Task 2
20th Century Furniture
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CONTENTS 3.
Introduction to Rietveld
4.
Rietveld as a Designer
5. Design Specifications 6. Design Ideation 7. Design Ideation 8. Design Ideation 9. Design Development 10. Design Concepts 11. Reflection 12. References 13. Appendix
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INTRODUCTION TO RIETVELD Gerrit Rietveld was a Dutch born furniture designer, architect, artists and leader in modern design from the 1920’s till the mid 50’s. He was influential in the way he thought, used materials to enable easier manufacturing, the aesthetical choices he made and the bold and bright colours that were commonly seen throughout his works. Joining the De Stijl movement in 1919, Rietveld was largely influenced by the philosophies that surrounded the group and its view of an utopian and simplistic world. With a key style and form being adamant in his design decisions, Rietvelds work was seen as radical and caught the attention of many high profiles worldwide. His furniture work throughout the early 1920’s and 30’s saw Rietveld rise to fame with pieces such as the Red and Blue chair and the Zig Zag chair.
EARLY LIFE Rietveld grew up and lived his entire life in Utrecht in the Netherlands, where he was first introduced to aspects of the design world through his father, who owned a workshop in the suburbs of his hometown. Through leaving school at an early age, Rietveld learnt the skills, processes and developed his own style and way of working over the later part of his teenage years. After spending time as an apprentice under his father, Rietveld moved on to acquire more skills and part take in a variety of jobs, these included working as a jeweler and a draftsmen, until he later opened his own furniture workshop where he began to design and produce his own work.
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RIETVELD AS A DESIGNER Rietvelds design career began when he released the Red and Blue chair in 1918. Rietvelds thinking was based upon many of the philosophies and ideas within the De Stijl group. This movement focused on simplicity, stripping everything back to the basics, using straight, horizontal, vertical and parallel lines along with a primary colour pallet. The Red and Blue chair was seen as the first tangible object to fully represent the artists elements of the De Stijl group.
Red & Blue Chair 1918
The Zig Zag chair was an unusual and different approach to the traditional four legged chair. The design by Rietveld is a timeless piece that is still produced and can be purchased through the furniture company Cassina. With variations within the colours available, Cassina have used the popular colour pallet Rietveld commonly used within his work to create a diverse collection and also show the past influences and style that Rietveld commonly used. Using dove tail joints and a large number of screws to originally fasten the joints of the chair, Rietveld experimented with numerous methods of joinery to allow for the radical and sharp angles seen within the chair to structurally hold the weight of a human. The chair now uses dowels instead of screws, however this goes to show the time, prototyping, knowledge of carpentry and the effort he went to execute a design that is outside the norms of his time and explores new areas of joinery, aesthetics and furniture.
Berlin Chair Zig Zag Chair
1923
1934
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DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS COLOUR Primary Colours Red, Blue & Yellow Shades of Black & White
SIMPLICITY Basic Shapes, Construction, Materials One Size Fits All Easy to Manufacture
SHAPE Straight, Parallel Lines Horizontal & Vertical Basic Geometries Squares, Rectangles, Triangles, Ellipses
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DESIGN IDEATION
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DESIGN IDEATION
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DESIGN IDEATION
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DESIGNS DEVELOPMENT Ply Colour Chair
Size: H=800, L=512 ,W=500 (mm) Material: 12mm Ply Wood, Plastic Colour: Red, Blue, Yellow Process: CNC Cut, Slot Joints
Zig Zag Enclosed Dining Chair
Size: H=800, L=468 ,W=450 (mm) Material: 19mm Hardwood, Leather Colour: Brown, White Process: Mitre Joint & Dove Tail Joints, Dowels, Upholstered
Zig Zag Dining Chair 1 & 2
Size: H=1125, L=650 ,W=500 (mm) Material: 19mm Hardwood Colour: Brown Process: Dove Tail & Mitre Joints, Dowels, Laminated Timber
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DESIGN CONCEPTS Zig Zag Enclosed Dining Chair
Zig Zag Dining Chair 1 & 2
Ply Colour Chair
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REFLECTION Researching Gerrit Rietveld and his career as a designer has given great insight into a style of design during the 20th Century. Having been influenced so heavily by the De Stijl group and using their philosophies within his works, Rietvelds style was very clear and seen within everything he did. Using straight lines, basic geometries and primary colours, his work was minimalist and always stripped back to the very basics. However this did not take away from the clever and innovative design that Rietveld produced. Not only did this approach allow for manufacturing to be easier, the designs were aesthetically pleasing, clean and timeless. Using Rietveld and his work as inspirations for creating my own designs, gave a solid outline of key aspects to include when designing. The first element that I took into consideration was to use simplicity to my advantage. Creating designs that are made of basic geometric shapes, solid bits of timber and using minimal joints all had a minimalistic approach. By keeping the designs simple, it allows for a uniform aesthetic and style to be seen throughout the designs. The colour scheme for the Ply Colour Chair used the primary colour pallet that the De Stijl Movement and Rietveld idolised. The brightness and contrast of each of the colours creates interest to enhances the feeling of the chair by giving it more emphasis and ‘pop’ when in a room or space. The colour highlights the chair as a whole adding another dimension to create interest and make it a show piece. Zig Zag Dining Chair 1 & 2 along with the Zig Zag Enclosed Dining chair were all inspired using the same methods of solid legs and ‘Z’ shape, as Rietvelds Zig Zag chair did in 1934. The method of removing the traditional norms of a four legged chair and using the properties of the timber along with the knowledge and craftsmanship of a woodworking technique to create an unusual shape, was a aspect that I wanted to include within my designs. From this, the same ‘Z’ shape can be seen through my designs and a similar joining method is used. The designs were then modified for a specific need, in this case I choose to create three dining chairs that all slightly differ, but show similarities and ties back to Rietvelds work. The chairs I designed had the manufacturing process in mind. The timber used is standard 19mm hardwood that can easily be laminated and cut into boards. A jig would need to be built first in order to cut the joints accurately, however this can be reused in all the chairs to create accuracy and allow for mass production. The Ply Colour Chair was designed to be cut from a sheet of ply using a CNC to make sure all the joints fit perfectly and allowing it to be rapidly reproduced. This was a key factor when Rietveld designed the Red & Blue chair using standard sized timber to allow for manufacturing to be faster and more efficient. Key ideas such as shape, manufacturing, simplicity and colour were all taken into consideration when designing. The four chairs that I designed have strong links and similarities to the works that Rietveld produced throughout the 20th century and successfully achieve the aim of using his work a thinking as inspiration for my own designs.
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REFERENCES Marijke Küper and Ida van Zijl, Gerrit Th. Rietveld: The Complete Works (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992): 16-17. MOMA (1999) Gerrit Rietveld Red Blue Chair. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/works/4044 (Accessed: 8 August 2016). Vitra (2008) Vitra Design Museum. Available at: http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/ zig-zag-gerrit-thomas-rietveld.html (Accessed: 8 August 2016). Metts, E. (2014) ‘The Art World of Gerrit Rietveld: How the Odd Man Out’s Chair and House Modernized Design’, Arts in Context, 1(1), pp. 2–6. Bonluxat (2014) Bunlaxat- Contemporary Furniture. Available at: http://www.bonluxat.com/a/Gerrit_T._Rietveld_Zig_Zag.html (Accessed: 8 August 2016). Bonluxat (2016) Latest Gerrit Thomas Rietveld furniture, products and designs. Available at: http://www.bonluxat.com/d/gerrit-thomas-rietveld.html. (Accessed: 8 August 2016). designboom. architecture & design magazine. 2016. rietveld’s universe furniture. Available at: http://www.designboom.com/design/ rietvelds-universe-furniture/. (Accessed: 8 August 2016).
Images: http://www.droog.com/news/tag/red-blue-lego-chair/ http://www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/280-zig-zag http://www.tinadhillon.com/the-schroder-house-utrecht-the-netherlands/ http://www.suiteny.com/blog/2015/03/gerrit-rietveld-at-suite-ny/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_map_of_the_Netherlands.svg http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Gerrit_Thomas_Rietveld.aspx http://iconicdutch.com/uk/shop/Furniture/Lounge-chairs/product/Berlin-chair https://au.pinterest.com/gabrielakolarsk/schroder-house/ http://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-rietveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld http://chairblog.eu/2007/05/06/rietveld-by-cassina-by-rietveld-and-by-jenner/ http://www.bonluxat.com/d/gerrit-thomas-rietveld.html
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APPENDIX
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