Female Focus
Page 41
House and Home
Classic Claris Cliff
A History of Design…. Contemporary and Cool
Last month’s trip back into interior design history delved into the huge changes that were afoot around the turn of the last century with Art Nouveau and Art Deco defining homes full of colour and ornament.
During the 1920s however, almost as a rejection of the frivolous feel of the early 1900s, International Modernism filtered into the world of interiors. Its roots lay in the Bauhaus School of Design based in Germany, and like Art Deco, it was closely bound up with technology.
Purity
Modernism was concerned with function, structure and purity of line and was a serious attempt to combine revolutionary ideas with integrity of materials and construction. Following the First World War many who returned from fighting or working in the munitions factories tended to settle into jobs in industry. There was also a severe shortage of domestic servants. As a result houses and their contents had to be streamlined so that middle class women could look after them without the help of staff. A post war population boom meant that additional housing had to be built quickly and cheaply and as such neither time nor money was wasted on architectural detailing, with the resulting featureless spaces requiring a new approach to interior decoration.
Achieving the look The defining features of modernism are neutral hues and soft white, and a mix of natural materials such as wool, silk, stone, leather and timber along with high end technology such as chromium, plate glass and plastic. The lines are straight, surfaces are large, flat and unadorned and the impression is one of calm, order and discipline. Aesthetically it was much more of a contemporary trend that laid down looks that have dominated the design industry since. The vast Modernist sofas with low backs, square arms and tailored covers are still very much on trend today, but the piles of eclectic cushions that add interest and colour were a definite no no! A few specific accessories were all that added interest; one or two large graphic images, or a single sculptural plant specimen. Occasional feature seating also came into its own at this time, with classic designs still copied today such as the curvaceous chaise longue designed by Le Corbusier in 1928.
Clutter free living The key to a Modernist look is maintaining a seemingly clutter free existence and this requires generous provision for storage. As such built in units, often concealed, were an integral part of Modernist rooms and something that maybe the architects of today’s Modernist trend of villas would have done well to learn from!
What goes around… Interestingly enough the trend for window treatments was very much centred on simple dressings and a revolution in blind technology, something that we are seeing once again with the onslaught of vast expanses of glass and picture windows in today’s villas.
Lotus Homestyling Studio, Ctra. Moraira 16, Benitachell. Call 966 493 232.
Tammi
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