The most classic furniture design in history, you can only get started after reading this article
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If paintings are for appreciation and fashion is for wearing, then furniture is for experience. Today's furniture has long surpassed its function and has become an artistic decoration. It can not only be used to decorate the environment and show style, but can even change the living environment and affect our daily mood. This is the charm of design.
Unlike pure art, industrial design is a medium where form almost always follows function. This is especially true for furniture design, where how to achieve perfect functionality while also having unparalleled aesthetics is both a technique and an art.
A truly good design is timeless and will remain attractive over time. In this issue, we share the most iconic classic furniture designs in modern design history.
Classics mean that they can still have their own clear style in different eras. They transcend time, region, and culture, and are intertwined with our lives today. Behind every classic design, there is a special background, profound heritage, and moving story. Perhaps the soul of classic furniture is to be timeless.
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NO.01
Various design lists emerge one after another, but no matter how the style changes, this Eames bentwood lounge chair, which was born in 1954, is undoubtedly the most influential design masterpiece of the 20th century as a perfect combination of modern industrial technology and traditional craftsmanship.
The motto "design for life" swept the design world in the 20th century. The main promoters were Charles and Ray Eames, who were the most influential pioneers in the field of modern design and brought furniture design into a new trend.
This lounge chair demonstrates their ultimate pursuit of functionality and beauty. While satisfying comfort and functionality, it is modern, stylish, elegant and simple. No matter where it is placed in the space, it can instantly enhance the atmosphere.
Its timeless shape and unparalleled comfort have earned the Eames Lounge Chair a permanent place in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York.
NO.02
Arco Floor Lamp
Designer: Achille Castiglioni
Achille Castiglioni, the legendary Italian industrial design enfant terrible, has created countless unique and meaningful classics, the most famous of which is this parabolic marble floor lamp.
ARCO was originally designed to replace restaurant chandeliers. Since there are many protected buildings in Italy and it is not possible to drill holes in the ceiling to install lamps, the idea was to use a parabolic form to achieve the same lighting effect.
The marble base, the slender parabolic suspension rod and the rounded lampshade, these three elements combined together, like an avant-garde sculpture, instantly give the space the charming temperament of an art museum.
NO.03
Eero Saarinen, the most creative master of architecture and industrial design in the United States in the 20th century, combined high artistry with a strong sense of the times. In addition to solving the problems of the design itself, he also considered the visual atmosphere presented by the furniture in the space, with distinctive characteristics.
It is said that what Saarinen could not tolerate most was the ugly and messy legs of furniture, so this Tulip series, which stands on one leg and is graceful and elegant, was born.
As Saarinen's most classic design, the Tulip series uses a single column foot to extend downward to form a teardrop-shaped base, while the seat is carved with streamlined flower lines, blooming as elegantly as petals or wine glasses.
The Tulip series has many variations: different heights, surface diameters, colors and materials. To this day, it still has a unique spatial temperament and has become an unsurpassed classic in the world of furniture design.
NO.04
There are countless classic chair designs in the world, but only this one can be directly named "Diamond".
The Diamond Chair was created by sculptor Harry Bertoia. Its light and elegant appearance has made it a popular item since its launch. It is not only a favorite of collectors, but also a frequent guest in classic films. It has been a best-seller for half a century and can be called a timeless classic.
As a model of modern minimalist furniture design, the Diamond Chair is welded with perfect metal technology. It has simple lines, elegant shape, lightness and practicality, and shines like a diamond. It is more of a sculpture and a spatial artwork than a chair.
NO.05
The Anglepoise lamp is the most classic lamp of the 20th century and one of the most copied and imitated products in the history of design. Think of the bouncing lamp in the opening of Pixar cartoons, and you must be familiar with it.
The inventor of the desk lamp was George Carwardine from the United Kingdom. As an engineer studying the shock absorption system of automobiles, he accidentally installed a spring invented in an experiment at the end of a work lamp to facilitate the adjustment of the lamp arm and maintain balance.
In 1933, Herbert Terry & Sons of Redditch, a spring manufacturer, realized its commercial potential and began mass production. The Anglepoise table lamp, with its simple design and convenient functions, has become a classic of industrial design and has become popular all over the world.
NO.06
Panton Chair
Designer: Verner Panton
Verner Panton is known as "the most imaginative designer of the 20th century" and loves to experiment with colors and materials. His designs range from furniture to space, from materials to forms, and are all eye-catching.
The Pantone Chair, the world's first one-piece injection-molded plastic cantilever chair, was inspired by stacked plastic barrels and is extremely subversive.
The slender S-shaped side profile looks like the silhouette of a woman in a long dress. The colorful colors are gorgeous and beautiful, and the rhythmic curves are light and flowing, so it is also nicknamed the "Beauty Chair".
The graceful and soft curves make it noble and dignified even in black, and it is slender and charming. It complements both modern and classical spaces.
NO.07
Nelson Saucer Bubble Pendant
Designer: George Nelson
The cup holder cross bubble chandelier is a group of lamps of various shapes with cute spherical outlines. It can be regarded as the most classic lamp design series of American modernist design master Nelson, which has been popular for a long time.
It is said that Nelson happened to come across a set of Swedish chandeliers that he liked very much, but had no choice but to accept the high prices, so the master designer came up with the idea of designing the lamps himself.
This cross bubble ball lamp was born: the round frame made of light steel frame is covered with a smooth translucent skin. The light is hazy, full of soft elegance, light and flowing romance.
NO.08
Serpentine Sofa
Designer: Vladimir Kagan
In a world where straight-line sofas dominate home design, the "Snake Sofa" by legendary designer Vladimir Kagan is undoubtedly subversive with its elegant streamlined appearance and soft texture.
The curved shape not only creates an intimate gathering place, but also defines a warm, stylish and interesting tone. Since then, a similar snake-shaped sofa has become a must-have in almost every celebrity interior design space.
NO.9
Up5 Armchair & Ottoman
Designer: Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
This sofa by Italian designer Pesce is full of sensuality and metaphorical meaning. Its graceful and elegant figure seems like returning to the warm embrace of a mother. It is named "Above Number Five". Later, a corresponding round footstool was added, named "Above Number Six".
In a turbulent and powerful era, Pess used the passion of the Latin people to stimulate the visual nerves. The seemingly plump and sexy body is bound by chains, and the childlike balls are like hanging shackles.
Pesce explained this by saying: "I believe that women are always unwilling prisoners of themselves. So I decided to design the armchair into a female shape with chains and balls, as if trapped in life."
This sofa is so subversive and eye-catching. Its rounded and full shape inspires sensory stimulation of imagination, making it a classic in the history of design that cannot be ignored and the absolute focus of the space.
NO.10
Breuer was not only a master of modernist design and an architect, but also a leader in the design of tubular steel furniture. The most famous of these is the world’s first tubular steel chair, the Wassily Chair, named after the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky.
The inspiration for the Wassily Chair comes from the handlebar of Adler's bicycle. It uses metal tube bending technology to create a minimalist and streamlined epoch-making shape.
Different from traditional enclosed seats, the seat cushion, backrest and armrests of the Wassily chair are all made of flat surfaces. The bent steel pipes form an open deconstruction, and the different angles between the planes form an obvious beauty.
With the high plasticity and economy of metal steel pipes, the Wassily Chair combines practicality, aesthetics, and economy, and is minimalist and harmonious. Whether it is an old house with classical decoration or a modern interior, the Wassily Chair seems to fit in elegantly.
NO.11
Bauhaus Nesting Side Tables
Designer: Josef Albers
"Less is more" is the concept advocated by the famous German design school Bauhaus, which tends to express a pure and real spatial aesthetic. Geometric shapes, primary color combinations, simple accessories, clear and concise.
This set of stacking side tables designed by Josef Albers during his tenure as artistic director of the Bauhaus furniture studio is a perfect example of this minimalist concept: using only the simplest geometric elements to achieve the ultimate experience from plane to three-dimensional space.
Each table is made of oak and painted acrylic glass. Albers applied his bright artistic style to the furniture design, giving each table a unique color such as blue, red, yellow and white.
This way of disassembling and combining became the forerunner of a series of stacking tables and chairs.
NO.12
Designer Florence Knoll, deeply influenced by the Bauhaus style, focused on promoting the application of architecture, art and practicality in the field of interior design and is regarded as the most influential design figure of the 20th century.
Among them, the Florence classic office sofa has become a famous sofa classic since its birth, with its simple and elegant lines and free and flexible combination methods, meeting the ever-changing functional needs of modern space.
NO.13
LC4 Chaise Longue
Designer: Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeannerret
Charlotte Perriand
This classic lounge chair designed by Swiss architectural master Le Corbusier is a representative work of "functionalism" in modern home design with its perfect balance between geometric shape and ergonomics.
With the purpose of people-oriented and function-oriented, the reclining chair can not only adjust the tilt angle freely according to needs, but also take down the chair body to use as a rocking chair. Every design detail brings endless joy of rest.
With its excellent comfort and smooth appearance, the Corbusier lounge chair has long become a classic in modern home design and one of the most important collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in the United States.
NO.14
606 Classic Locker
606 Universal Shelving System
Designer: Dieter Rams
German designer Dieter Rams puts functionality first. The design is simple and refined, and the functions are simple and clear. This multi-purpose storage cabinet designed in 1960 fully demonstrates the concept of "less, but better".
The universal cabinet can be designed with different modules and combinations according to needs. It is not only a bookshelf, but also a clothes rack, work platform, dining table, and TV wall. It perfectly integrates various functions such as storage and shelving, while minimizing space.
NO.15
Corrugated Chair
Wiggle Chair
Designer: Frank Gehry
Since the middle of the last century, the design world has been experimenting with the use of cheap and lightweight materials. Well-known architect Frank is willing to take on the challenge and tried to create a series of furniture by gluing and fixing corrugated cardboard and cutting it.
This most famous "corrugated chair" gives a new aesthetic interpretation to the material that can be seen everywhere in life. The smooth and simple dynamic and tortuous curved shape are strong and durable while having a strong visual impact.
NO.16
Eros Series Marble Side Table
Eros Side Table
Designer: Angelo Mangiarotti
The famous designer Mangiarotti believes that "the position of materials in design is as important as the position of ideas in the brain." He believes that the correctness of the design process is almost more important than the quality of the product.
The famous "Eros Series" marble side table series is undoubtedly the perfect embodiment of this design principle. The designer chose marble, a "raw material" full of texture, to give it a unique artistic expression. It shines like a sculpture.
NO.17
Egg Chair
Egg Chair
Designer: Arne Jacobsen
Unlike Europe and the United States, which advocate functionalism, Nordic furniture adapts to the cultural environment while its appearance is contrary to the cold and serious geometric form of German functionalism. Instead, it uses curves and uses natural materials such as wood and fur to show affinity with nature and society. It is called "humanistic functionalism" and meets both physiological and psychological needs.
Jacob, a famous Nordic designer, is a representative of "humanistic functionalism" and focuses on the design concept of simplicity and comfort. The "Egg Chair" he designed for the public area of SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen fully illustrates the minimalist functional aesthetics.
The rounded and smooth curves of the exterior outline a wide and deep seating space, and the soft cushions and footrests create an unparalleled sense of comfort. The Egg Chair quickly became popular around the world and is hailed as the most representative Nordic design and a classic work of home design.
NO.18
Mushroom Table Lamp
Atoll Table Lamp
Designer: Vico Magistretti
This table lamp created by Italian modern design master Vic Magistrati consists of three simple structures: cylinder, cone and semicircle. It is named because its shape and lines resemble a round mushroom.
As a reinterpretation of the bedside lamp, the hemispherical lampshade of the mushroom lamp seems to float on the tip of a cylindrical cone. The lines of the cone and the circle are perfect, and the light is reflected through the inner spherical arc, creating a warm and bright atmosphere.
凭藉出色创意和时尚造型，这款蘑菇桌灯被誉为「现代艺术的明月光」，被很多世界著名博物馆永久收藏。
NO.19
Storage unit
LC Standard Lockers
This storage unit is a classic model launched by Italian furniture brand Cassina in 1984. It consists of wooden modules and stackable cabinet units, and is equipped with shelves, drawers, etc. to meet various flexible space and storage needs.
This cabinet, which combines storage, placement and decoration, brings the most diverse storage experience with its unique and creative design and unprecedented flexible functions, making your home life neat and uniform from now on!
NO.20
Barcelona Chair
Barcelona Chair
Designer: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
The Barcelona Chair, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the master of modern design who proposed the idea of "less is more", was designed at the 1929 Barcelona World Expo. It is considered one of the most classic works of modern design.
The German Pavilion at the World Expo is Mies's masterpiece, but due to the unique architectural design concept, there was no suitable furniture to match it, so he specially designed this "Barcelona Chair" to welcome the king and queen.
The Barcelona chair consists of an arc-shaped cross-shaped stainless steel frame that supports a seat and backrest made up of two rectangular leather pads. It has a beautiful shape, is spacious and comfortable, and its novel and avant-garde design caused a sensation at the time.
Today, Barcelona chairs in different colors and textures have been perfectly integrated into modern home spaces. Their simple and smooth appearance and spacious and comfortable sitting and lying experience have made them a classic in the history of design that is difficult to surpass.
NO.21
Stool 60 Bentwood Chair
Stool 60
Designer:
This unremarkable chair is a representative work of furniture by Finnish design giant Alvar Aalto. The original intention of its creation was to make a simple and durable single chair.
The chair is made using the "steam-heated bent wood" technology, which took five years of research and experimentation. The chair legs are pressed into an L shape with more than a dozen layers of birch wood, and screwed under the seat to increase the supporting strength.
In addition to being simple and durable, Stool 60 is also very easy to stack and store. It is said that it will not fall down even if it is stacked to the sky. It is not an ultimate work of art, but a good design product, and a good piece of furniture that can be used for a long time.
NO.22
Isamu Noguchi coffee table
Noguchi Coffee Table
Designer: Isamu Noguchi
The sculptor Isamu Noguchi believed that design must have a sense of space, an internal order and meaning, rather than just functional attributes. He believed that the best art should be integrated with the environment. The Noguchi coffee table is the best embodiment of this design concept.
The coffee table uses solid wood as the base and extra-thick triangular oval transparent glass as the tabletop. The two abstract pieces of solid wood are identical in shape but upside down, one carrying the load and the other supporting it, just like the yin and yang that rely on each other and complement each other.
The coffee table is simple yet not simplistic, with precise structure and meticulous details, giving it a sculptural feel and intriguing appeal.
NO.23
Artichoke Lamp
Artichoke lamp
Designer: Poul Henningsen
Paul Henningsen was the first designer to design lamps based on the principles of lighting science. It is said that the birth of the most famous PH Lamp in history was purely accidental: he accidentally combined the prototype of this lamp with kitchen cups, bowls and plates.
The most classic of these, PH Artichoke, is inspired by a plant called “artichoke.” Inspired by the layers of leaves wrapped around its surface, the chandelier uses a total of 12 layers of metal sheets to wrap the light source, with each layer surrounded by 6 metal sheets of the same size.
The warm light refracted through the layers of leaves, creating a hazy halo, as if it were a colorful and gorgeous flower hanging from the sky.
NO.24
Nelson Platform Stool
Nelson Platform Bench
Designer: George Nelson
As a master of cross-disciplinary design, George Nelson is both an outstanding architect and a prolific furniture designer, and has a profound influence on modern design.
Designed in 1946, this platform stool features solid wood slats that allow air and light to filter through, and ebony legs. The clean, right-angled lines reflect Nelson’s background in architecture and his philosophy that design should be the most honest expression of its purpose.
A milestone in modern design, the platform stool is available in three lengths and finishes, allowing it to be used in a variety of ways, from a bench to a low table or shelf.
NO.25
Cradle swing chair
Hanging Egg Chair
Designer: Nanna Ditzel
Nanna Dietzel, who is revered as the "Mother of Scandinavian Design", may be Denmark's most internationally acclaimed female designer. Her design style is simple and pure, her material selection is avant-garde and bold, and her matching methods are elegant and ingenious, leaving behind countless classic designs.
Nanna pioneered the use of woven rattan to create a swing chair that combines beauty and functionality. Whether it is hung from the ceiling or a bracket, whether indoors or outdoors, it brings the fun and comfort of both a swing and a cradle, bringing joy and enjoyment to life.
Art is an attitude towards life
