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A Close Look at post-modern Furniture
Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emerges during the 1960s; popularity explodes during the ’80s
- A reaction to prevailing conventions of modernism by mainly American architects
- Architect Robert Venturi critiques modern architecture in his Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966)
- Theorist Charles Jencks, who championed architecture filled with allusions and cultural references, writes The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977)
- Italian design collective the Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, meets for the first time (1980)
- Memphis collective debuts more than 50 objects and furnishings at Salone del Milano (1981)
- Interest in style declines, minimalism gains steam
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Dizzying graphic patterns and an emphasis on loud, off-the-wall colors
- Use of plastic and laminates, glass, metal and marble; lacquered and painted wood
- Unconventional proportions and abundant ornamentation
- Playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Ettore Sottsass
- Robert Venturi
- Alessandro Mendini
- Michele de Lucchi
- Michael Graves
- Nathalie du Pasquier
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
Finding the Right end-tables for You
Beyond just providing additional tabletop space for your living room, an attractive vintage end table can help you organize as well as display books and decorative objects.
The term “end table” is frequently used interchangeably with “coffee table,” and while these two furnishings have much in common, each offers their own distinctive benefits in your space.
Your end table is likely going to stand as tall as the arms of your sofa, and its depth will match the seating. These attributes allow for tucking the table neatly at the end of your sofa in order to provide an elevated surface between your seating and the wall. End tables are accent pieces — they’re a close cousin to side tables, but side tables, not unlike the show-stealing low-profile coffee table, are intended to be positioned prominently and have more to do with the flow and design of a room than an end table, which does a great job but does it out of the way of everything else.
End tables with a drawer or a shelf can easily stow away books or television remotes. Living-room end tables frequently assist with lighting, specifically as they’re often positioned adjacent to a wall. Their height and compact tabletop render them ideal for table lamps and plants, particularly if parked near a window.
And given their practicality, there is no shortage of simple, streamlined end tables from mid-century modern favorites such as Baker Furniture Company, Dunbar and Knoll that will serve your clutter-clearing minimalist efforts or wide-open loft space well. But over the years, furniture designers have taken to venturesome experimentation, crafting tables from fallen trees, introducing organic shapes and playing with sculptural forms, so much so that your understated end table might eventually become the centerpiece of a room, no matter where you choose to place it. One-of-a-kind contemporary designs prove that there are endless options for what an end table can be, while furniture makers working in the Art Deco style have proven that end tables can be stacked, staggered and nested at will, creating all kinds of variations on this popular home accent.
Find an extraordinary variety of antique, new and vintage end tables on 1stDibs today.
- 1stDibs ExpertJune 30, 2023With a glass table, avoid putting anything on top heavier than the recommended weight capacity of the table. Items with rough or sharp bottoms could scratch glass. If you wish to display an item on top of a glass table, line the bottom of the item with felt to protect the tabletop. On 1stDibs, shop a range of glass tables from some of the world's top sellers.
- Are glass coffee tables durable?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertJune 15, 2023Whether glass coffee tables are durable depends on the craftsmanship and the materials. Generally, tables with tempered glass are less likely to shatter and break. How well you care for a coffee table will also impact its life span. On 1stDibs, shop a collection of glass coffee tables.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 3, 2023You can substitute a number of things for a glass table top. Try painted wood, marble or sheet metal. To decide what to use, consider the overall style of your room and the other types of materials featured in the space. Shop a selection of tables from some of the world's top sellers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 3, 2023Whether a glass table is better for small spaces is largely a matter of personal opinion. However, many people find that a transparent glass table creates the illusion of a larger room and makes a compact area feel more spacious. Shop a variety of glass tables on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 28, 2021The most preferred type of glass for a coffee table is tempered glass. In case of a mishap, this type of glass will fracture into small pieces. One-half inch thick glass is the most popular for coffee tables. 1stDibs offers different antique, vintage and new glass coffee tables.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 2021Yes, you should put glass on top of your dining table to minimize scratches and wear. Glass allows you to see the beauty of the wood while protecting it from everyday wear.
- 1stDibs ExpertOctober 5, 2021The best thickness for a glass table top depends on usage. If the glass is used just as a cover, then ¼-inch thick glass is likely good enough. If the glass will be used is as a table surface, then you should choose the thickness of the glass according to the size of the table. If the glass used is supporting heavy items, or its size is more than 24 inches, then choose glass that is thicker than ¼ inch. Thicker glass will feel and look more substantial, but thicker glass becomes heavier with increasing size. On 1stDibs, find antique and vintage glass-top dining room tables, glass-top coffee tables, side tables and more.
- 1stDibs ExpertJune 15, 2023Whether a glass or acrylic coffee table is better is a matter of personal preference. An acrylic table is less likely to shatter and often lighter in weight, while a glass coffee table may have a more prominent shine. How carefully a coffee table is crafted also impacts its quality and longevity. On 1stDibs, shop a range of coffee tables.