Interview

Rosemarie Abela (Fashion Designer)

My interview was with Rosemarie Abela, who is a contemporary fashion designer. Her favourite style is the 1950's, where all romance and elegance were still new and real. The most things she likes about the 50's is the long and flow skirts and its headbands which to her are "just an extra touch". (Rosemarie Abela, 2016) she designs for fashionistas, whom are passionate about style and she is always happy with customers final look.  

She also adores the contemporary modern style especially the geometric shapes such as rectangles, squares, triangles, etc. therefore these elements are what makes the design clean and modern. She implies that mixing both styles will emerge a contemporary version out of them.

When asked from where she gets inspired, she answered that she gets inspired basically from everything. But sometimes she gets inspired from historic eras, fashionistas and also the Maltese history.

Alexander Mc Queen was also a great influence to her, with his Avant-garde designs. In fact his fashion shows are what made Abela interested and encouraged in fashion design. There is also Elie Saab with Avant-garde designs that inspired her.

Since she mentioned the term Avant-garde, I’ve made my research about the term and got an idea what was it. The term Avant-garde is originally French which refers to new ideas and techniques to any sector in design. It is also known to be referred to as something new. At that time manufactured Avant-garde products were quite a few, but the style had made an important impact on the 20^th century designs. Therefore it made an important impact on fashion design.

Then I looked up Alexander McQueen’s designs to refresh my memory about his designs. McQueen is a well Known fashion designer and was recognized to be one of the top. He was an avant-garde designer, who explored and worked with vast variety of materials. His designs, shows emotional power, raw energy, fragility & strength, modern fluidity and severity.

These were all results of the 20^th century improvements of design and the important improvements that certain designers and style took, lead us to what we have today. 

Rosemarie Abela's passion is creating her own knitwear material from yarn. Not only her material but she likes the leather and Neoprene materials. As soon as she made use of the neoprene materials she immediately liked it and became one of her top, which is to be used for contemporary design look. There are also organza and Brocade materials that are of her favourites.

The design process starts by researching, which approximately takes one month, then she creates a number of mood boards to help her come up with designs. then she starts by creating a silhouette and a colour palette, and then she starts off designing the collection/dresses, by having them done based on the mood-boards she just made. After the designing process she starts making the dresses with "attention to detail" and also good quality, which to her is very important.  

The following images are her designs

As one observes her designs, one will immediately notice the influences, she got from the designers mentioned and the mix of styles which results to actually comes up with a new mix of contemporary design. One can also notice how designers will be influenced from the past and how important is for us to look and understand what happened during the past, this would allow designers come up with good designs.

References:

Visual arts, n.d. Avant-Garde Art. [online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/avant-garde-art.htm [Accessed 1 June2016].

Alexander Mc Queen Trading Limited, n.d. Biography [online] Available at: http://www.alexandermcqueen.com/experience/en/biography/ [Accessed 1 June 2016]. 

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Pop Design

Pop design is a phrase that refers to popular culture in design. The main founders of the style were the Independent Group, starting in 1952 developing in Britain and continued to spread also in America. At the same time in America, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg were creating art that was considered as “low art” which their art consists of commercial adverts, packaging, Television and comics.
Pop design style was always aiming for youth customers. Therefore this style is known to be more fun than the others, which uses lots of bright and vibrant colours. Starting in the 1960s, products at that time were considered to be “use it today, slings it tomorrow”. This means that disposable products were started to be mass-produced. Two design examples of disposable design are; the polka dotted cardboard spotty child chair by Peter Murdoch and the PVC Blow Chair by Lamazzi. Both two products are produced in vibrant colours.

 Polka-dotted cardboard spotty child chair by Peter Murdoch 

The blow chair is an icon of the pop design. It was one of the first furniture to be inflatable which was actually mass-produced. It is made out of transparent PVC. Without air the chair will not have a form and doesn’t function.

PVC Blow Chair by Lamazzi

At that time new materials such as plastics were being explored and experimented to come up with something innovative and fun. Pop design took several inspirations and these are; Art nouveau, Art Deco, Futurism, Surrealism, Op Art, Psychadelia, Eastern Mysticism, Kitsch and Space Age.

The Panton chair was designed by Verner Panton, who was a well-known architect. In order to come up with such design, Panton spent several years trying to experiment and research for the best materials and techniques to use.  The materials originally used are rigid polyurethane foam for the shell and a glossy lacquer for the finishing. Panton’s aim was to design a chair from one whole piece of material, but most importantly has to be comfortable to sit on. Actually I think Panton made a good effort in achieving a splendid design of a chair with just one piece and managed to make it, self-balancing. In the 1963, he joined with Vitra and started producing the Panton chair in the 1967. At the time it started to be produced, it got several awards in which shows the excellence of the chair.

The Panton Chair

The Panton Chair (different colours)

References: 

MoMA, n.d. Blow Inflatable Armchair [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/paolo-lomazzi-donato-durbino-jonathan-de-pas-blow-inflatable-armchair-1967 [Accessed 31 May 2016].

Vitra, n.d. Panton Chair Classic [online] Available at: https://www.vitra.com/en-as/product/panton-chair-classic#t/tab-product [Accessed 31 May 2016].

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Streamlining

This term is known to be as “streamlined and restyled”. The designs of Streamlining were during the 20^th century mostly in America and it is often known to be rounded, smoothly finished and also teardrop shaped designs. Art Deco was the inspirational movement to Streamlining, some say that it was a continuation of Art Deco in a progressive, simplified and slightly different way. It made an impact on the transportation designs such as maritime, automobile, and aircraft transportations. Transportations have made an improvement on aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performances for higher speed. During the 1930s, home related appliances, and furniture were given more importance to their aesthetic rather than function, the designers wanted to design products that attract the customer from its appearance, normally by having them designed elongated. Some designers which were known for their streamlined designs are Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss and Walter Dorwin Teague. New materials were introduced during this time, such as plywood, metal sheets and plastics. 

Raymond Loewy was one of the best industrial designers of the 20^th century. He tent to design modernist products by being streamlined with the idea of designing aesthetically pleasing products

.  

For example the pencil sharpener designed by Loewy is more focused to be “beautiful” rather than its function, although it is a very functional product. As said before streamlining has that tendency of having designs as a teardrop form and one could notice that this pencil sharpener is a good example of this teardrop form. 

Pencil Sharpener 1933

Norman Bel Geddes was a draughtsperson in Detroit and was also a theatrical designer who designed six productions. He also served as a set designer and was very influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright. Afterwards he switched to architecture and then he became one of the most important designers of the Streamlining. At that time he started designing modern and unique cars for Graham automobile company. He also designed radios for Philco, radio casing for RCA and metal bedroom’s furniture for Simmons.  

A car that was designed by Norman Bel Geddes which has a Streamline approach is the Motorcar No. 9. One will immediately recognize that this is streamlined because of the teardrop shape it has. Its form is very unique and very futuristic with envision for the future. At the time this was designed, it was very extraordinary, although it is still the same today as it is not normal that you see such shaped car frequently. The material was also used in a very interesting way as it is curved even the glass of the windshield is curved. As soon as you see this car, you will immediately make the resemblance with an airplane as its back part looks like an airplane tail. Its form makes it look a rocket, therefore it seems as if it is a very fast car. 

Norman Bel Geddes - Motorcar No. 9

References:

Harry Ransom Centre, n.d. Model of Motorcar No. 9, Norman Bel Geddes, ca. 1932 [online] Available at: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/windows/southeast/norman_bel_geddes.html [Accessed 30 May 2016].

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Organic Design

Some of the organic design movement’s characteristics are curves, unique forms and most importantly inspired by nature. The designs of this movement have to be in some certain way to connect with nature, architecture and interiors and be aesthetically pleasing. The first designers that pioneered this movement were Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Frank Lloyd wright. – Falling Water

This house was designed by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built for Edgar Kaufman and his family, who made use of it for about fifteen years. It was mostly influenced from the Japanese architecture. Lloyd Wright enhanced the idea of harmony connections between humanity and nature within the architecture. Not only its design makes it very unique and different but also that particular location it is situated in. It is literally situated at the peak point of the river where the water falls down, which one might understand why it’s named ‘Falling Water’. The water fall gives the structure a natural ornamentation. Also the waterfall creates an interesting natural and relaxing sound to the house which can be heard from all the rooms of the house, and for sure it is the best place to rest and relax safely within the heart of nature. Having said this, we notice how such a structure can give you a beautiful experience, but not only the structure but because of its natural surroundings.

The structure is made up of multiple rooms which some are an open living room, small kitchen, three small bedrooms, etc. which are shared between the two floors. There is also an office and a bedroom particularly of Edgar's. It has also a particular character of design also from its interior; it has low ceilings and narrow corridors which leads the eyes towards its end where they’ll end up looking outside at the natural surroundings. The exterior is also an interesting particular design, which consists of parallel lines and right angles, which are shown on its elongated cantilevered terraces. Materials that were used were concrete and steel as a support to make it stronger.  

It is also well known for its cantilevered structure and at the same time it made a huge impact because of that and it was known as the “destruction of the box”, which made Frank Lloyd Wright’s career to flourish. Somehow the interiors reminds me of the Art Deco, its because of its linearity there is throughout. 

Guggenheim

Another well-known design by Frank Lloyd Wright is this huge building, which was built into organic forms. It was built around six months after Wright died. It is made up curvatures form its exterior and interior. It actually looks like cylinders stacked on top of each other, one larger than the other. It is interesting that the interior is a continuation of what there is on the exterior. It has an interesting swirling ramp that starts from down going round and round till it reaches the top. It is very spacious and clean, structure. This structure was actually very criticized for the fact that it isn’t very functional and there were also protest against the structure, because it might not have been designed well.
Compared to the ‘Falling Water’ house, this is literally different from the aspect of angles and lines, because this is using more curves and circular form, while the other uses more linearity, angularity and precision to details.  

Guggenheim Exterior

Guggenheim Exterior

Guggenheim Interior

References:

Adelyn Perez, 2010. AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/60022/ad-classics-fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright [Accessed 30 May 2016].

Adelyn Perez, 2010. AD Classics: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / Frank Lloyd Wright [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/60392/ad-classics-solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-frank-lloyd-wright [Accessed 30 May].

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

De Stijl

De stijl was founded in 1917 established through an art journal called 'De Stijl' in The Netherlands. Painters, architects and designers were associated in some way with the movement, such as Theo van Doesburg who was the leader, Piet Mondrian, Gerrit Reitveld, Bart Anthony van der Leck, Vilmas Haszar, Jacobus Johannas Pieter Oud, and more which all had different roles within the art journal and the style. The art journal brought forward works of art and design in avant-garde and also exposed Russian Constructivism. De Stijl movement enhanced the idea of no ornamentation and was based on simplicity, abstraction and harmony. It mostly uses the basic primary colours the blue, red and yellow, also the white, black and grey. It encouraged the design to be functional. By the artist Piet Mondrian the style encouraged Neo-Plasticism which means the new plasticism. This term refers to the primary colours and simplistic abstractions from Mondrian.

Painting by Piet Mondrian (one of the main influences to the De Stijl).

Furniture by Gerrit Reitveld

The Red and Blue chair by Gerrit Reitveld was designed in the 1918. It is truly showing its De Stijl characteristics throughout its form and simplicity. It is built with pieces of straight cut wood for its frame and other two plane wooden boards for the seating and backrests parts. As soon as one see it, it will immediately reminds you of the Piet Mondrian’s paintings, because of its straight lines concept and for the primary colours used which are both elements that reflects the inspiration of the painting from Mondrian. This chair might not be so practical but was designed to serve in particular environments where it shouldn’t be moved so often due to its huge dimensions. In other words it is an interesting work of art which has a function.

Side board

Blue and Red Chair - 1918

Another interesting furniture designed by Gerrit Reitveld is the Sideboard (1919). This is very particular one by its form. It has the main elements of the De Stijl style within its design, which can be seen through those straight, vertical and horizontal lines. Although its form is a unique one, it is very well planned to do its function well.

Sideboard - 1919

Fashion

Fashion is always exploring new ideas which might be influenced by different styles of the time and the past. De Stijl and Piet Mondrian in particular ware great influences to the popular fashion designer Yves St Laurent. Some examples of his designs are showing in the images below, have all the elements from Piet Mondrian’s paintings. St Laurent, then created his own collection which was named the ‘Mondrian Collection’. All dresses designed in this collection have all been made in bold primary colours and with vertical and horizontal lines resembles the grid idea of Mondrian.
De Stijl not only made influence on Yves St Laurent, but also on other fashion designer at that time and now. 

Yves St Laurent - One of his dress designs from the collection

Yves collection

Different elements in fashion design which took inspiration from De Stijl, today and before. 

As we go through this style we understand that it made influences on every aspects of design from small products to furniture, to architecture and interior design. It is interesting that the elements of this style are still used today as its main characteristics are timeless and can be ‘reused’ any time. 

References:

Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016. De Stijl. [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/topic/De-Stijl-art [Accessed 29 May 2016].

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Dress [online] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/C.I.69.23/ [Accessed 29 May 2016].

Infographic

Process:

Process Image 1

Process Image 2

Process Image 3

Process Image 4

Process Image 5

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe was firstly a builder and later he became a draughts man for Aachen architectural offices. He worked for Bruno Paul till the 1907 and the he joined Peter Behrens, which he started designing for the AEG Company, alongside Walter Gropius. A year after he left Behrens, in 1912 he opened his own office studio, where he started designing offices, houses, etc. Then in 1926, he joined the Deutscher Werkbund and became its vice president. Mart Stam was an inspiration to him as he started to get inspired from the cantilevered chairs. Two chairs that were inspired from Stam are the MR10 chair and the MR20 armchair, both made in tubular steel.
He served as the last director of the Bauhaus and he was the one behind the idea that the school moves from Dessau to Berlin, where it made its end in 1933. Then in Berlin he continued to work as a freelance architect and again he moved to the United States, where he opened architectural offices in Chicago. There he directed the Armour institute, where many studied and later became popular architects. Its aim was to design functional structures rather than ornamental ones.  

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

 MR 10 chair & MR 20 armchair

These chairs were inspired from Mart Stam, who invented the idea of cantilevered chairs. Mies Van Der Rohe was encouraged to improve on this idea and he actually designed it better. The original idea of Stam was with angular and straight pipes, also with “ugly” sockets. So he designed them into more clean and curvy forms, keeping the idea of tubular steel. He also took inspiration of the tubular steel from the Bauhaus from Marcel Breuer.  The technique to achieve those interesting curvatures is the moulding iron piping. These chairs offers good comfort in seating and are safe to use. These two chairs were exhibited in the Weissenhof exhibition.
These chairs were one of the first steel furniture that was being made at that time. The idea of cantilevered chairs made a huge impact on the 20^th century furniture designs. If we take a look around us nowadays, we notice that the ideas of tubular steel and cantilevered chairs are still being designed. 

Mart Stem's Cantilevered chair.

MR10 Chair - 1927

MR20 Armchair - 1927

The Barcelona Pavilion

The Barcelona Pavilion was part of the modern movement, which was built after the WWI. It was originally designed for the King and Queen of Spain, as a resting place. Its structure is very simple and quite effective with the materials used. The materials used are: Roman travertine, golden Onyx marble, Green Alphine marble, ancient green marble from Greece, glass and steel. With all these materials, the pavilion forms its own elegance in a unique and simple way. The pavilion was designed on a grid system which gives alignments of the floor tiles and other things such as the placement of the marble partitions. That statute there is at corner in water is the focal point of the Pavilion, as it can be appreciated from various angles such as from the reflections of the marble steel and water. 

Barcelona Pavilion - Interior

Barcelona Pavilion - Statue reflections on the materials.

Barcelona Pavilion - Interior

Barcelona Pavilion - Interior

Barcelona Pavilion - Exterior

Barcelona Pavilion Plan

At the moment we have an assignment about visualization on 3Ds Max using a Vray plugin to render.  The requirement of this assignment is to assign materials to a ready modelled Barcelona Pavilion. This is to show our knowledge in the software and how well on can observe. Doing this assignment I observed every detail of the pavilion through reference images which helped me out find the materials and assigned them to the 3D model. I also noticed and observed well the reflections the materials have in order to imitate the best visuals possible. I have to say that this assignment made me appreciate the importance of the materials in interiors/exteriors.

The following images are my renders without sky or editing. 

Render 1

Render 2

Render 3

Alongside with this assignment we also had to assign materials to the iconic Barcelona chair, which had to be rendered in a photographic studio. This chair was also designed for the Barcelona Pavilion also by Mies Van Der Rohe, and is still in production nowadays. The simplicity of the chair can also be seen through the materials and its effectiveness.

Original Barcelona Chair

My Barcelona Chair Render.

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References:

Vitra Design Museum, n.d. MR 10 Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. [online] Available at: http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/mr-10-ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe.html [Accessed 26th May 2016].

Mies van der Rohe Society Illinois Institute of Technology, n.d. Legacy MIES: THE MAN, THE LEGACY. [online] Available at: http://www.miessociety.org/legacy/ [Accessed 26 May].

Knoll Studio, n.d. MR Chair Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ca. 1927. [online] Available at: http://www.knoll.com/product/mr-chair%3Fsection=Design [Accessed 26 May 2016].

Andrew Kroll, 2011, AD Classics: Barcelona Pavilion / Mies van der Rohe. [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/109135/ad-classics-barcelona-pavilion-mies-van-der-rohe [Accessed 26 May 2016].

Mies BCN, n.d. The Pavilion. [online] Available at: http://miesbcn.com/the-pavilion/ [Accessed 26 May 2016].

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.

Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus

Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius was born in Berlin in 1883. His father was an architect and he followed his career and became an architect from the Technische Hochschule in Munich. He became a member of the Deutscher Werkbund around 1907, and then he designed a model factory for it in Cologne, 1914. This was important structure for the materials used, which were glass and steel. These materials made the structure important and showed the expression of Modernism. In 1919, he founded the Bauhaus and started a new era in design.  Later in his life around 1937, he moved to America where he became an architectural lecturer in the Harvard University of the US.  

Walter Gropius.

The Fagus factory

The Fugus factory was built in 1911, it was considered to be one of the first buildings to be a Modernist. The materials used for the building were; glass, steel and bricks. One could notice the amount of glass used as a structure, which was designed as it is to let a good amount of natural daylight to enter which allows the interiors to have fresh air at the same time it offers pleasant working conditions and environment, which both were considered when it was being designed. It was also designed this way to meet interesting aesthetics. Another important approach in the design of the structure was to be functional.

The entrance to the Fagus Factory

The interior of the Fagus Factory.

Model Making Assignment

At the moment, for a model making assignment, I’m making a model of a modern villa. My main idea was to create something modernistic and simple. While doing the research I noticed that my model has a lot of similarities in the design to the Fagus Factory. This is because my model consists of vertical and horizontal lines throughout. Also my main idea was that the structure should have more glass rather than concrete or bricks, and this was one of the main ideas of the Fagus Factory. 

My Model of the model making assignment.

The Bauhaus

The Bauhaus started in Germany as a school of Arts and Design in 1919. Bauhaus means ‘building house’. It was founded by Walter Gropius. He directed and educated in the Bauhaus. The idea behind the Bauhaus was to introduce new ideas into creation of beautiful, functional things, more specifically the idea of modernism. The Bauhaus has made a huge impact in Europe and also in the United States, mostly on technology and society. It was a good influence to architects and designers by the use of different materials and techniques. Its aim was to introduce a mixture of art and design together and that products look aesthetically pleasing. The Bauhaus offered various courses, starting from the preliminary to more advanced courses, which also gave the opportunity to students to work in their preferred workshops to create their designs.

 

The Bauhaus School

A student who studied in the Bauhaus was the famous Marcel Breuer, who is mostly known for his chairs in tubular steel. He took carpentry and textiles as his preferred workshop in Bauhaus. His first chair designs during his studies in the Bauhaus were the African chair and the Slatted chair. Both were made in textiles and wood.

African Chair 1921

Slatted Chair 1924

Later Breuer became the head of the carpentry of the Bauhaus and after few years there he moved to Dessau and designed his first tubular steel chair (B3) in 1925. This chair offers comfortable seating, inexpensive materials which are lightweight and strong, and very clean and simple design. The fabric for the chair is what makes it most comfortable as it is serving as a cushion or a spring. This chair became an icon and is still influencing the industry nowadays. If one observes well this chair might notice that it has some similarities to the African chair. 

B3 Tubular Steel Chair - 1925

References:

NHS Evidence, 2003. National Library of Guidelines. [online] Available at: <http://www.library.nhs.uk/guidelinesFinder> [Accessed 10 October 2009].

Alexandra Griffith Winton, MET Museum, 2007. The Bauhaus, 1919–1933. [online] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm [Accessed May 2016].

Denim Pascucci, 2015. AD Classics: Fagus Factory / Walter Gropius + Adolf Meyer. [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/612249/ad-classics-fagus-factory-walter-gropius-adolf-meyer [Accessed 22 May 2016].

Vitra Design Museum, n.d. B3,Wassily - Marcel Breuer. [online] Available at: http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/b3wassily-marcel-breuer.html  [Accessed 22 May 2016].

Hauffe, T., 1998, Design A Concise History. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Fiell C. and Fiell P., 2015. Design of the 20th Century. Köln: Taschen.