Taking a Turn for the Better

It looks as though through the past we are able to come to the conclusion that design tends to simplify and improve in hard times. Think of the W.P.A, and the furniture created after WWII.

That was the case during the Great Depression, when an early wave of modernism flourished in the United States, partly because it efficiently addressed the middle-class need for a pared-down life without servants and other Victorian trappings. -Michael Cannell, NY Times

Design was not only made affordably but it was also beautiful creating a powerful appeal to consumers. Sounds like something we could use in these times, don’t you think?

The article over at NYTimes.com titled Design Loves a Depression references Charles and Ray Eames, Russel Wright, to name a few and a great quote from Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art.

“What designers do really well is work within constraints, work with what they have,” “This might be the time when designers can really do their job, and do it in a humanistic spirit.”

Want more on modern design? How about an article from 1961 in Playboy about the masters of design called Designs for Living at Lushpad ( the image at the top of this article ). Further Reading? Try Masters of Modern Design: A Critical Assessment by Geroge H. Marcus.