Organic Design

Organic Design

Organic Design is a movement which emerged from organic architecture, which himself, Frank Lloyd Wright along with Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed this style in the late 19th century. Both had an ideology that the things surrounding us, such as furniture, should match esthetically and function well with both the surroundings of interiors and buildings as a whole. They also believed that buildings should show a relationship with their actual surroundings, could be in materials used, structure or colours.

 

Frank Lloyd Wright - Falling Water Interior

Glasgow School of Art - Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Although they took the approach of integrating with nature, it did not necessarily had to be shown esthetically, because at that time they were not used to organic forms and shapes very much. Organic design became what we refer to today, is when they introduced organicism to design by adding flowing ergonomic lines and curves.

Alvar Aalto was an architect and one of the founders of the organic design movement. His design philosophy was very essential for designers such as; Charles and Ray Eames in later years. Aalto throughly believed in using natural materials as a factor of addressing both, psychological and functional needs of the user. In 1940 an exhibition took place at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. It served also as a competition and was entitled; Organic Design for Home Furnishings, which was taken care by Eliot Fette Noyes. The goal for this exhibition was to showcase furniture and furnishings which the thought behind the design or materials was of an organic nature. This competition served to notice the ergonomically formed, molded plywood armchair by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. The armchair won the Seating for a Living Room Category. Saarinen's organic approach to design can be also seen in his architecture, in particular the TWA Terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

Alvar Aalto - Villa Mairea

Charles and Ray Eames - DCW Chair

Pedestal Chair - Eero Saarinen

During the 1990s we saw a comeback of organic design at the opening of the London Design Museum's 1991 exhibition. New materials (especially plastics), new techniques of manufacturing, and advancements in computer generated designs, have all contributed to the formation of this style

Ross Lovegrove was one of the greatest advocates of organic design in the twenty first century. His style could be described as "organic essentialism." Lovegrove mixes ergonomic, almost sculptural forms made with state of the art materials and manufacturing processes. He constructed modern day masterpieces, like his "Go Chair" which was created from a high pressure, injection molded magnesium. He believed that the distinction of form that appears when a sensual organic relation occurs between an animate and an inanimate

Go Chair - Ross Lovegrove

References

Bhaskaran, L. (2005). Designs of the times. Mies: RotoVision.

 Glasgow School of Art: Fire crews save most of building « 1LOVE® ART – ART STORE – Urban Contemporary Art & Culture. 2015. Glasgow School of Art: Fire crews save most of building « 1LOVE® ART – ART STORE – Urban Contemporary Art & Culture. [ONLINE] Available at:http://1loveart.com/2014/05/glasgow-school-of-art-fire-crews-save-most-of-building/. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

Fallingwater | Home. 2015. Fallingwater | Home. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.fallingwater.org/. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

ALVAR AALTO - Villa Mairea | We'll Take These Stairs | Pinterest. 2015.ALVAR AALTO - Villa Mairea | We'll Take These Stairs | Pinterest. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/86272149082641506/?z=1. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

Vitra Miniature: Charles and Ray Eames DCW Chair Red | NOVA68 Modern Design. 2015. Vitra Miniature: Charles and Ray Eames DCW Chair Red | NOVA68 Modern Design. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.nova68.com/2082.html. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

Nordic Heritage Museum: Contact Information. 2015. Nordic Heritage Museum: Contact Information. [ONLINE] Available at:https://www.nordicmuseum.org/exhibitions.aspx. [Accessed 30 January 2015].

Ross Lovegrove SUPERNATURAL chairs for Moroso — Shearyadi’s World. 2015. Ross Lovegrove SUPERNATURAL chairs for Moroso — Shearyadi’s World. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.shearyadi.com/myworld/ross-lovegrove-supernatural-chairs-for-moroso/. [Accessed 30 January 2015].