If you’re a fan of the pioneering Swedish designer Bruno Mathsson (you should be) and live in New York, there are two special events and an exhibition happening that you won’t want to miss.
The American-Scandinavian Foundation, in collaboration with the Bard Graduate Center, is presenting two events celebrating the work of Bruno Mathsson (1907-1988) at Scandinavia House in New York. This Thursday (26th April) architecture writer and curator Karin Winter will introduce the documentary film Bruno Is Back by Katarina Dunér and Jesper Wachmeister and on Thursday 3rd May the ergonomic seating authority Niels Diffrient will discuss his own design philosophy and Mathsson’s earlier innovations in seating with New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman. Both events are presented in conjunction with the exhibition Bruno Mathsson: Designer and Architect that’s currently on show at the Bard Graduate Center (until June 10). See below for full details and a brief introduction to the work of Bruno Mathsson.
In 1931 Mathsson developed his first chair, the Grasshopper, for the reception of a hospital in his home town of Värnamo. It is said that people found it so ugly that it was quickly relegated to the attic. However, this innovative chair, with its webbed seat stretched across a wooden frame sculpted into an interpretation of a grasshopper’s legs, was his first expression of what furniture could and should be. He stripped away traditional upholstery, making the hemp webbing both functional and aesthetically pleasing, and began to develop the ultimate seating, which should, he believed, have the ability to separate into a lounge chair, an easy chair, and a work chair. He thought that individual furniture designs should interact with the room in which they were placed and with the architecture surrounding them.
Mathsson also discarded traditional ideas on the height of chairs and tables, and created slender furniture forms and seating adapted to lower horizontal surfaces. Function and comfort were his primary objectives, and the mechanics of seating occupied his mind. Inspired by Le Corbusier, he experimented with the physiology of the seating curves adjusted according to the body, which in turn resulted in prototypes for the work, easy, and lounge chairs. His furniture is undoubtedly influenced by the bentwood designs of Alvar Aalto, but Mathsson’s commitment to bentwood and the range and virtuosity of the material he achieved exceeds all of his contemporaries. Mathsson possessed an uncanny feeling for the material qualities of bentwood. His timeless furniture designs are unique in their sensuously undulating lines and the elegant, organic way in which their contours echo the human form.
Masuta asta e o mai veche ideea a mea. Cand am pus idea pe o hartie si am aratat-o prietenilor si cunoscutilor mi s-a spus ca e ok. Ideea a am gasit-o apoi deghizata in diverse forme si culori. Acela a fost momentul in care a trebuit sa explic ca ideea pusa pe hartie mi-a apartinut 100%. Nimeni, nu cred, ca a crezut explicatiile mele! Asa ca iat-o, masuta careia nu i-am dat nume, dar care pe planseta lui Satina Turner poarta numele de "magtable coffee table". Datele tehnice: Solid wood coffee table with slots in the surface for magazines.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Cand l-am gasit de vanzare la Nordiska Museet "mi-a venit sa cad jos". Sa plimbi asa ceva pe o bicicleta in Bucuresti este un adevarat gest de "design statement". Bicicleta lipseste deocamdata si fel si cosul Carrie. La urmatoarea vizita la Stockholm nu mai plec fara el... Reverentele i se cuvin lui Marie-Louise Gustafsson de la Design House Stockholm (www.designhousestockholm.com)
Ciudat, dar panourile, Iconic Panels, sunt produse de o companie americana (N+B Industries). Iconic Panels sunt fabricate printr-un proces in urma caruia, pe un panou de lemn, se preseaza un strat de laminat.
Exista si altceva in afara de podeaua din pachet laminat (i se spune parchet, probabil, in lipsa unui alt termen. Ar fi barbar sa spui ca ti-ai pus pe jos carton presat): podelele din lemn masiv. Mai sus, cateva exemple splendide de podea de pin.