Charles and Ray Eames (1907-1978) (1912-1988)

• Created Architecture, books, furniture, films
• Believed that objects were functional, not decorative
• Objects personalized space and contrasted building structure

Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman (1956)

• Contoured plywood with leather padding
• Meant for both comfort and beauty
• Simple, elegant shapes 

Eames Case Study House, Pacific Palisades, CA (1949)

• Modular structural system
• facade uses abstraction, push/pull, primary colors
• Standardized window sizes
• Designed to be mass produced, although never was
• Prevalent use of natural light and materials

Eames House (interior)

• Designed as a vessel to display objects
• Use of "Victorian clutter" decoration
• Ray employed collage (femmage) in the interior
• Exposed joists reveal structural bays

Florence Knoll (1917-)

• Expanded scope of interior decoration
• Brought intelligent design to corporate offices
• popularized use of paste ups in interior design

Knoll Showroom, San Francisco (1956)

• Knoll designed every aspect of her interiors
• sculptural furniture
• black, beige, white colors
• iconic furniture (Barcelona chair, womb chair)
• used her own filler furniture as well

Knoll Paste-up, CBS Office (1952)

• Miniature mock-ups of spaces using color, texture
• clothing a space with tactility

Corporate Offices

• Domestication of office spaces
• Tables and credenzas replaced file cabinets and desks

CBS Building, Eero Saarinen, New York (1965)

• Knoll comissioned to design interior
• Pure geometry from exterior pulled inside via architecture and abstract art 

Executive Offices, CBS Building

• Simple forms, clean lines, wood paneling
• Uncluttered rooms, gridded ceilings
• large windows, neutral color palette
• executive offices resemble living rooms
• use of texture and objects
• shadow lines separate planes

Executive Offices, CBS Building

• Simple forms, clean lines, wood paneling
• Uncluttered rooms, gridded ceilings
• large windows, neutral color palette
• executive offices resemble living rooms
• use of texture and objects
• shadow lines separate planes

Eames Alcove (1961)

• A lounge pit area
• Very personal, intimate

Exterior/Interior, Male v. Female

• Return to 'clutter' was popular with the masses but not with critics
• Ray Eames popularized collage (femmage) through the Eames House
• Much of their work was collaborative 
• They believed that the owner was and active participant in the design of a space
• To enjoy the richness of simple objects

Functioning Decoration

• The Eames' collected exotic objects that displayed hand craftsmanship
• Objects introduced color, pattern, and texture into austere spaces
• Called functioning decoration to avoid modernist stigmas 

Postwar Housing

• The home was where democracy was centered
• After the war, returning veterans needed housing

Postwar Housing

• The home was where democracy was centered
• After the war, returning veterans needed housing

Levittown "Houses fit for heroes", Long Island, NY (1947-1951)

• Tract housing produced in response to returning troops, new families
• The model-T of housing, produced every 16 min.
• Great incentives for veterans
• Built on the edge of cities
• Men were expected to marry and commute to city

Levittown Housing

• The new suburban frontier
• Living room at back, kitchen at front
• Living room became private, rather than public
• Colors such as teal, pink, yellow, meant to combat austerity of WWII
• Unfinished attic space included in Levittown houses
• Backyard focused lifestyle was created via solid front and transparent rear facades
• $8000 price tag and about 800 s.f.

Eichler Homes (late 1950s)

• West coast tract housing 
• Up to 2000 s.f. with $10,000 price tag
• aimed at solidly middle class, fewer produced
• Steel framed with pre-cut timber
• Radiant heated concrete slab floor
• Inwardly focused with central courtyard, glazed rear
• Lots of natural light, warm materials on interior
• Open plan and brick hearth allude to FLW
• Designed to allow mothers to keep an eye on their children
• Always single storey, separate laundry room

• Lots of natural light, warm materials on interior
• Open plan and brick hearth allude to FLW
• Designed to allow mothers to keep an eye on their children
• Always single storey, separate laundry room

Playboy Magazine Cover

• Playboy magazine promoted the urban, single heterosexual male lifestyle
• Light-hearted masculine ideals 

The Playboy Penthouse Apartment (1956)

• Similar to suburban houses with open plan and central kitchen
• Not designed for family
• Masculine design allowed men to safely engage in feminine tasks

Urban Townhouse (1962)

• Home as castle, an outward expression of inward self
• Modern steel, leather, wood furniture
• Designer furniture emphasized sophistocation 
• Abstract pop art was seen as masculine

Penthouse Section

• Central atrium space

Penthouse Interior 2

• The penthouse took advantage of high tech gadgetry 
• Designed for ultimate comfort

Pillow Talk (1959)

• Starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
• Promoted the bachelor lifestyle to the whole country
• Well-accepted film found popularity

Postwar Interiors

• Suburban houses began to take cues from the bachelor pad
• Modern furniture, playful colors, abstract art
• Meant to bring sophistocation to the middle class

Postwar Interiors

• Suburban houses began to take cues from the bachelor pad
• Modern furniture, playful colors, abstract art
• Meant to bring sophistocation to the middle class

Postwar Interiors

• Suburban houses began to take cues from the bachelor pad
• Modern furniture, playful colors, abstract art
• Meant to bring sophistocation to the middle class

Postwar Interiors

• Suburban houses began to take cues from the bachelor pad
• Modern furniture, playful colors, abstract art
• Meant to bring sophistocation to the middle class

Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture

By: Robert Venturi (1966)

• Less is a bore
• Venturi returned to classical forms
• Context becomes important 
• Function and design combine 

Vanna Venturi House, Penn., Robert Venturi (1962-64)

• Encapsulates Venturi's theories
• Ordered exterior masks chaos of interior
• diagonal walls for no apparent reason
• An odd familiarity within the house
• Old forms combined in new ways
• Designed for Vanna Venturi's specific needs as well as her personal furniture

Queen Anne Side Chair, Venturi (1983)

• Reference to tradition with a playful twist
• Ugly

Language of Post-Modern Architecture

By: Charles Jencks (1977)

• Uses literary criticism to view architecture
• Buildings exhibit double coding: one for architects and the other for the public
• Using context in design
• Metaphor and symbolism

Thematic House, Charles Jencks, London (1977)

• Cosmic time is represented inside the house 
• Passage of seasons, years
• Cosmic oval
• Solar staircase represents the passage of a year
• Heavy use of symbolism
• Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring rooms
• Unique furniture within each room

Thematic House, Charles Jencks, London (1977)

• Cosmic time is represented inside the house 
• Passage of seasons, years
• Cosmic oval
• Solar staircase represents the passage of a year
• Heavy use of symbolism
• Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring rooms
• Unique furniture within each room

Thematic House, Charles Jencks, London (1977)

• Cosmic time is represented inside the house 
• Passage of seasons, years
• Cosmic oval
• Solar staircase represents the passage of a year
• Heavy use of symbolism
• Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring rooms
• Unique furniture within each room

Thematic House, Charles Jencks, London (1977)

• Cosmic time is represented inside the house 
• Passage of seasons, years
• Cosmic oval
• Solar staircase represents the passage of a year
• Heavy use of symbolism
• Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring rooms
• Unique furniture within each room

Thematic House, Charles Jencks, London (1977)

• Cosmic time is represented inside the house 
• Passage of seasons, years
• Cosmic oval
• Solar staircase represents the passage of a year
• Heavy use of symbolism
• Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring rooms
• Unique furniture within each room

Furniture Showroom, Michael Graves, Houston TX (1980)

• Graves was part of the New York 5
• Moved away from modernism towards post-modernism
• Use of modern-looking columns and capitals
• Layered tray ceiling

Public Service Building, Portland OR, Michael Graves (1980-1983)

• Bold use of color and shape
• "Put architecture back 50 years"
• Windows are too small, as are the rooms
• Interior lobby is the only room that represents postmodernism

Public Service Building, Portland OR, Michael Graves (1980-1983)

• Bold use of color and shape
• "Put architecture back 50 years"
• Windows are too small, as are the rooms
• Interior lobby is the only room that represents postmodernism

Whistle Tea Kettle and housewares

• Taking postmodernism design into everyday life

AT&T Building, New York, Philip Johnson (1978-83)

• Inspired by Chippendale wardrobe
• Grand, classical entry
• Almost monastic, cloister-like lobby

AT&T Building, New York, Philip Johnson (1978-83)

• Inspired by Chippendale wardrobe
• Grand, classical entry
• Almost monastic, cloister-like lobby

Sitting Room, Singapore, Memphis Group (1986)

• Milan-based group
• High and low design inspiration
• Pop modern style 

"Cariton" Bookcase, Memphis Group

• Playful, fun, bright colors

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)

• Meaning is derived from context, rather than its literal form
• Asks: How is meaning constructed?
• More than one language of design

• Form is "disturbed" or "contaminated"
• Pure forms and geometries manipulated to produce irregular forms
• Compositions and spaces that challenge traditional ideals of harmony and stability
• Challenge conventions about program and space planning
• Focus on the manipulation of natural and artificial light
• Minimal interiors with limited material and color palette 

Gehry House, Santa Monica CA, Frank Gehry (1977-78)

• Random interplay of color and material
• Structure appears to be taken apart and constructed randomly

Gehry House, Santa Monica CA, Frank Gehry (1977-78)

• Random interplay of color and material
• Structure appears to be taken apart and constructed randomly

Gehry House, Santa Monica CA, Frank Gehry (1977-78)

• Random interplay of color and material
• Structure appears to be taken apart and constructed randomly

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, Frank Gehry (1997)

• Extremely complex metal work, difficult to build
• intricate and varied interior forms
• Few columns are needed
• Colossal scale is almost intihuman
• Floors and walls begin to merge
• Context is being created, rather than responded to

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, Frank Gehry (1997)

• Extremely complex metal work, difficult to build
• intricate and varied interior forms
• Few columns are needed
• Colossal scale is almost intihuman
• Floors and walls begin to merge
• Context is being created, rather than responded to

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain, Frank Gehry (1997)

• Extremely complex metal work, difficult to build
• intricate and varied interior forms
• Few columns are needed
• Colossal scale is almost intihuman
• Floors and walls begin to merge
• Context is being created, rather than responded to

Church of the Light, Osaka, Tadao Ando (1988)

• Designed for patterns of changing light
• Simple material palette of concrete 
• Focused on feeling of the space
• How does architecture evoke emotion?

Church of the Light, Osaka, Tadao Ando (1988)

• Designed for patterns of changing light
• Simple material palette of concrete 
• Focused on feeling of the space
• How does architecture evoke emotion?

Rosenthal Center for the Contemporary Arts, Cincinnati OH, Zaha Hadid (1998-2003)

• Influenced by pop art, faith in technology
• plays with scale and color
• blurring exterior and interior of building

Rosenthal Center for the Contemporary Arts, Cincinnati OH, Zaha Hadid (1998-2003)

• Influenced by pop art, faith in technology
• plays with scale and color
• blurring exterior and interior of building

Jewish Museum Addition, Berlin, Daniel Libeskind (1999)

• Looks like a deconstructed Star of David
• High contrast with traditional entrance building
• Maze-like interior
• High windows create lack of views
• Tension arises from jagged walls

Jewish Museum Addition, Berlin, Daniel Libeskind (1999)

• Looks like a deconstructed Star of David
• High contrast with traditional entrance building
• Maze-like interior
• High windows create lack of views
• Tension arises from jagged walls

Jewish Museum Addition, Berlin, Daniel Libeskind (1999)

• Looks like a deconstructed Star of David
• High contrast with traditional entrance building
• Maze-like interior
• High windows create lack of views
• Tension arises from jagged walls

Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Rem Koolhaas (1999-04)

• Disorienting feeling
• Unique form, landmark building
• Use of color creates immersive spaces
• Book carrels placed on a continuous ramp
• Public living room
• Challenges traditional values, organization 

Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Rem Koolhaas (1999-04)

• Disorienting feeling
• Unique form, landmark building
• Use of color creates immersive spaces
• Book carrels placed on a continuous ramp
• Public living room
• Challenges traditional values, organization 

Philippe Stark (1949-)

• France's preeminent designer
• His work lacks a definite style

Louis Ghost Chair (2002-2005)

• Transluscent replication of King Louis chair
• Transforming elitist furniture into a modern, more attainable version

"Juicy Salif" lemon squeezer (1990-91)

• Designed as a conversation piece
• Very sculptural, less functional

Paramount Hotel, New York, Philippe Stark (1995)

• Created idea of the boutique hotel
• mix of traditional and modern
• stairs widen as they ascend
• variation of color and material
• influenced by pop and post-modern

Paramount Hotel, New York, Philippe Stark (1995)

• Created idea of the boutique hotel
• mix of traditional and modern
• stairs widen as they ascend
• variation of color and material
• influenced by pop and post-modern

Asahi Beer Hall, Tokyo, Philippe Stark (1989-90)

• "The golden turd building"
• Undulating walls and ceilings
• Playing with scale and massings

Asahi Beer Hall, Tokyo, Philippe Stark (1989-90)

• "The golden turd building"
• Undulating walls and ceilings
• Playing with scale and massings