27 Laszlo Moholy

Laszlo Moholy

László Moholy-Nagy (probably July 28, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school.

He was editor of the art and photography department of the European avant-garde magazine International Revue i 10 from 1927 to 1929.

In 1937, at the invitation of Walter Paepcke, the Chairman of the Container Corporation of America, Moholy-Nagy moved to Chicago to become the director of The New Bauhaus. The philosophy of the school was basically unchanged from that of the original, and its headquarters was the Prairie Avenue mansion that architect Richard Morris Hunt designed for department Store magnate Marshall Field.

Unfortunately, the school lost the financial backing of its supporters after only a single academic year and it closed in 1938. Paepcke, however, continued his own support, and in 1939, Moholy-Nagy opened the School of Design. In 1944, this became the Institute of Design. He authored an account of his efforts to develop the curriculum of the School of Design in his book Vision in Motion.

26 Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887–August 27, 1965) was a Swiss architect famous for what is now called the International style, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Theo van Doesburg. He also designed furniture.

Born as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a small town of Neuchâtel canton in northwestern Switzerland, just across the border from France, Le Corbusier was attracted to the visual arts and studied under the tutelage of the teacher at the local arts school, Charles L’Éplattenier, who had himself studied in Budapest and Paris. He himself designed his earliest houses, like the Villa Fallet, the Villa Schwob, and the Villa Jeanneret (the latter of which was for his parents) in La Chaux-de-Fonds. These houses recall the indigenous mountainous vernacular architectural styles popular in the Alps.

Frequently in his early years he would escape the somewhat provincial atmosphere of his hometown by travelling around Europe. In about 1907 he travelled to Paris, where he found work in the office of the French pioneer in reinforced concrete, Auguste Perret, and between October 1910 and March 1911 he worked for the renowned architect Peter Behrens near Berlin, where he met a young Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and became fluent in German. Both of these experiences proved influential in his later career. Later in 1911 he would journey to the Balkans and visit Greece and Turkey, filling sketchbooks with renderings of what he saw, including many famous sketches of the Parthenon, whose forms he would later praise in his work Vers une architecture (1923).

25 Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray (August 9, 1878 – October 31, 1976) was an Irish lacquer artist, furniture designer, and architect now well-known for incorporating luxurious lacquer work into the stark International Style aesthetic.

She first studied painting at London’s Slade School of Design. She eventually left painting to study lacquer under the guidance of lacquer craftsman, Sugawara.

In 1913, she held her first exhibition, showing some decorative panels at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs. She combined lacquer and rare woods, geometric abstraction and Japanese-inspired motifs into her work. It attracted the attention of Jacques Doucet, an art connoisseur and collector. He commissioned a few pieces – her only signed and dated creations.

So far, her work went mostly unnoticed. In London after the start of World War I, Gray needed to rely on her family’s financial support. Near the end of the war, Gray was commissioned to decorate an apartment on Rue de Lota in Paris. Her interior designs generated a great deal of praise in the press. She opened the Jean Desert Gallery in 1922.

Shortly thereafter, persuaded by Le Corbusier and Jean Badovici among others, she turned her interests to architecture. In 1924 Gray and Badovici began work on the house E-1027 in Roquebrune, Cap Martin in southern France (near Monaco). L-shaped and flat-roofed with floor-to-ceiling windows and a spiral stairway to the guest room, E-1027 was both open and compact. Gray designed the furniture as well as collaborated with Badovici on its structure. Her circular glass E-1027 table and rotund Bibendum armchair were inspired by the recent tubular steel experiments of Marcel Breuer at the Bauhaus. The house is now in poor repair.

In 1968, a complimentary magazine article quickly grew into an unexpected hit, and the Bibendum chair and E-1027 table went back into production. Following the purchase of her archive in 2002, the Irish National Museum at Collins Barracks Dublin opened a permanent exhibition of her work.

43 Barcelona Chair

Barcelona Chair

The Barcelona Chair was designed by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe for the German Pavilion exhibit in Barcelona

The Barcelona Chair was designed to be used as a throne for the king and queen of Spain while visiting the German Pavilion exhibit.

… it was an instant success. Amongst others, the Barcelona Chair (also Barcelona stool, table, daybed, etc.) is an example of Van Der Rohe’s design genius.

Originally constructed of high quality Leather and Chromed steel, many of today’s reproductions use stainless steel instead of chrome. In my opinion, nothing can match the finish of a high quality chromed steel; the shine, smooth finish and seamless look are fantastic!

This is one of my personal favourites, I simply love the clean and simple lines of the Barcelona Chairs and the entire collection from the German Pavilion… simple, elegant and unmatched quality make this article a must have for all Bauhaus lovers.

44 Chaise Lounge

Le Corbusier’s Chaise Lounge

A classic piece of furniture that’s instantly recognizable and admired by enthusiasts and general public worldwide.

The chaise lounge is constructed of steel and leather. The base is a black enameled steel beam construction while the top piece is steel tube with a leather pad. The design allows for the chaise lounge to be adjusted to a position that suits your needs as it reclines quite easily to allow for a more upright or laying down position.


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