With the cyclical nature of design trends, it was only a matter of time before mid-century modern design came back and dominated the public culture and Interior design appetite. With this most recent resurgence, it has stimulated a mass influx of furniture to be released in homage or direct replication of the original mid-century modern pieces that were designed almost 90 years ago.
Let's take a trip back to explore the origins of our new favourite pieces, (and perhaps some that are yet to catch your eye) and re-discover the truly iconic and prominent furniture designers of the 20th-century.
The Panton Chair was designed by the Danish designer Verner Panton in 1967, alongside the Swiss furniture company Vitra. After four years and ten prototypes, Panton created history by designing the first chair to ever be crafted from a single piece of moulded plastic.
Featuring a sculptural cantilevered seat and fluid organic shape, this impressive design breaks down the limits and barriers of what a chair can be. With the design intent "to turn the furniture into something organic, which never has four legs."
Likened to the shape of a paint brush stroke, this iconic chair is now manufactured out of polypropylene, in a range of vibrant colours & offers the versatility of indoor or outdoor use.
Renowned artist & designer Isamu Noguchi made quite an impact within the Mid-century modern design period, creating one of the most iconic lamp series, the 'Akari' light sculptures, which are still distributed & beloved to this day. Another of Noguchi's famed pieces is the self-titled Noguchi Table, designed in 1947 for the furniture company, Herman Miller.
The coffee table features two sculptural timber legs position in a splayed orientation, which supports a sleek, curved clear glass top. This piece is beloved for its ability to assimilate into any space, whether it be a residential living room, or commercial office waiting room. It's simplistic and approachable, yet strong design aesthetic and transitional materials allows this piece to perfectly pull together any room and brings a sense of familiarity.
"Everything is a sculpture" – Isamu Noguchi
The Cesca Chair is one of the most prolific chair designs and a staple in the modernist design era. Designed in 1928 by Marcel Breuer, the original chair design features a tubular metal frame adorned with a cantilevered woven rattan seat and back.
Structurally daringly and unique, the Cesca chair transcends any design style with its industrial materiality, minimalist form, and captures Breuer's Bauhaus design roots with the overall chair curvature & shape.
Currently distributed through the furniture brand Knoll, the Cesca chair has evolved to feature upholstered seat variations & explores new vibrant colourways, as well as the original rattan.
Designed by Warren Platner and introduced by Knoll in 1966, the Platner table is timeless piece, merging the competing aesthetics of the time and offering an expressive modernist alternative.
The table base is crafted from hundreds of curved steel rods welded to circular frames, which can be observed from any angle due to the clear glass table top. The robust materials project an industrial style, yet the gentle curvature of the overall form offers softness & intricacy.
With multiple metal finish options and table top material selections, the Platner table is still distributed through the furniture company Knoll and has continued to leave its mark in the interior design world to this day.
Designed for Florence Knoll in 1948 by the celebrated Eero Saarinen, the Womb Chair is referred to as the most comfortable chair in the world. With a sitting experience likened to its namesake, the unique shape and interior seat contour of the Womb Chair allow users to seek comfort, sitting curled up and enveloped. This cocoon-like chair defied the conventions of the time, offering an alternate to the typical lounge chairs of the 40's, which promoted the societal expectations of how women should sit; straight back, with ankles tucked and crossed.
Now produced in a range of colours, fabrics & with an ottoman to match, this chair has transcended decades with its versatile and modern approach to sitting, showing Saarinen's understanding and commitment to designing for the comfort of the human experience.
