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Anthology

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Introduction

There are varieties and forms of design in history. These deign has various relevance

based on their characteristics. They have been considered as a fundamental human activity

instead of a certain form of professional practice. Although, the status of design has changed

little in the prevailing years, the body of design literature has developed in size and complexity.

This anthology paper gathers some of the design that will provide the reader the opportunity to

assess and reflects on some of the design produced by design historians.

The 18th Century Style

1. Art Deco

Art Deco was most exemplified in the geometric designs of most buildings in America. It

was the most fashionable design between 1925-1940s. This style incorporated all forms of arts,

incorporating crafts and fine arts. In most cases, the Art Deco design was implemented to

decorative art such as furniture, interior design, textiles, industrial design, and fashion (Hillier &

Escritt, 1997, p. 49). It was also implemented to the applied art of the virtual art painting,

graphics as well as architecture.

The Art Deco design was featured by geometric shapes, smooth line, bright, streamlined

forms and garish colors. For example, the Deco seating club of the Ottoman in figure 1. These

seats were streamlined and included geometric shapes. It is a picture I was interested to review

due to its streamlined shape. Its features match the Art Deco design of the 1925-1940s.

2. CLASSICISM STYLE

Classicism style refers to the imitation of the Roman and Greek Art and other prototypes

of such as the Aegean Art in the 18th century. Sometime it seems confusing because the term

classicism is usually utilized interchangeably with the term neoclassicism where the term
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neoclassicism is used to define the particular revival of the Roman and Greek art that happened

in America and Europe between 1750 and 1860.

The characteristics of the classicism design differs from genre to genre, but it is

acknowledged that the design was balanced, harmonized and incorporated a sense of proportion

(Hawley & Saisselin, 1964, p. 127). The painting in this style employed idealized shapes and

figures and the subjects were non-anecdotal and emotionally treated in a neutral way. The color

was also outranked to line and composition. In the architecture, it was closely controlled by

mathematical proportions which would be changed slightly with specific elements such as

capitals, columns and base platform. A good example of this design is the Arc du Carrousel in

Paris. It was constructed between 1806 and 1808 to show the victories of the Napoleons military.

It is surrounded by a modest sand colored gravel plaza that assist to accentuate it textures,

vertical scale and colors.

The 19th Century Style

1. The Gothic Revival

The Gothic Revival design is a share of the mid 19th century design. It was grounded on

forms and patterns utilized in the middle ages whereby it was combined with a romantic vision

of the romance and medieval chivalry. Mostly, domestic and civil premises were constructed and

furnished in the Gothic revival style. It thrived from 1830 to 1900 (Stanton, 1997, p. 1840).

The notable characteristic of the Gothic Revival design is the pointed arch utilized for

doors, windows, and embellished aspects such as roof gables, dormers and porches. Other

features incorporate front facing gables with delicate wooden trim referred to bargeboards or

verge boards and steeply pitched roofs. The building also comprises porches with turned

columns or posts. A good example of this style is the Margaret Derrow House in Washington. It
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is a two story L-shaped four bay house framed under a steep roof braced by extended vertical

brackets on its front facing gable end. It has tall slender narrowly-divided paired lancet windows

projected in the façade and portch that covers the setback half.

2. Chinoiserie

Drawing from Kasaya (2007), the Chinoiserie design was a style developed by the French

who were motivated by the design from Japan, China and other Asian states. It was imitated by

the Europeans as a result of the importation of silk, lacquerware and porcelain from Japan and

China. The Chinoiserie design comprised the Chinese themes and curves. For example, the

Badminton Bed by John Linnl incorporate the Chinese style pagodas. The pierced fretwork back

appear similar to the garden tea pavilions constructed in the Chinese design and found in big

gardens throughout Europe and Britain from around 1730.

The 20th Century Design

1. Rocco

This design developed in France in the 1720s and further in the 18th century. It applies to

both the ornaments and the interior decoration. It is a design of high fashion and few widespread

forms. The design is featured by curvy lines, soft colors and shows a scene of love, amorous

encounters, youth nature and light-hearted entertainment. The enlightenment movement

facilitated the emergence of new cultural movement and ideas about art and thus the emergence

of Rocco (Jeffares, 2006, p. 304). In dressing, courtly fashion developed during the Rocco

period. For example, the Marquise de Pompadour. This dress had a square neck area with arge

lace that bows down the front with wide painniers. The room is lusciously furnished, with

weighty dramask curtains. Marquise de Pomandour heels look daintier with slimmer heel and

pretty embellishment. It is clear in the photo that toward the start of the Rocco period ladies used

to wear their hair tight to the head and were fully clothed.
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2. Art Nouveau Style

It was an innovative international design of the modern art that was fashionable between

1890 up to the First Word War. This design emerged as a response to the 19th century designs

that had dominated the style such as the neoclassicism. The distinguishing features of this design

can be found in the Thonet House. It favored implementation of artistic designs to daily

objects to make pretty things present to everybody. It never isolated fine art and applied arts.

According Jeffares (2006)to, the Art Nouveau design sought new graphical design

unimplemented by the arts academies. As such, it embraces various stylistic interpretations such

as the use of new cheap materials and mass generation methods and use of expensive materials

and high craftsmanship.

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The 18th Century Design

1. Figure 1: Art Deco Design

Art Deco Design Club Chair (c. 1930s). Modernist Bauhaus designs. http://www.visual-arts-
cork.com/history-of-art/art-deco.htm.
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2. Figure 2: The Classiscim Design

The Ard du Carrousel, c. 1806-1808, France. Charles, Percier, Pierre Fancois Leonar Fontaine.

Quack et al, 2008.

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The 19th Century Design

1. Figure 3: Gothic Revival Design

Margaret Derrow House, c. 1855 by William Adams, Washington county print.

Naeve, 1998.
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2. Figure 4: Chinoiserie

John Linnell, born 1729 - died 1796 (probably, designer and maker)

The Badminton Bed c, 1754, John Linnel, Berkeley Square.

The Badminton Bed, c. 1754 Beechwood, japanned in red, yellow and blue and gilded. British
Galleries, room 52nd, case 4.
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The 20th Century Design

1. Figure 5: Rocco

Marquise de Pompadour, c, 1750

Marquise de Pompadour, c. 1750. Oil on Canvas Paris, Department of Prints and Drawings, 2005

Jeffares, Neil. 2006.

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2. Figure 6: Art Nouveau

Thonet House, Budapest, Hungary, designed by Ödön Lechner, 1890

Thonet House, c 1890

Thonet House, c. 1890, Odon Lechner, Museums of Applied Arts.

Magyar 2015, Lechner Odon.

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Bibliography

Art Deco (c. 1925-40). (N.d.). Retrieved June 26, 2016, from http://www.visual-arts-

cork.com/history-of-art/art-deco.htm

Harris, J., 2007. Moving Rooms. Yale University Press.

Hillier, B., & Escritt, S. 1997. Art Deco style. London: Phaidon.

Hawley, H. and Saisselin, R.G., 1964. Neo-classicism: style and motif (No. 24). Abrams.

Jeffares, Neil 2006. Dictionary of Pastellistsbefore 1800.Introduction by Pierre Rosenberg.

London: Unicorn.

Kasaya, K. 2000. The origin and development of Japanese-style organization. Kyoto, Japan:

International Research Center for Japanese Studies.

Magyar 2015, Thonet-ház, Budapest V, Váci u. 11. Lechner Ödön, 1888-1889

Naeve, M. M. 1998. Identifying American furniture: A pictorial guide to styles and terms,

colonial to contemporary. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.

Quack, T., Leibe, B. and Van Gool, L., 2008, July. World-scale mining of objects and events

from community photo collections. In Proceedings of the 2008 international conference

on Content-based image and video retrieval (pp. 47-56). ACM.

Stanton, P.B., 1997. The Gothic Revival and American Church Architecture: An Episode in
Taste, 1840-1856 (Vol. 1). JHU Press.