Presentation on Mid Century Modern furniture, made as a part of case study for history studio, Interior designing.

1. MID-CENTURY MODERN

2. INTRODUCTION
Mid-century modern is the design
movement in interior, product, and graphic
design, architecture, and urban
development from roughly 1933 to 1965.
The term, employed as a style descriptor
early as the mid-1950s, was reaffirmed in
1983 by Cara Greenberg in the title of her
book, Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of
the 1950s(Random House), celebrating the
style that is now recognized by scholars
and museums worldwide as a significant
design movement.

3. MATERIALS
• New methods of construction and new materials such as plastic, dramatically influenced later
mid-century modern designers. Plastic was used for its own qualities rather than to imitate
wooden furniture.

4. “I HAVE ALWAYS APPRECIATED THOSE WHO DARE TO
EXPERIMENT WITH MATERIALS AND PROPORTIONS”
-Zaha Hadid
There was a liberal use of traditional material, such as
wood, and non-traditional materials such as metal, glass,
vinyl, plywood, plexiglass and lucite.
A vast range of colour, including colours from neutral to
bold, and a graphic use of black and white.

5. WOOD

6. STAINLESS STEEL

7. PLYWOOD

8. PLASTIC

9. METAL

10. MDF / HDF

11. STONE

12. CONCRETE

13. CARDBOARD

14. CARBON FIBER

15. Notable Architects and Designers

16. Arne Jacobsen
Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA (11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971)
was a Danish architect and designer. He is remembered for his
contribution to architectural Functionalism as well as for the
worldwide success he enjoyed with simple but effective chair designs.
The Egg is a chair designed by Arne
Jacobsen in 1958 for the Radisson
SAS hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is
manufactured by Republic of Fritz Hansen.
The Swan is a chair and a couch designed by Arne
Jacobsen in 1958 for the Radisson SAS Royal
Hotel in Copenhagen. It is manufactured by Danish
furniture manufacturer Republic of Fritz Hansen.
Egg Chair, Swan Chair and further inventory of the SAS Royal Hotel designed
by Arne Jacobsen.

17. Eero Saarinen
A Finnish American architect and industrial designer noted for
his neo-futuristic style. Saarinen is known for designing
the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington,
D.C., the TWA Flight Centre in New York City, and the Gateway
Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
"Pedestal" Armchair and Seat Cushion,
Designed 1956 Brooklyn Museum
Womb Chair, Model No. 70, Designed 1947-
1948 Brooklyn Museum
Tulip Chair

18. George Nelson
George Nelson (1908–1986) was an American industrial
designer and one of the founders of American Modernism.
While Director of Design for the Herman Millerfurniture
company, Nelson and his design studio, George Nelson
Associates, Inc., designed much of the 20th century's most
iconic modernist furniture.

19. KARIM RASHID
Karim Rashid is one of the most prolific designers
of his generation. Over 3000 designs in
production, over 300 awards and working in over
40 countries attest to Karim’s legend of design.

20. CASE STUDY

21. Charles Eames – Eggshell Chair
Before getting on to the Eames Shell chair history, let’s know
something about its creators Charles and Ray Eames. Charles
Ormons Eames, Jr (Charles) and Bernice Alexandra Kaiser
Eames (Ray) were husband and wife. They were American
designers whose contribution in the field of modern
architecture and furniture created history. They also worked in
the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.
Before meeting Ray, Charles was working on plywood chairs
with 3-D curves. When he married Ray he was still working on
the project. After some time, his partner decided to call it quits
with them. But both Charles and Ray had their mind set on
making compound curves by moulding plywood.

22. The War
Soon, World War II started and even though Charles and Ray
could not make chairs by moulding plywood, yet they
succeeded in creating light and stackable leg splints and
glider seats which were used in war.
Till then, Charles and Ray were unsuccessful in developing a
single shell plywood form. So, they came up with an
alternative i.e. a chair made of two moulded plywood
panels that were separate from each other, one for the seat
and other for the back.

23. After the end of World War II, the need for low cost
furnishing increased. So, when a dinner was held on 23
October, 1947, presided by the President of the Museum of
Modern Art, an international competition for cost effective
furniture design was announced.
For this competition the Eames sent the design of their single
form shell chair made of stamped metal.
The Competition

24. The Win
When the result was declared, Charles Eames won the second
prize with a cash prize of $2,500 thanks to his Shell chair. The
inventive base design of the chair helped him to gain the 2nd
place in the competition.
The Flaw
After winning the prize, Charles, who was working with the
company Herman Miller realized that the steel moulding of the
Shell chair is quite costly. Also it would start to rust after some
time and it was cold to touch. To remove the coldness a coating
of neoprene was added and it added to the cost of production.
The Solution
After the flaws were brought into light, Charles started looking
for materials which can be moulded and yet be cost effective.
His search ended when he found out about plastic reinforced
with fiberglass.

25. "The role of the architect, or the designer, is that of a very good, thoughtful host, all of whose energy goes into
trying to anticipate the needs of his guests – those who enter the building and use the objects in it.“
- Charles Eames

26. PRODUCTION
by HERMAN MILLER

27. 1. The colored resin is mixed in tanks.
Using technology from the auto industry, the new resin
fiberglass is “monomer free,” and processed without
emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other
Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), eliminating the need for
thermal oxidizers.

28. 2. The preforms are removed from the CNC machine and
inspected.
By using “dry binder" method, the strands of fiberglass are
blown by the CNC machine onto a shell-shaped screen. A
vacuum ensures that the loose particles are contained,
instead of being blown into the air and captured by a “wet
glue,” as in the traditional fabrication process. At this time,
heat is applied to melt some of the strands and maintain the
shape of the preform. It is only at this moment that a human
hand comes into contact with the preform in order to inspect
and clean it.

29. 3. Resin is applied to the preform.
The fiberglass preform is set in a cradle. Workers weigh the
resin to calculate the exact amount needed and then pour it
over the preform. The resin is smoothed and spread out using
a hand tool.

30. 4. The resin-covered preform is placed in a press
Once the resin has been evenly applied to the preform, the
shell is placed on a press where heat and pressure are
applied. The press also cuts along the edge of the chair to
eliminate excess fiberglass before the sanding process.

31. 5. The shell is inspected.
Any excess preform that is still stuck to the chair after it's cut
by the press is manually eliminated, and the shell is taken off
the press to be visually inspected. The press is cleaned after
each use.

32. 6. The edges are sanded.
The edges of the shell are manually sanded and then finished
with an electric sander. The chair is then cleaned and sent off
for its final inspection.

33. 7. Shock mounts are attached to the base of the shell.
The bottom of the shells are cleaned in order to effectively
attach the shock mounts. An adhesive is attached to each
shock mount, while the recently cleaned chairs are
transported via trays and placed on top of the shock mounts.
The chairs are then placed on a pressurized drying rack for
two days.

34. 8. The shock mounts are torqued and tested.
During this phase, each shockmount is manually tested.

35. 9. The upholstery is sewn.
The fabric is cut by a computerized “butter cutter” and then
sewn by hand.

36. 10. The upholstery is mounted onto the chair.
The foam padding is attached to the chair, after which the
upholstery is fitted and attached using a “J-Channel.” The
upholstery is then ironed and placed in another press where
heat and pressure are applied.

37. 11. The chair bases are attached to the shell.
Each chair is marked with a sticker to specify the type of base
it will receive. Each base is then hand-selected and
individually attached.

38. 12. Packing and Shipping
Each finished chair is cleaned and packaged for shipping.