Peer Reviews

Emma- She did an excellent job at describing the designers and each of their work.  I also appreciated the fact that she searched for an extra credit video on one of the designers that we hardly talked about.

Riann- I like how Riann touched upon a little of everything.  There was mention of the designers along with a description of their work.  In addition Riann mentioned LEED and biophilic design which are a contributing factor to Post Modern design.  The pictures also exemplified the period nicely.

Post Modernism

One of the many influential designers of the Post Modern period was Robert Venturi.  He thought of simplicity and logic as a cornerstone to modern design.  In addition, he embraced decorative ornamentation and historical design concepts.  He believed that limitations equaled boredom and dullness.  Some of his work includes The Vanna Venturi House located in Chestnut, Philadelphia and the Chippendale chair which was manufactured by Knoll.  The New York Five were a group of men who also contributed to the Post Modern design.  The New York Five consisted of Michael Graves, Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier, Charles Gwatheney, and John Hejduk.  Graves embraced decorative detail, as well as use strong color and form.  Eisenman was a deconstructivist meaning that his designs were very fragmented, distorted, and unpredictable.  Meier used white throughout his designs in addition to making the structures very geometric.  Gwathmey was an architect and educator.  Frank Gehry was also and continues to be one of the more famous of the architects and designers.  He has made many contributions to the design world and after designing what he liked, rather than designing to please others, he became more confident and created spectacular structures.  Some of these structures include the Disney Concert Hall, Guggenhiem Museum, and the wiggle chair.  Rem Koolhaas was the one to bridge the gap between high tech and deconstructivist concepts with post modernism.  Finally, designs are influenced by the world around us, and there are few today that impact the way designers and architects design buildings.  Some design trends and influences we see today are based on geopolitical factors, economical factors, technology, education, and history.

Past

 

 

Present

 

 

Extra Credit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMM4yEoJW-E

Peer Reviews

Rachael- I like how Rachael's blog introduced the structure before showing the picture of the actual place.  It was a nice incorporation and was easy to follow along.  I also liked how she chose more than one place to visit, and all of them being in different countries.

Amanda M.- I enjoyed reading Amanda's blog.  It was short but held my attention.  She included very fascinating photos.  I also appreciated the fact that the presentation encouraged her to search for more structures.  

Bucket List

This past week we heard about international locations with very unique and different styles.  Not only were there apparent differences in their architecture, but there were noticeable differences in their design as well.

The place that stood out to me the most was the Denmark presentation.  I like how they mentioned the fact about how it has the happiest people in the world.  Their layout was nice and I like how they labeled their map, as it was easy to read.  The first building Alicia, Amanda, and Stephanie described was Blue Planet which is an aquarium. The Blue Planet has water on all side and is intended to give the visitors a feeling of being under water. The building has five "arms" from the center of the aquarium so the guests can choose their own way around the aquarium. Next, they had mentioned Copenhagen Opera House which was built in 2004 and was made with limestone, marble, and 24 caret gold leaf ceiling. Ordrupgaard's most interesting feature was the extension that was added.  It features black lava concrete and contrasts well with the original structure. The 8Tallet, which I found to be the most intriguing, was constructed in a figure eight design.  It is a housing complex that includes apartments, gardens, and parks. Next, the Danner House which was built in 1875 is built from brick and incorporates arches.  The building was influenced by the Spanish Barque design style. Finally, the Musikkens Hus has multiple concert halls made of concrete and glass and was built in 2010.

Blue Planet

Copenhagen Opera House

Musikkens Hus

8Tallet

Extra Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zOtJkhHgkw

Peer Reviews

Scott- I like how Scott listed the characteristics with bullet points.  This made it a very easy read, while still pointing out the main characteristics of this period.  His pictures also allowed us to get a better understanding of the style of furniture that was popular during this time.
 
Morgan- I enjoyed how Morgan organized the blog.  It was very fluid as well as thorough.  I like how there was mention of certain architects and designers with examples of some of their work.  The pictures were also great examples of mid century modernist design.

Mid Century Modernism

         Mid century modernism began in the 1950's and ended in 1960's.  Many characteristics that made up the designs during this time included flat roofs, angular details, asymmetrical profiles, expansive walls of glass, clean lines, bi-levels, wide open floor plans, and married indoor spaces to the outside.  These style of design was mainly prominent on the West coast.  The color schemes that were most popular were warm/earthy tones which consisted of mustard yellow; olive green; and pumpkin, and trendy colors which included pink; gray; turquoise; black; and yellow.  As for the furnishings, plastics, resin, metal composites, laminates, and fiberglass all helped to fuel their endless creativity.
        Joseph Eichler was a Finnish-American architect that produced furniture with Knoll.   Eichler developed mid- century tract housing subdivisions for the average American family.  In addition, he made sure to include post and beam construction, open floor plan, glass walls, concrete floors. He also built over 11,000 homes.
       Some of the famous furniture designers that contributed to mid century modernism included Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Isamu Noguchi.  Saarinen worked closely with Charles and Ray Eames.  Some of his furniture pieces he developed were the tulip chair, the womb chair, and the executive chair.  Charles and Ray Eames were architects, artists, industrial designers, and finally, filmmakers.  They developed La Chaise, The Aluminum Group, Lounge Chair, Compact Sofa, and Walnut stools just to name a few. George Nelson was an American Industrial designer who designed the Coconut Chair and Marshmallow Sofa.  Finally, Isamu Noguchi was an American artist, designer and landscape architect.  He designed for Herman Miller and his most notable piece of furniture was the Noguchi table.  

Past

 

Present 

 

Extra Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSg1iH3siM8

Peer Review

Holli- Holli's blog was written nicely and had a lot of information that was well said.  Her use of word's and pictures helped me to understand what Herman Miller is all about.  I think she also did a great job at keeping the post organized and it flowed well.

Happy- She did  a good job at describing Herman Miller and its background.  She gave plenty of information and mentioned all the main designers that were talked about during the presentation.  Overall her post was easy to understand and follow.