Vladimir Kagan, a German furniture designer, is known for his signature curves and organic aesthetic in modern furniture design. He began designing in 1946 and by the early 1950s, his innovative sculptured designs created a new look in American furniture. Kagan’s work is credited with rounding off the hard edges of traditional furniture with kidney-shaped couches and other seating concepts.
Inducted into the Interior Designer Hall of Fame in 2009, Kagan’s work is considered closer to the art furniture of Wendell Castle than something else. His furniture has been shown in residential settings, drawing well-heeled and celebrity clients to visualize how their homes could be transformed. His designs are spearheading creative designs for hotels, furniture, textiles, and home furnishings.
Kagan’s modern, sculptural furniture found quick success, with notable projects including the Delegate’s Cocktail Lounges for the first United Nations. He is responsible for countless classics, including a line of much-coveted outdoor furniture and even designed a high-rise apartment building. Kagan’s prize-winning designs have been published in books and magazines internationally and are in the collection of the New York Times.
Despite officially retiring in 1988, Kagan continued his design career and gave back to the community by teaching and serving as chair of the International Furniture Federation. His furniture is in private collections worldwide and his prize-winning designs have been published in books and magazines internationally.
📹 Timeless Design: Vladimir Kagan & Amy Lau
Vladimir Kagan has been designing furniture for close to seven decades, winning almost every possible design award along the …
Who designed the chair?
It is estimated that the first chair was invented in Egypt approximately 5, 800 years ago by Egyptian artisans, who added a backrest to existing benches. The chair subsequently underwent a transformation, acquiring a high backrest crafted from ebony and ivory and embellished with golden wood. It became an object of artistic merit and fulfilled a functional purpose. The earliest known examples of upholstered chairs date to between 2040 and 16040 B. C. This innovation made chairs more comfortable.
Who designed the Bentwood chair?
Bentwood chairs, including Trent Furniture’s, are derived from the first bentwood chair, the Model 14, created by German-Austrian cabinet maker Michael Thonet in the 1850s in Vienna. Thonet’s innovative design, known as the ‘chair of chairs’, won a gold medal at the 1867 World Fair in Paris. Although Thonet passed away in 1871, his unique innovation continues to be used today by suppliers of bentwood chairs.
The chair’s unique design involves using steam to soften the wood, bend it into the desired shape, and then allow it to cool and dry back into a solid form. This technique, which still rivals modern techniques for durability, is a testament to the golden age of the late 1800s.
Who designed the bentwood Cafe chair No 14?
Michael Thonet, a German-Austrian furniture maker and designer, is known for his popular No. 14 Cafe Chair, a popular piece used in bistros and restaurants worldwide. Thonet developed bentwood furniture and the popular No. 14 chair, known as the Cafe Chair. His work has been featured in various publications, including DesignLAB, Library Director’s Update, Touch History. Design the Future, Hadley Court, Vuncannon Room, and Pat Plaxico Garden.
Did Zaha Hadid design furniture?
Zaha Hadid, a British-Iraqi architect, designer, and painter, is known for creating distinctive buildings in the 21st century. She began her explorations into spatial intervention with the redesign of her bedroom as a child in Baghdad. Hadid’s approach aimed for a total harmony between landscape, exterior, and interior space. Before her untimely death, she produced numerous furniture collections, housewares, garments, jewelry, and even a car in the sinuous style that became her trademark.
A 2006 bench from tomorrow’s Design auction in New York appears to freeze movement, as though formed from a jet of molten metal, extruded at speed and shaped by the forces of physics. The cast aluminum form draws from the material lexicon of industry, with a smoothly smooth surface and lustrous finish that evokes the curves of a high-performance automobile. The biomorphic depressions and projections suggest natural places to perch or recline, but it resists mirroring the body in a way that precludes a multiplicity of function.
What else did Zaha Hadid design?
Zaha Hadid, born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq, is known as the “Queen of Curves” for her innovative approach to architectural geometry. She has designed major projects such as the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics, the Broad Art Museum, Rome’s MAXXI Museum, and the Guangzhou Opera House. Hadid has received numerous awards and accolades, including being recognized by the 2013 Forbes List as one of the “World’s Most Powerful Women”.
Several of her buildings were still under construction at the time of her death, including the Daxing International Airport in Beijing and the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar, a venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Hadid was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, the UK’s most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011, and was made a Dame by Elizabeth II in 2012. She also became the first woman to be individually awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects in February 2016.
Hadid’s family was a wealthy industrialist and co-founder of the socialist al-Ahali group, a significant political organization in the 1930s and 1940s. Her mother was an artist, and her brother Foulath Hadid was a writer, accountant, and expert on Arab affairs. Hadid’s interest in architecture was sparked by her early childhood trips to ancient Sumerian cities in southern Iraq. She attended boarding schools in England and Switzerland in the 1960s and was unmarried with no children.
What furniture did Marcel Breuer design?
In the 1930s, he gained renown for his innovative use of unconventional materials, including aluminum, tubular steel, bent laminated plywood, and leather, in furniture design. Additionally, he made significant contributions to the field of interior design, creating elegant interiors for prominent architectural structures.
Is Gigi Hadid daughter of Zaha Hadid?
It is a common misconception that the late Zaha Hadid is related to model Gigi Hadid. In fact, there is no familial connection between the two women.
Who made the first furniture?
Since the beginning of human civilization, people have been using natural objects like tree stumps, rocks, and moss as furniture. Archaeological research indicates that around 30, 000 years ago, people began constructing and carving their own furniture using wood, stone, and animal bones. Early furniture is known from artwork such as a Venus figurine found in Russia, depicting the goddess on a throne. The first surviving extant furniture is found in the homes of Skara Brae in Scotland, including cupboards, dressers, and beds all constructed from stone.
Complex construction techniques such as joinery began in the early dynastic period of ancient Egypt, with wooden pieces, including stools and tables, sometimes decorated with valuable metals or ivory. The evolution of furniture design continued in ancient Greece and Rome, with thrones and multipurpose couches being commonplace. The Middle Ages furniture was usually heavy, oak, and ornamented. Furniture design expanded during the Italian Renaissance, with the seventeenth century characterized by opulent, often gilded Baroque designs.
The nineteenth century is typically defined by revival styles. The first three-quarters of the twentieth century are often seen as the march towards Modernism, with a return to natural shapes and textures.
Who invented the convertible sofa?
Bernard Castro, born in Sicily in 1904, was the inventor of the modern convertible couch. He emigrated to the United States in 1919 and worked as an upholsterer’s apprentice. In 1931, he opened his first store, which eventually became a chain. Castro sold over 5 million convertible sofas through 48 retail showrooms in 12 states, becoming a multimillionaire. He married Theresa Barabas in 1942 and had two children, Bernard, Jr. and Bernadette. Bernadette became the company’s official four-year-old spokesperson.
Castro was involved in every aspect of the product’s development, production, and sale. He introduced a more fashion-forward concept for convertible furniture and was a genius at advertising using television, radio, and print in all markets where Castro Convertibles had showrooms. One of his favorite innovations was the “Scotch n Sofa”, a sofa that converted into a bar with a built-in turntable. Castro Convertibles was the leader and innovator in convertible furniture, and his showrooms were a destination for customers with a real “show business” experience.
Who designed Le Corbusier furniture?
Le Corbusier’s Furniture, a classic line of furniture designed by him, was introduced in 1928 at the Salon d’Autumne in Paris. The designer began experimenting with furniture design in 1928 after seeing a model apartment designed by Charlotte Perriand. His cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, collaborated on many of the designs. Before Perriand’s arrival, Le Corbusier relied on ready-made furniture from Thonet.
In 1928, Le Corbusier and Perriand began implementing the expectations for furniture outlined in his 1925 book L’Art Décoratif d’aujourd’hui, which defined three different types of furniture: type-needs, type-furniture, and human-limb objects.
Who designed the curved sofa?
Since the passing of Dame Zaha Hadid and Vladimir Kagan, the designer of the curved sofa, the design industry has shifted to the playful line. The designer believes that a curved sofa should float in space, like interior landscaping. With almost seven decades of success, the curved sofa’s place in the world’s greatest designers’ little black book is permanently secured. The design’s desirability is amplified by its popularity and the ability to create a comfortable, open seating arrangement.
📹 Furniture Design: Brooke Stoddard with Vladimir Kagan and Chris Lehrecke
Brooke Stoddard, style editor for House & Garden magazine, speaks with Vladimir Kagan and Chris Lehrecke about their careers …
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