Design Appreciation - Mid Century Modern

Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was popular in the United States and Europe from roughly 1945 to 1970 during the United States's post-World War II period.[1]

MCM-style decor and architecture have seen a major resurgence that began in the late 1990s and continues today.[2]

The term was used as early as the mid-1950s, and was defined as a design movement by Cara Greenberg in her 1984 book Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s. It is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement.

The MCM design aesthetic is modern in style and construction, aligned with the Modernist movement of the period. It is typically characterized by clean, simple lines and honest use of materials, and generally does not include decorative embellishments.

Scandinavian design was very influential at this time, with a style characterized by simplicity, democratic design and natural shapes. Glassware (Iittala – Finland), ceramics (Arabia – Finland), tableware (Georg Jensen – Denmark), lighting (Poul Henningsen – Denmark), and furniture (Danish modern) were some of the genres for the products created.

In the United States, east of the Mississippi, the American-born Russel Wright and Mary Wright, designing for Steubenville Pottery, and Hungarian-born Eva Zeisel designing for Red Wing Pottery and later Hall China created free-flowing ceramic designs that were much admired and heralded in the trend of smooth, flowing contours in dinnerware.

On the West Coast of the United States, the industrial designer and potter Edith Heath (1911–2005) founded Heath Ceramics in 1948. The company was one of the numerous California pottery manufacturers that had their heyday in post-war United States, and produced Mid-Century modern ceramic dish-ware.

Edith Heath's "Coupe" line remains in demand and has been in constant production since 1948, with only periodic changes to the texture and color of the glazes.[21]

The Tamac Pottery company produced a line of mid-century modern biomorphic dinnerware and housewares between 1946 and 1972.[22]

1. MID CENTURY MODERN

2. CLEAN LINES Mid-century designers learned the value of the clean line from their Modernist forebears. Simple, angular shapes dominated, but were gradually replaced by a more organic aesthetic at the end of the 1950s.

3. EXUBERANT COLOUR From the vibrant tones of Murano glass to the more subtle, naturalistic hues of Scandinavian wares, colour was striking. Homewares were often in pastel shades, and drab colours were perceived as old fashioned.

4. ORGANIC SHAPES Biomorphic design - abstract forms based on organic shapes found in nature - were used by many designers. They eschewed surface decoration, allowing the simple shapes and clean lines to stand out

5. NATURAL INSPIRATION From Scandinavian glass , which emulated the textures of bark or rippling water, to the flowing shapes Of chairs and light fittings, mid-century designers drew Inspiration from the landscapes around them.

6. QUIRKY FABRICS Bright, new abstract patterns enlivened textiles and homewares. The simple geometry of Modernist designs segued into two-dimensional, colourful designs often based on nature or the latest discoveries in science

7. SCIENTIFIC INFLUENCES The development of atomic science and space technology gave designers a new visual vocabulary on which to draw, from microscopic forms such as atomic structures, to Sputnik and other spacecraft