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Alvar Aalto
Kuortane, 1898 - Helsinki 1976
Undoubtedly one of the most important modern European architects. Taking architectural rationalism as his starting
point, he moved beyond a purely formal schematic approach, thanks to his skilled use of natural materials, and his painstaking
study of undulating surface and line effects, of open plan design and the priority given to the creating of a dynamic interaction
between the building and its surrounding environment. Aalto’s creative output has ranged from the design of glass objects
and furnishing to architectural design and painting. His glass vase collection, known as Aalto, is renowned all over the world
and is an expression of his great skill in the design field. Starting from a humble spoon, right up to a complete town (he
in fact produced urban development plans for both Finland and Sweden), the work of Aalto is symbolized by his characteristic
“wave” (“aalto” being in fact the Finnish word for wave).
Harry Bertoia
San Lorenzo 1915 - Barto/USA 1978
Bertoia left Italy at the age of 15. He studied sculpture and painting at the Institute of Technology in Detroit.
He became a teacher at the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts and at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in 1937.
He became involved
in furniture design in the 40’s. He perceived
the chair as a sculpture, giving importance to the intrinsic colours
and
features of the metal. His chairs
are today renowned the
world over.
Marcel Breuer
Pecs, 1902 - New York, 1981
One
of the most important furniture designers, he was self-taught, and became one of the most significant architects of his generation.
He designed and created the first tubular steel chair in 1925, whilst he was director of the " Bauhaus furniture workshop".
Marcel Breuer is one of the great pioneers of tubular steel chair design, and as early as 1925 he invented a series of systems
using tubular steel to in the construction of chairs, stools and tables. His "Wassily" chair was the first tubular steel chair
and has become a modern design classic.
Pierre Chareau
1883 - 1950
The French
Architect and designer Pierre Chareau first captured the attention of the public with a work that he exhibited at the Autumn
Show and the Artist- Decorator’s society in the years immediately after the First World War. He also worked on the design
of the French Embassy building that was exhibited in Paris in 1925, and subsequently divided his time between design and architectural
work, such as the Beauvallon Golf Club (1927), the interior of the Grand Hotel De Tours (1929) and his “ Maison de Verre
” (1928-31), so-called because of the innovative use of external glass tiles. He was a member of the Union of Modern
Artists right from its foundation in 1930. His wooden and metal chair, stool, table and cupboard designs, where greatly praised
by the publications of the time for their functional approach and the studied combination of elegance and technical brilliance.
Eileen Gray
Enniscorthy, 1878 - Parigi, 1976
Eileen Gray was born in Enniscorthy in Ireland in 1878. She died in Paris in 1976. She was from an emigrant family
and attended the Slade School ion London, before finally moving to France in 1907. Following an initial experimental period
with lacquers, she became increasingly involved in furniture design, and later in architectural projects. Her designs always
being highly original and refined.
Josef Hoffmann
Pirnitz, 1870 - Vienna, 1956
Josef
Hoffmann was one of the co-founders of the "Vienna Secession" in 1897, and of the "Wiener Werkstatte" in 1903. Hoffmann’s
work featuring the rationalism of Wagner combined with a geometric and linear decorative style, influenced by the work of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The designs of Hoffmann for the Werkstatte thereby featuring extreme individualism and the greatest
professionalism with a particular feel for the natural essence of the materials used and their functional qualities; which
characterized all his output.
Le Corbusier
Le Chaux-de-Fonds, 1887 - Cap Martin, 1965
Charles-Edouard
Jeanneret , better known under the pseudonym of Le Corbusier, is one of the greatest architects of the 20th century. He was
the first to appreciate that new building methods required not only a more functional approach but a totally novel aesthetic
look. His furniture, like his architecture is based on his perception that the new production methods, materials and social
demands required a novel approach to design. This total re-think of conventional canons translating into forms that are both
functional and aesthetically pleasing so that his chairs are considered as true milestones of design history.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Glasgow, 1868 - Londra, 1928
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was one of the most talented architects of his time. He studied at the Glasgow School
of Art, and was the apprentice of architect John Hutchinson before teaming up with Honeyman and Keppie. The spirit of his
work is wonderfully reflected in his main work the Glasgow School of Art. Where it is possible to trace all the various stages
of his career from the influence of Art Noveau up to the geometric purism of the Modernist movement. His furniture designs
being widely acclaimed as being the most brilliant and modern of all British furniture of the time.
Isamu Noguchi
1904 - 1988
Isamu
Noguchi was born on 17th November in Los Angeles the son of Leonie Gilmour, an American writer of Irish origin and Yonejiro
(Yone) Noguchi, a Japanese poet. "Everything is sculpture. Every material, and each idea that is freely born in space, I consider
to be sculpture. The boundary being in a certain way, perceived as the starting point embodying all the elements of space
perception, and volume: a perception of volume that is not only bi-dimensional, but a three–dimensional. This is the
manner in which I have carried out all my work."
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
Aquisgrana, 1886 - Chicago, 1969
Mies
Van Der Rohe was trained at the studio of Peter Behrens (like Gropius and Le Corbusier) and he flourished under the influence
of De Stijl, he was in 1930 nominated as the Director of the Bauhaus, as the successor of Annes Meier, a position that he
occupied until its closure. He was not only responsible for truly revolutionary building designs, but of the furnishings often
conceived for the same. The development of the Stockholm suburb of "Wessenhof" (1927),the fitting of the German exhibition
hall at the International Exhibition of Barcelona (1929), the Tugendhat House project in Brno all being characterized by chair
and armchair designs of the highly refined elegance.
Eero
Saarinen
1910 Kirkkonummi (FI) - 1961 Ann Arbor, Michigan (US)
Eero Saarinen,
the son of the famous architect and the first president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Eliel Saarinen, was born in Helsinki,
and moved to the United states in 1923. He studied scuplture at the Académe de la Grande Cheumiere in Paris (1929/30)
and subsequently architecture at Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut), from where he graduated in 1934. He went to Europe
in 1934/35 on a scholarship awarded by this same university. On his return he began teaching at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
He worked together with Charles Eames in 1937, on the design of a series of modern furnishings that were presented and awarded
prizes at the "Organic Design in Home Furnituring" competition, organized in 1940 by the Modern Art Museum of New
York. He subsequently designed several other pieces of furniture with the greatest success. He worked in his father’s
architectural studio, until his father’s death in. His most famousr architectural project remains the TWA terminal of
the J.F.Kennedy airport in New York.
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