By Megan Tinkler, meganleanne.com
Often times the term “modern design” is misused and misinterpreted by the general public. It is thrown around casually to describe what many may think is new, while what these people are really referring to is “contemporary design.” Modern design by definition is indicative of the mid-20th century, ranging from the mid-1930s to the late 1960s. This era of design was ground breaking, as well as rule breaking. No longer were men monopolizing the design world, but rather women, like Eileen Gray, Florence Knoll, and even Ray Eames, began to emerge at the forefront of the design community. Additionally, new building materials, such as tubular steel and glass, were introduced in both commercial and residential design settings. The phrase “form follows function,” coined by Louis Sullivan in 1896, truly began to take shape during this period of design and influenced a multitude of designers and architects worldwide.
Growing up in the South during the 80s and 90s, modern design was few and far between. As I toured show homes and read Southern Living and Veranda, the homes and glossy pages were filled with images of heavily carved wood settees, gilded leaf trim, and chintz floral and paisley. After graduating with a degree in interior design in 2005 from the University of Georgia and working for a few years in Atlanta, I grew tired of the heaviness and over-complexity of this design aesthetic. I yearned for a more simplistic and honest sense of design, and soon left for Washington DC, throwing myself into a mixed bag of design, ranging in ethnicity and culture.
At the same time, a new TV show highlighting the 1950s and 60s in New York took off, captivating the minds of a generation who had never experienced such a whirlwind of streamlined, tailored, and wrist glove-wearing imagery. Of course I’m referring to AMC’s Mad Men, which has won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, while at the time its vintage modern style has influenced contemporary clothing, furniture, and product design throughout the world. Recently Banana Republic introduced its new “Mad Men Collection,” and places like Design Within Reach and Room and Board, which offer modern furniture, have seen an upswing in 20 and 30 year olds flocking to their stores to snag a piece of the past to feather their new nest.
Like most things in life, interior design is cyclical, so I’m not surprised to see modern design resurface as the new hot trend and “must have.” Yet at the same time, it is not trendy or faddish because these designs have withstood the test of time, just like your grandmother’s Chippendale dining suite. Vintage Mid-Century stores are popping up all over the country, stocked with Eames Lounge Chairs, Platner dining tables, and Saarinen Tulip chairs, while even big box furniture stores, like Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware, are beginning to mimic these designs in their new collections in order to leverage their customers’ demand for modernism.
Since returning to Atlanta, I have developed an extreme love affair with this era of design and often find myself scouring the city for Lucite wine buckets, Bertoia Chairs, and teak legged sofas. I even sometimes wish hats and gloves would come back into style so I could act out my own “Mad Men” scene while sitting on my Paul McCobb sofa, cocktail resting on my Noguchi Coffee Table, and admiring my new C. Jere metal sculpture above my mantle. But it’s not just the pure look of these pieces that make them great, but also the quality construction and classic timeless that makes modern design so desirable.
Now while practicing design in the South once again, I am still faced with those who claim they only like traditional design, which I believe is mainly due to growing up in homes full of wing backs and colonialism and their lack of exposure to otherwise, but I digress... Yet, I have found ways to introduce classic modern pieces into my design, and because modern furniture often possesses such a simple and clean profile, it has become effortless to do so.
So here’s to modern design’s comeback, seducing the hearts of Americans one “Mad Men knockoff TV show” at a time!
Examples of modern e-design by Megan Leanne Interior Design.
Business is about making connections. It's who you know and connecting them with what you have to offer. And that is what Function: does - ...
: READ MORE
1. Attack the Market at a Regional Versus National Level Define a manageable amount of key regional markets, approximately six to eight, and focus ...
: READ MORE
A scene in the film Minority Report shows a flat screen TV greeting customers at stores with personalized ads. The Hunger Games’ notorious capitol society ...
: READ MORE
Function: remains engaged with our clients target audiences to better understand their habits, thought processes and to stay ahead of industry trends. This enables us ...
: READ MORE
In the age of social media, smart phones and online meeting tools, many people find themselves yearning for face-to-face interaction. Companies who put extra effort ...
: READ MORECarl Seville, GBA Advisor It isn't easy to meet the energy and water requirements set by the LBC The Living Building Challenge uses the flower ...
: READ MOREby Carl Seville, GBA Advisor This new non-profit has a solid pedigree and lofty goals Image 1 of 4 Adam Deck, the director of the ...
: READ MOREBy Carl Seville, greenbuildingadvisor.com How I learned more than I expected at an affordable housing conference I recently learned that in Georgia, as well as ...
: READ MOREBy Laura Davis, AIA, Dallas Architect There’s more to choosing an architect than what you’ll see in a résumé or proposal. Dallas Architects, Laura Davis, ...
: READ MOREBy Megan Tinkler, meganleanne.com Often times the term “modern design” is misused and misinterpreted by the general public. It is thrown around casually to describe ...
: READ MORE
Two-thirds of architects and designers, contractors and builders are using mobile apps. But out of those, what percentage are using mobile apps for business purposes? ...
: READ MOREIt's no secret that product manufacturer websites are a key resource for product specification. On the other hand, did you know claims from the manufacturer ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: During one of our Construct Knowledge Series Webinars, an editor asserted that 75% of information would be gathered ...
: READ MOREIn a year when large building and construction companies still felt the economic ripples of a hard-hit industry, Brian Zeis, president of Anjer Construction, said ...
: READ MOREOscar Wilde once said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Today, in the age ...
: READ MOREContractors’ schedules are fast-paced and demanding. With more days spent out of the office than in, contractors often have little time to check email, browse ...
: READ MOREFunction: recently surveyed over 1,000 Manufacturers to examine the outlook for marketing building products in 2011. Through this research, we identified the direction of marketing ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: If you've met with me in person recently, you probably heard me talking about the contractor trend study ...
: READ MORE
Researchers in the UK are attempting to create something radical for the building industry: a living building skin. Like coral, this carbon negative compound is ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: The other day I had the chance to visit with TVS Design's Sustainable Studio Director, Susie Spivey-Tilson. As ...
: READ MOREIt’s important to tailor any marketing approach to the specific product and company, but with over twelve years of experience in this market, we at ...
: READ MORESure Social Media is a fun way to kill time with pointless status updates, playing games, sharing pictures, reuniting with old friends and keeping tabs ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: Ever heard of FUMIFU? I am a big proponent of acronyms and this one stuck with me. I ...
: READ MOREIn PR, knowing market trends is a foundational element of doing business. In the last few years, nothing has made a bigger impact than the ...
: READ MOREICC, ANSI, ASTM, ISO, ASHRAE - the string of monikers floating around in the world of building codes is a long one. And on March ...
: READ MORE
by Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: As we move into March of Twenty Ten, we find winter begrudgingly winding down and tax season winding ...
: READ MOREOpening his State of the Union address with a reference to the periods of economic trouble America has faced and endured in the last century, ...
: READ MORERecently, Function conducted a Webinar on the changing face of media relations. We brought in some of the most well respected and knowledgeable media experts ...
: READ MOREA New Culture For years the American mindset was “greed is good” (á la Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie “Wall Street”). We produced a ...
: READ MOREThere was a time that marketers reached their audiences solely through print – printed pieces of mail, printed advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and printed ...
: READ MORE
by Jessi Probus, PR, Function:photo credit: Nationalgeographic.com It finally happened. Thanks to Al Gore, polar bears, and time-lapse glacier photos, being green is trendy. Celebrities ...
: READ MOREby Joslyn Fagan, Director of Public Relations, Function: For those of you who read this blog regularly (you are out there, right?), you may remember ...
: READ MORE
by Joslyn Fagan, Director of Public Relations, Function: As the mother of a six-month-old I spend a lot of time reading books that are designed ...
: READ MOREAs a society we have become increasingly aware of the impact of our behavior on the global environment. We have found ourselves, in a short ...
: READ MOREIn today’s tight market, competition is fierce. People and businesses are competing for jobs, clients and projects – using whatever means necessary to win. However, ...
: READ MOREBuilding Information Modeling, or BIM, is a design movement that has captured the interest of the industry and created a huge “buzz.” There’s still much ...
: READ MORE
