Can I drape a bit over the cat, post a photo, and get an honest opinion?? Azure Chicken, You are well versed on Antonio Citt?? pieces, it's the citi or sity? model circa 1988. It was originally all red cotton. Am I making a mistake keeping it two toned?? I have enough fabric (35yds) to do the whole thing and make a matching outfit with a coordinating headscarf. I feel like houseguest from hell asking all of these questions! If you all were here, I'd smoke you all up, and my wonderful housekeeper would pour drinks and tap dance at the same time. I am focused! Bobby Trendy has NOTHING on me! | |||||
| Eames lounge chair | 1 Relevance | 10 years ago | Emil | Identification | |
| Dear forum readers, I have recently bought a long sought Eames lounge chain with ottoman produced by Vitra from a private seller. The chair is black leather rosewood/palisander and its condition is very good. I was told it was bought in 1999 and as far as i can inspect it, it ticks all the boxes it should to be an original. One thing puzzles me though: the makes label says "Herman Miller made by Vitra" (see photo). I have seen online some other Eames lounge chairs with a similar label, yet these were produced in the 70s or thereabout.. Also, there is a "Herman Miller, Designed by Charles Eames" sticker on the ottoman. I thought the marks should have looked different for a chair of that age. Can anyone provide me with a qualified explanation? | |||||
| RE: DA old timers | 1 Relevance | 7 years ago | Spanky | Off topic | |
| Those Wright built-ins are beautiful! So functional and handsome. Though I do remember reading somewhere that he got annoyed when the people who live in his house wanted to replace some of his furniture with their own choices that were not always in the same style. (I probably would be one of those, but no worries-- the chances of me ever living in a Wright house are flat out zero at this point.) My then-husband and I once went to see a nice old four square house to live in where there were painters actually in the process of painting the original wood trim white. I still wince to think of it. I think what amazes me more than anything about the St. Paul houses is that so many of them are quite modest---three or four bedrooms tops, some with second floors that have very sloped ceilings. Yet they have generous wood trim and the built-in hutches---and more often than not, the wood has never been painted. I wonder how much it has to do with the ethnic groups of that area at that time (German and Scandinavian mostly, i think?), but why haven't more been painted? Painted wood trim was a HUGE style thing back in the 1980s. Anyway. Here's one that did get painted--even the floors! And decorated with giant wall words. I hate wall words with a passion. I think they're even worse than generic paintings from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Attachment: Screen-Shot-2020-04-10-at-5.01.56-PM.png | |||||
| RE: Finn Juhl for Søren Willadsen | 1 Relevance | 5 years ago | leif ericson - Zephyr Renner | General discussion | |
| I suppose the one aspect of Willadsen’s visibility that I did not address is that in the 1950s the new export market completely upended the entire world and something like Mobilia appeared and Dansk Kunsthaandværk became more externally focused. France and Søn was all about the export thing so he was aggressive with advertising there. And Niels Vodder had the cachet of the ultra wealthy crowd to get attention at the Georg Jensen store in New York City. So while Niels Vodder rarely advertised the high end exhibitions he participated in attracted the right attention and he got lots for ‘earned’ free advertising through the press. Willadsen was much less a part of that world and he got no earned free press coverage (products for the rich and famous get all the attention), but he did place the occasional advertisement in Dansk Kunsthaandværk. Some were generally for his business and some were for specific Finn Juhl designs. This was very similar to Carl Brørup’s Bovirke that occasionally placed an advertisement. And returning to the Grete Jalk volumes you can perhaps see how the compilation of them at all was yet again more free ‘earned’ press coverage for the cabinetmakers. Truly in the vintage documentation they are the most absent. Often with a cabinetmaker piece, you have either the Grete Jalk books (which are largely scanned into the Danish Furniture Index) or you have absolutely nothing and there never will be any documentation because it was never documented at all or only in a sketch that was tossed in the trash after the piece was built. | |||||
| Dear Annette | 1 Relevance | 23 years ago | koen | General discussion | |
| Dear Annette I just received the fotocopies that Henriette promised and I will carefully translate them for you and whomever is interested, but the studies are rather dated. One publication is an usue of the swedish magazine Form (Svenska Slöjdföreningen) of 1947. Bengt Akerblom did his research on the seated position just after the second world war and published it between 1947 and 1948. The basic text of his 1947 publication was re-published In the proceedings of a symposium held in September 1968 in Zürich Switserland called the sitting posture and was edited by E. Grandjean at the time director of a Swiss federal institute for research in industrial Hygiene and work Physiology. (Taylor & Francis Ltd, London 1976) The book also includes important studie like the one by H.von Schoberth of the orthopedic university hospital of Frankfurt on school childrens sitting habits. A have always suspected that his theory on the position of the pelvis was the start of Ernst Mandel?s more recent studies and revolutionary conclusions. About two years ago I undertook some research in an effort to reconcile the two theories. Not an obvious thing to do because one more or less excludes the other. But I finally succeeded, solving at the same time the problem with the Mandel school chairs (people are sliding off). I did not publish the system yet and would prefer to do it in conjunction with the design of a chair that applies the principle, but we will see. If you want a pre-view, please let me know. | |||||
| misunderstanding again | 1 Relevance | 21 years ago | designite | General discussion | |
| misunderstanding again Hope you will forgive me for misunderstanding your request you wrote trading online, i understood selling on line. Problem with trading is a question of being honest all the way. Imagine you wanna trade a Van der Rohe Barcelona single armchair, vintage black leather vs a Rietveld zigzag chair. You send first your armchair to your trader who receives it fine, but feels unsatisfied by what he considers as a pretty bad shape for a barcelona chair. Therefore he, who was supposed to send you the zigzag chair item has not done it and refuses to deliverit to you. What can you do? Not much . Trading worked fine with the kula ring in the pacifical island to exchange goods in excess versus living good islanders cannot get otherwise. When it comes to design, which is not a matter of life and death merchandise, the trading can be hazardous. The money garantee) is according to my opinion the best way to determine the value of an item considering that you will get for what you've paid. Then why not selling your item back? The combination probability for matching two (honest)traders is more difficult to find than buying and selling to anyone who would be interested, on a virtual auction market (if you know what i mean). There is a confusion in people's mind with the finality of trading. Exchanging things without money is often more complicated than an exchanging on a donation base, which therefore does not implicate a money background. to make it simple: apply for a donation for what you are looking for, or auction the all thing on e-... | |||||
| Ah, I see. It is a low volta... | 1 Relevance | 13 years ago | leif ericson - Zephyr Renner | General discussion | |
| Ah, I see. It is a low volta... Ah, I see. It is a low voltage light, which is of a rather recent vintage. That increases the complexity a lot. You have mains voltage coming in. For simplicity, I will say you are in the US with 120 volts in. Then you have a magnetic or electronic dimmer that is bringing the voltage down to a range of 0 volts to 120 volts. Then you have a magnetic or electronic transformer that takes the dimmed 0-120v range and brings it down to 0 to 12 volts. Then it goes out to the bulb to become light. Transformers don't last forever, and some poorly made ones may only last for days or weeks. I don't much like low voltage lighting for this reason. Dimmers tend to be more long lasting. And your dimmer lights up, which seems to indicate it is working. A professional could poke around in there with a multimeter and verify that it is indeed the transformer. If you want to keep the light as original as possible you will need to find a new transformer to replace the old one, which might not be easy to find. You wouldn't need a transformer from the original company, but you would need it in just the right form factor for the box it fits into, and right electrical specs. You should probably take it to a professional for that. Both to find the part and to install it. That professional might be an electrician or somebody who deals with repairing electronics. If you just want it to work and you can hide a transformer somewhere, you could go looking for a low voltage lighting transformer in the hardware store that outputs 12 volts and is rated for at least 50 watts (which is what the internet says is the wattage of the bulb, verify that). Cut the cord and attach to the new dimmer. Voila lueur! You might even find one with a dimmer. Oh and I think the tradition is to disclaim such an answer by saying I am not a professional electrician or licensed in any related field at all. Just a layman who enjoys playing with electricity. (It is a fascinating thing). | |||||
| If there is a Great Depression 2.0, will Neo-Streamlining Follow? | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | dcwilson | General discussion | |
| Some persons are worried that something approaching The Great Depression, probably to be understood as The Great Stagflation, is going to unfold shortly on the heels of the mortgage defaults, that triggered mortgage backed securities to tank, that caused hedge funds to tank, that caused stock markets to swing wildly, that cause sharp spikes in demand to borrow to finance losses, that lead to runs on banks, that lead to massive printing and infusion of Federal Reserve currency and debt instruments (effectively one and the same thing) by the President's Plunge Protection Team, that lead to a massive increase in money supply, that is already triggering inflation as I write, that will require the Fed to raise interest rates, both of which will drive the value of the dollar down sharply vs. most other currencies, which will result in an unprecedented spike in stagflation, which means a reduced or negative rate of growth in GDP, coupled with a spiking rate of price inflation, that will spike unemployment, that will make Americans able to afford to buy much less from abroad and considerably less produced domestically, that will make it harder to decorate the house that Jack built. Will designers respond to The Great Stagflation with Neo Streamlining, as designers responded to the Great Depression in the 30s? Or something else? I suspect something else, because staflation is different than depression, i.e., straight price deflation. | |||||
| Erik.H: Thanks for... | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | Entropy-0 | General discussion | |
| Erik.H: Thanks for... Erik.H: Thanks for introducing that Colect table. Very interesting design. But it wouldn't come close to replacing the Fusion for me. One, you can only fit 2 chairs under the table, I need to fit 4. Two, those 2 chairs look impossibly uncomfortable; flat metal seats and all metal pressing into your flesh, with no cushioning (and I think we can all agree you would kill the whole thing by adding cushions!). Three it would look alien in my kitchen, because its a very cold look, and for this task, I prefer the much warmer feel of the chocolate wood finish on the Fusion set. Spanky: Yes, there does not appear to be any lacquer or stain, so I assume the original finish is oil. So what's a good oil finish to apply for teak, and is it okay to let it dry in the sun outside, so it dries quickly? I also gave a lot of consideration to how durable the Fusion would be, while deciding on it. In the Fusion's defense, I have to say the set I have was used in a commercial boutique for a couple of years as a work table, yet it's all in fab condition, so it seems its held up pretty well. It probably receives a lot of abuse at Ikea stores, especially considering how many people go through them. Comparably, the Americo-Danish table mentioned has however, had its laminate finish chip and peel off in various small places (though in its defense, its decades older). Although the Fusion is wood veneer, its very well done, with no "lip" around the edges to pull off the veneer (unlike the laminate on the other table). The Fusion's top is very dense (and thick) fiberboard, and I find it incredibly heavy for its size. This creates a bit of a problem, because top heavy with less than massive legs, and the fact that the legs are not in the corners, means the table is always going to be a bit wobbly (but not to where it falls over or anything). | |||||
| Frankly, the way to thwart fake design is simple... | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | dcwilson | General discussion | |
| Frankly, the way to thwart fake design is simple... You cut the price of the authentic, until the price/profit margin is small enough that there is no incentive to produce, or buy, the fake. Sell to the masses, eat with the classes. Sell to the classes, eat with the masses. Much modernist design was intended to be highly cost competitive vs. traditional designs. Producers with the right to call their vintage modern designs authentic need to cut their prices, or quit complaining. They are creating the demand for copies by the prices they charge. Now, I know quality is often costly and so requires a high price to make a reasonable profit. But if one is selling quality, then one has to take good of high quality at a high price (high profit margins, low volume) with the bad (lots of knock-offs made like crap selling for diddly). Producers in every sector of the economy have complained about this sort of thing unsuccessfuly at least since the industrial revolution began. Every great economy during the industrial revolution started out in the beginning knocking off other more advanced economy's high quality products. Regarding the rats that sell cheap copies with counterfeit stickers, etc., I hope they rot in hell, but, again, economic history indicates that it happens again and again and there's little to be done in these periods when the teeth have been taken out of the laws in order to fast track regional and global trade integrations. | |||||
| xyz | 1 Relevance | 21 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| xyz This is an interesting topic, and has been explored quite at length on various "Art Blogs" (and also touched upon when Apartmenttherapy had a recent "best art in an apartment" competition). There's really so much to say. To begin, though, we should all follow Koen's advice regardless of what we're collecting: Buy fewer but buy better. I too wish that I can trade my 25+ Nelson clocks for 3 or 4 really good and rare ones. But as anyone with the collecting bug knows, it's hard to follow this sound advice when one sees a "good deal". And like Whitespike, I started off collecting vintage design, but now am much more into buying / collecting art. There's really too much to say about this, but the one thing I'll say here is that collecting good art with relatively limited funds is much, much more difficult than collecting good design. Given that budget concerns immediately eliminate any "name" artist (unless one is into posters or prints -- which I'm not; for many reason, though I dig mass produced vintage design, I like my art to be of the handmade, one of a kind variety), one will have to rely on one's eye & judgment to buy art. There's no "net" of "famous name" to catch the collector from falling into the abyss of buying awful stuff. I mean that anyone can go and buy an Eames desk or a Nelson chair -- even a few hundred will get you a 'name' design. But 'name' art is much, much more expensive -- a few thousand dollars may get you a crappy Johns print, but no more. For someone on a relatively tight budget, but with the collecting disease all the same, finding good art is much more difficult. Plus, what you buy, given the subjectivity of aesthetic appreciation and the lack of any 'name' attached to it, will be much more easily mocked by others. It takes a much thicker skin, I've found. I'll stop rambling. But my advice is a cliche: Train your eye -- look, look, and look again at every gallery, museum, book, website you can find -- and then go hunting at the flea markets and thrifts! I guarantee you'll find something you like .... | |||||
| Polish | 1 Relevance | 21 years ago | ChrisG-52 | General discussion | |
| Polish How deep are the scuffs you're talking about? How big is the area you need to polish? You should turn the drill on, and when using the polishing wheel for the first time, hold the white polish against the wheel only lightly, but for a minute or two, at least. One thing I must say is, people often underestimate the amount of pressure and time they should apply when they use the white polish buffer on the surface they wish to polish. Are your forearms sore? My recommendation is that you use the white one first. The white polish usually leave you with a semi-gloss/semi-flat finish. Then move up to the red-rouge polish. Which will then polish it to a mirror finish. I once (17 years ago) had a dual core study in printmaking and small metal sculpture when I was in art school. I can recall sometimes spending, oh, a half an hour or more just polishing one piece of jewelry, and this was at a proper polishing wheel, not one of these make shift drill-bit polishers. Expect to apply some pressure and for a time enough to make your arms sore on the white polish, and then less pressure AND WITH A DIFFERENT POLISHING BUFFER WHEEL with the rouge. Always start with the white and move up to the rouge. If you have deeper scratches, you may even have to start with a find grit metal sand paper, move on to a rough, then a fine steel wool, then on to a white polish, then a rouge polish. This will work, but, depending on how big an area you need to polish, this may be a bit (maybe quite a bit) more time and work involved than you anticipated. Best of luck, Chris | |||||
| The lights of Modernism... | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| The lights of Modernism... The lights of Modernism undoubtedly were flickering earlier and stronger in Europe than the USA. Stickley visited Europe I think in the late 1890's - as Koen noted, his vision was greatly influenced/informed by the work of Morris/Ruskin. Dresser visited Japan some 20 years even prior to that (1877), and I believe it was at this time his vision, especially his view on ornamentation in design, began to shift dramatically. As far as Modern is concerned in the States, I continue to believe that it was primarily Wright and Stickley who facilitated and advanced the movement in the most profound manner. For whatever reason, I do not see Sullivan as Modernist, even if Wright has acknowledged him as one of his only influences. To read Wright of course, one would be led to believe that the most comprehensive vision originated with himself alone - by some accounts even, the ideas of others, including Stickley, were viewed by Wright as sophomoric at best. But if one really wants to split hairs, the birth of Modernism more likely occurred centuries ago in the minds of individuals we will never know. Maybe the title of this thread should have been 'when modern went away to college' or 'when modern pissed off the boss' or...your title here. Ideas and movements are rarely "born" but are rather "being born". Some folks certainly have been able to invigorate and expound upon their subjects in ways that are qualitatively different than others, regardless of any apparent chronology. The roles and contributions of all the minds mentioned here I would guess were very important, even crucial in some cases, to the advancement of the vision of Modernism, or the growing up, as we currently perceive it. One thing is for certain, Wright didn't live in a Dyson. | |||||
| glassartist... | 1 Relevance | 18 years ago | Lunchbox | General discussion | |
| glassartist... My problem with both Brent's and azure's arguments are fundamental. The thought processes are irrational... However, the seemingly basic premise behind both arguments is one I agree with which is ironically a godly(Godly) one as well... that design is everywhere, in everything. I believe this because I believe nature was designed. You see where this is going. But I'll take it no further as it is not my intention to make this a discussion of faith. This is a discussion of reason and philosophy. So firstly, azure's argument... 'Cosmetic surgery is design'... As Woof said, everything cannot be explained by or equated to art and/or design. Choosing to lump everything into this context eventually abolishes the definitive meanings of the terms themselves. In truth, azure's statement would've been more accurate had it been stated 'plastic surgery is art' as art is more synonymous with portrayal while design is synonymous with creation. But still flawed it would've been as herein lies the crux of the statement. Cosmetic surgery is neither portrayal nor creation. It is merely an emulation of a social aesthetic. Hence, neither art nor design. A biological reconstruction, nothing more. As for Mr. Brent's claim that 'we design ourselves', I'm uncertain as to how this statement could be taken seriously by anyone. Science, friends. Not art. Not design. Brent strikes me as one who lives in the midst of glam and fashion with models who 'design' themselves in their own famous way(my only reasonable thought in pondering why he could think such a thing). However, I must admit that I myself am quite disgusted by obesity. Always have been. But I'll not pretend that my propensity for consuming substantial amounts of both food and beverage while maintaining a girlish figure has to do with anything other than metabolism. Biology is a realm neither art nor design can enter. And again, there is no portrayal, no creation. Only an aesthetic and moreover a prevelant vanity. | |||||
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