Utilitas, Venustas, Firmitas
NYUAD Art Gallery | Reading Room
Thursday, February 21, 2019, 9:00 am – 10:15 am
| 04 | Michael Thonet, Side Chair, Model No. 14, 1859 | THU, 02-21-19 | Usman |
| 05 | Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hill House Chair, 1904 | THU, 02-21-19 | |
| 06 | Josef Hoffmann, Die Sitzmaschine, 1905 | THU, 02-21-19 |
Discussion topics/potential questions
The principles of standardisation (to only use a small range of identical components) and mass production meant that a reduced language of form had to be used. The Thonet chairs thus embody an important keynote of design – high production volume with reductionist aesthetic – that was to remain ascendant in that form until the 1970s. Are those principles still valid?
Comparing the Hill House Chair with the Sitzmaschine, what aspects come to your mind? (usability, function, art/design statement…)Which association do you have with the design of the Hill House Chair?
Identify aspects of functionality and of ornaments in the Sitzmaschine. Is there a function in ornaments, too?