Magis Totem

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.

When shopping for antique and vintage wardrobes and armoires for your home, there are several things to keep in mind, not least of which is question number 1:

What is the difference between an armoire and a wardrobe?

The difference between an armoire and a wardrobe is actually simple: An armoire is merely an ornate wardrobe. A wardrobe is a tall, streamlined storage cabinet that usually has some combination of drawers, shelves and hanging rods.

Antique and vintage armoires, on the other hand, are freestanding, heavy wooden structures that typically feature decorative metal hinges and pictorial carvings. Armoires are large cabinets that aren’t outfitted with the varied storage features that wardrobes now commonly have. Armoires often have one or two doors and a hanging bar and allow for quick access. Whether a minimalist mid-century modern wardrobe or grandiose Victorian-era armoire is the right fit for you, both are highly functional furnishings and can be a smart storage solution.

Armoires have been around since medieval times, and initially they may have housed weapons and armor. In their early days, armoires were often adorned with elaborate carvings and lavish paintings, particularly in Renaissance-era France. During the 18th century and later, armoires were widely known as “presses” for hanging clothes, and they were so large that they swallowed up the room where they stood.

In today’s modern homes, an antique armoire can be a striking, architectural work of art amid comparably unadorned furnishings. Whether you’re using your piece in the kitchen for cookware or as a food pantry, in the bedroom for clothes or in the living room as a media console, it will likely become a lovable focal point.

The evolution of the armoire can be seen in today’s corner wardrobes, which may rest on an asymmetrical base to account for corner placement, and even mirrored wardrobes, which feature a mirror affixed to the inside panel of one of the doors for convenience. Contemporary wardrobes commonly feature additional sliding trays and drawers and hanging space for clothing or linens, and the cabinet doors make them ideal for concealing televisions and computer monitors when such devices aren’t in use.

When choosing the right wardrobe or vintage armoire for your home, it’s good to have the following in mind: What are you planning to store in it? How much of what you’re storing will need to be housed in it? It should be big enough to accommodate your needs. What is the size of the room where your wardrobe or armoire will live? A large new piece of furniture in a modest space can easily become a hindrance if you have to navigate your way around it during your daily routine, so be mindful of the area you'll need in order to move freely.

Whether you are looking for an antique walnut armoire or a simple contemporary wardrobe, find the right piece for your home today on 1stDibs.