Newport International Group Reviews│Colin and Justin: Old fashioned is new fashion as timeless classics brighten room

http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2013/07/25/old_fashioned_is_new_fashion_as_timeless_classics_brighten_room.html

Colin and Justin:
Old fashioned is new fashion as timeless classics brighten room
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Visit any factory-inspired condo project, or hip-and-happening
home store, and you’ll find designs dating from the 1920s through to the
1970s.
Attention design devotees. Hands up if you’re currently
bathing in an avocado-toned acrylic bath. Anybody? Thought not.
Let’s try another tack. Which of you will admit to decorating
with genuine 1970s wallpaper featuring psychedelic orange flowers and
chocolate brown leaf motifs? Nobody? Why doesn’t that surprise us?
You’re all way too cool and way too “now” to be so attached to
the past. Or are you?
Visit any factory-inspired condo development, or hip-and-
happening home store, and you’ll almost certainly find yourself wading
through design history from the ’20s, ’50s, ’60s and even the ’70s.

The reality is that much of what we consider cutting edge actually
predates our parents. Age issues aside, many aspects cut a surprisingly
contemporary dash, thereby making them perfect fodder with which to
transform otherwise characterless spaces.
Consider the evidence. Step inside our time shuttle, if you will, and
enjoy a spot of progressive 1920s modernism via the iconic Barcelona chair,
love child of Mies van der Rohe, a German American creative whose work
is revered, to this day, across the globe.
The Barcelona’s original purpose was as a modern throne for
visiting King Alfonso XIII and was designed to provide a seat as he and his
Queen signed the Golden Book to open the International Exposition of 1929.
With button-tufted upholstery and an iconic metal X frame, the chair drew
on van der Rohe’s determination to combine supreme comfort with
manufacturing economy.
As secondary seating in today’s project, it’s comfortable and
elegant and adds immediate historical gravitas. Discover your nearest
stocklist at knoll.com.

And our clients? A super fun couple named Laura and James. We
figured that, their love of retro taken into account, they’d enjoy a scheme that
plundered the past, but in a strident and very contemporary manner.
Why hadn’t they got round to renovating? For starters, their busy
schedule as independent film makers meant they had little time to devote to
domestic style — as our before pictures can attest. But no worries; what they
lacked in time was more than made up for in enthusiasm and blind decorative
ambition. Aye, we made a great team!
After bonding with us over coffee in their spectacularly cluttered
home, Laura and James left the redesign in our ambitious hands, asking only
one thing: for a right-angled turn. Blimey, did we rise to the challenge.
The first piece of business was to open the space, which we achieved
by removing the decorative pier that punctuated the living and dining zones.
(Note: if you plan to make any structural changes, you must make certain you
won’t undermine your home’s physical integrity. We work with a team of
skilled contractors who comply with every aspect of building code and seek
relevant consents and permits.)

After painting everything crisp white (as a gallery-style backdrop for
the design museum pieces that would shortly follow), we accented with vivid
yellow and black latex bands. To further pursue the art gallery feel, we used
the deepest black for the window frames and skirting boards, which effectively
framed our project.
High-impact tactics, for sure, but Laura and James are a lively couple
who, by their own admission, enjoy pushing the envelope.
Next, we installed a grey-toned Amtico floor (amtico.com) and then
anchored silver birch branches from floor to ceiling on either side of the room,
for a shot of organic appeal to balance the American Psycho/Wall Street
esthetics.
Stage setting aside, let’s get back to business — that being our classic
furniture from yesteryear. Our next ancient example of modernism comes
courtesy of Eileen Gray, a designer who seriously influenced the course of art
history and style.
Gray’s E-1027 side table (which sits on the right in our after shot) is a
beautiful piece that is as relevant today as it was in the 1920s, when she so
lovingly composed its sexy lines.

The Irish-born visionary is particularly renowned for her ability to merge form
and function, which jettisoned her into the circle of Amsterdam’s De Stijl
artists, around whom she created much of her early work. (dwr.com)
Moving on, let’s hang with a younger crowd. Cue the Noguchi table,
as envisioned by Isamu Noguchi and manufactured by Herman Miller in 1947.
We reckoned it made the perfect addition to our very modern living/dining
room, its ebony tones playing as useful complement to our accent wall.
(eq3.com)
Fast forwarding to the 1950s, we found ourselves in Denmark. The
master of all things Danish? Arne Jacobsen. A pioneer of plywood, his iconic
3107 chair from 1955 is still one of the world’s most recognizable seating
solutions.
Characterized by its sinuous moulded shell, the chair works perfectly
well in office use or for dining, as in today’s project. Okay, so the cult status of
the 3107 has been somewhat diluted by fierce plagiarism but, to some,
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The icing on our cake was the Grand Confort sofa and matching
chairs, designed in 1928 by Le Corbusier. Ultimate classics, these pieces are
surprisingly comfortable and widely regarded as history’s greatest modern
furniture. New York’s Musuem of Modern Art displays Grand Confort, along
with work by Eileen Gray, as part of its permanent collection.
To tool up further, read a copy of A Century of Design; Design
Pioneers of The 20th Century, published by Barron and authored by Penny
Sparke. You’ll become quickly absorbed by the annals of furniture history.
You’ll lust over pictures of Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair and weep at the
sight of Harry Bertoia’s Diamond seat. The beautifully photographed reference
book bears testament to the fact that old fashioned doesn’t have to mean fuddy
duddy.
This in mind, we’re already planning our next trip to NYC to scan the
glittering inventory of vintage furniture at MoMA — an institute we shall
rename MoNSMA (Musuem of Not So Modern Art).

Newport International Group Reviews│Colin and Justin: Old fashioned is new fashion as timeless classics brighten room

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Newport International Group Reviews│Colin and Justin: Old fashioned is new fashion as timeless classics brighten room