I offer you selection of my favourite design pieces created during the 20th century that are considered icons of modern era at the same time. They are not only a part of the permanent collections of world´s the most leading design and decorative art museums but thanks to their timeless appearance they are still the best ingredient of many high-end modern interiors.
And maybe this list may seems as cliché I try to bring to you a context that proves the most of the best designs were revolutionary, visionary and innovative at that times and pushed the boundaries not only for design and furniture industry but for everyday simple life.
1. Vitra - Eames House Bird, around 1910 ♥ / ♥ / ♥
The bird was originally carved by Charles Perdew around 1910 as a bird decoy for hunters and became popular in the 1950s, primarily for its minimal shape and dark color. It was popularized by Charles and Ray Eames, who acquired one on their travels in the Appalachian mountains and soon can be seen in many of their product photo-shoots.
2. Arne E. Jacobsen - Ant chair, 1952
3. Pierre Jeanneret - Office chair for Chandigarh, 1955-1956
4. Charles and Ray Eames - Rocking Armchair Rod (RAR), 1948
Large family of Plastic chairs are the most well-known designs by Eames. Designer couple won second prize with them in the ‘International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design’, organised by the New York Museum of Modern Art. They used a fiberglass, a material that was entirely new to the furniture industry and at that time reserved for the US Army.
5. Charles and Ray Eames - Dining Armchair Rod (DAR), 1948
6. Charles and Ray Eames - Lounge Chair and Ottoman, 1956
7. Charles and Ray Eames - Dining Armchair Wood (DAW), 1948
And also another type of Plastic chair - Dining Side Wood (DSW), 1948.
8. Warren Platner - Platner Arm Chair, 1966
Not limiting itself to architecture, Warren Platner also experimented in furniture design. In the 1960s, as the modernist movement became more expressive, Platner focused on a quieter aesthetic, wishing to create more graceful structures. The Platner Collection captured the decorative, gentle shapes and is now considered a design icon of the modern era.
9. Charles and Ray Eames - Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW), 1945
In 1999, Time magazine declared the LCW the greatest design of the 20th century. The original LCW was a result of designing plywood splints for the US air force. After several experiments Eames came up with an “honest” ergonomic chair that was soon coveted the world over.
10. Vico Magistretti - Atollo lamp, 1977
This object of Industrial design by Italian designer Vico Magistretti for O luce won the 1979 Compasso d’Oro award and took its place in the permanent collections of design and decorative art museums as MoMA, becoming so much more than just a lamp: an icon.
11. Eero Saarinen - Tulip chairs and Pedestal tables, 1955-1956 ♥
The collection was designed by Eero Saarinen for the Knoll company of New York City. The furniture with its smooth lines of modernism and experimental materials is considered a classic of industrial design.
12. Hans J. Wegner - CH24 | WISHBONE CHAIR, 1949
The very first model that Hans J. Wegner designed exclusively for Carl Hansen & Søn.
13. Jorgen Hovelskov - Harp Chair, 1968
14. Poul Henningsen - Artichoke Lamp, 1958
The iconic lamp was designed for a commision for a restaurant in Copenhagen. The fact that the light source couldn’t be seen was very revolutionary at the time. When people didn’t see a lamp as a nice object but simply as a generator of light, Henningsen was one of the first to think of both.
15. Jean Prouvé - Standard chair, 1934 ♥
During World War II, Prouvé was a member of the French Resistance, and his first post-war efforts were devoted to designing metal pre-fab housing for those left homeless by the conflict. The Standard Chair exemplifies a fundamental aspect of Prouvé’s furniture design: his unwavering focus on structural requirements.
16. Marco Zanuso - Lady armchair, 1951
Designed in 1951 for Arflex, the Lady armchair won the gold medal at the IX Milan Triennale in the same year. The armchair brings innovation to the traditional manufacturing technique for making armchairs and sofas, with each part manufactured separately and then assembled.
17. Verner Panton - Panton chair, 1960-1967
S-shaped chair is the world’s first moulded plastic chair and it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Danish design.
18. Arne Jacobsen - Cylinda-Line, 1967
Arne Jacobsen hoped that Cylinda-line products would enrich the lives of average consumers with industrial design that was functional and affordable. It won the Danish Design Council’s ID Prize in 1967.
19. anknown designer - Acapulco chair, around 1950 ♥
The designer remains unknown to this day. The story goes that while visiting Acapulco in the 50s, a French tourist was uncomfortably hot sitting in a solidly-constructed chair in the Mexican sunshine. Inspired by the open string construction of traditional Mayan hammocks nearby, he designed a chair fit for the modern tropics.
20. Harry Bertoia - Bertoia Diamond Chair, 1952
Bertoia found sublime grace in an industrial material, elevating it beyond its normal utility into a work of art.
21. Hans J Wegner - PP701 Chair, 1965 ♥
22. Alvar Aalto - Table 915 for Artek, 1932
23. Anna Castelli Ferrieri - Componibili storage unit, 1969
The Componibili storage unit by Kartell is a design classic that is a part of the permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris.
24. Charles and Ray Eames - Molded Plywood Lounge Chairs with Metal Bases (LCM), 1946
25. Serge Mouille - Serge Mouille sconces, 1958
Serge Mouille was asked by Jacques Adnet, the director of the French Arts Company, to create 'big lightings’ for his South-American customers. Mouille imagined then the famous Standing lamp 3 arms and Standing lamp one arm that was the beginning of the « Formes Noires » collection.
26. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - Barcelona chair, 1929
In 1929, Mies was commissioned by the German government to design the German pavilion for the Barcelona Fair, one of the most elegant pieces of architecture ever created. This building required furniture that simply did not exist, so Mies responded to this commission with the Barcelona chair.
27. A. Bonet, J. Kurchan and J. Ferrari Hardoy - The butterfly chair, also known as a BKF chair, 1938 ♥
The BKF chair (the initials of its creators) was developed for an apartment in Buenos Aires. In 1940, a picture of the chair appeared in the US Retailing Daily, where it was described as a “newly invented Argentine easy-chair for siesta sitting”, few months later, the chair was awarded and attracted the attention of the MoMA in New York immediately.
28. Arne Jacobsen - Drop chair, 1958
Arne Jacobsen designed his Drop chair exclusively for the legendary SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, along with the Swan and the Egg chair. The Drop chair was Arne Jacobsen’s own favourite piece.
29. Bonderup & Thorup - Semi pendant light, Gubi 1968
30. Morgens Lasse - Kubus 4 candle holder, 1962 ♥
31. Marcel Breuer - The Wassily Chair, 1925-1926
While the head of the cabinet-making workshop at the Bauhaus in Germany, Breuer revolutionized the modern interior with his tubular-steel furniture, inspired by bicycle construction. His first designs, including the Wassily, remain among the most identifiable icons of the modern furniture movement.
