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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010300970 | NK1390 G87 2012 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
With the first decade of the twenty-first century behind us, it is time to reassess the concept of "modern," a term that dates to the Middle Ages, when it signified current or recent events. Not until the eighteenth century did it become a stylistic term; more recently it has generally referred to the aesthetic that evolved from the Bauhaus and flourished in the mid-twentieth century. Though proclaiming freedom from the limitations of style, it became as formulaic as most of its predecessors, as Modern architecture and furnishings conformed to prescribed specifications: geometric forms, industrially fabricated, unadorned, and studiously ahistorical.
Those guidelines are no longer relevant. As Midcentury Modernism has receded into history, Modernism has been redefined, reenergized, and in the process transformed. Today it embraces a cornucopia of design in an almost limitless range of materials: design studios are laboratories for experimentation; design concepts can be as important as finished objects; and furniture has crossed barriers to become a new art form. Tools and technologies never before possible have provided new approaches to decoration, and may incorporate influences from the past. The design profession has broadened its horizons; interiors and furniture are being created by architects, interior designers, furniture makers, industrial designers, artisans, artists, and even fashion designers.
Design After Modernism offers an overview of developments in design over the past four decades--some evolutionary, some expected, and some extraordinary. It identifies the diverse influences that have generated new directions in design and illustrates many of the most characteristic, most noteworthy, and most innovative objects in this rich and variegated mix. All are representative of their time, and many of the earlier designs have already gained iconic status. Of the more recent ones, whether or not they will be admired in decades to come is something that only time will tell.
Author Notes
Judith Gura is a professor at the New York School of Interior Design, where she directs the design history program and is coordinator of public programs. A graduate of Cornell University, she has a master's degree in the history of the decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center. She has worked on exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her published works include New York Interior Design, 1935-1985, Sourcebook of Scandinavian Furniture, Guide to Period Styles for Interiors, Harvey Probber: Modernist Furniture, Artworks and Design, and Edward Wormley: The Other Face of Modernism . She is a contributing editor for Art+Auction , and lectures frequently on interior design and furniture styles.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Gura (New York School of Interior Design) provides surprising breadth and depth in a compact volume. She distinguishes the term "modern" from "contemporary," explaining that its definition in the mid-20th century (to describe a single formulaic and minimalistic style) is no longer accurate. An extended introduction provides needed historical context and explains how application of the term "modern" to designed objects erased nationalistic distinctions. Designers stopped relying on architecture to guide the look of interiors; this and cultural democratization encouraged eclectic design. The rest of the book might seem overly categorized. Each section opens with an illustration of a complete interior (usually computer generated) to provide a viewing context for the individual objects that follow. The section "Reigning Modernism 1950-1970" provides the relatively pure example that will be extended, critiqued, or rejected in the styles to follow. A much longer section, "Defining the Trends, 1970-2000," is subdivided into "Relaxing Modernism," "Rejecting Modernism," and "Reassessing Modernism"--each of which is then divided further. The remainder of the book, titled "Reinventing Modernism" and dedicated to the decade 2000-10, makes the greatest scholarly contribution with a wide range of environmentally responsible approaches to design. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers; general readers. E. K. Mix Butler University
