#formandfunction

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SHAPES

Simple geometric shapes contain innate psychological properties that we instinctively recognize.

CIRCLE

Community, love, unity, inclusiveness. Positive emotions.

SQUARE

Stability, balance, strength, efficiency, professionalism.

TRIANGLE

Mystery, power. Used for sci-fi, religious, or law themes.

VERTICAL LINE

Commitment, strength, progress, goals.

HORIZONTAL LINE

Movement through time, futuristic, tech-savviness.

Pierre Jeanneret was a Swiss born architect, born in Geneva on March 22nd in 1896. He attended the School of Fine Arts “Ecole des Beaux-Arts” in Geneva and became a renowned architect and furniture designer.

His cousin was the famous architect and designer Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, aka Le Corbusier who Jeanneret worked alongside for most of his career. Le Corbusier was happy to take Jeanneret under his wing and share his knowledge and connections. Their partnership began in 1922 when the two opened an architectural practice which they managed together with their friend Charlotte Perriand from 1927-1937.

They created furniture such as the ‘LC4’ Chaise Lounge Chair pictured below. Their designs favored function and order over embellishment. The materials they used were highly luxurious leathers and hides for upholstery with chrome tubes to frame the pieces. While working together they also developed the "Five Points Towards a New Architecture," a theory of design which set the stage for modern architecture today. Their design of the famous Villa Savoye, completed in 1928, being a perfect example of their modern structural ideals. (Check out our blog on LeCorbusier to learn more.)

Around the time of the second World War the two had a rift that would last for almost 10 years. Many speculated that it may have been due to political differences. Thankfully the rift didn’t last too long and they joined forces again in the 1950’s after the war had ended, stating that their time apart was merely due to practicality. 

What brought them together was a project in India that Le Corbusier was overseeing. It was probably the biggest project of Le Corbusier’s career, to design the first planned city of India, Chandigarh. The project was commissioned by the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharal Nehru. He stated that this project represented “the nation’s faith in the future.” Le Corbusier was to design residential, commercial and industrial areas, including parks and government buildings. He insisted they hire his cousin to help. While Corbusier dealt with some of the more high-level aspects of the design, he counted on Jeanneret when it came to the execution.

One of Jeanneret’s biggest contributions to the city's redesign was the furniture. Jeanneret used inexpensive, locally sourced teak. This bug and humidity resistant material was ideal for the hot and humid climate of the city. He also used bamboo, iron rod, rope, cotton and upholstery which were all local, even the craftsmanship was executed by residents of the city. The designs were robust and sturdy with an adherence to Jeanneret and Le Corbusier’s design theory that simplicity and function was superior to embellishment. 

After a few years Le Corbusier decided to leave the city of Chandigarh, but Jeanneret stayed, rarely returning home. He said Chandigarh is where he found his confidence, and the city held a special place in his heart. After he died he even had his ashes spread at the city’s Sukhna Lake. 

For Jeanneret the city’s redesign was spiritual, he felt every building should be able to nurture a human with its interplay of space, light and air. His furniture designs reflected that same experience for its users. He wanted his furniture to hug the human shape and provide an ideal experience, whether you are conversing with your friends or taking a nap.  

Because of this attention to detail and obsession with the user experience, his designs are still sought after today. Unfortunately the city of Chandigarh began to deteriorate by the 1980s, and much of Jeanneret’s furniture was left out to rot; succumbing to heavy use, high temperatures and extreme humidity. However collectors still buy these designs to have them refurbished because they are just that remarkable.

This pair of unrestored Committee Armchairs pictured below sold at a recent auction for $9,100. Although very worn, the structure and quality craftsmanship still remains, nothing a little tender love and care can’t mend.

Quality craftsmanship starts with the design.  John Moses Browning was a genius at designing things for maximum function, and his Model 1911 is no exception.  Art.  That’s the only way to describe it.  Pure artistry in metal and wood. Nothing extraneous, and everything complimentary, all the pieces go together in a synergistic fashion so the end result really is more than the sum of its parts.

With the state of the world as it is, we risk foregoing the importance of simple things like rest and self care. We’re busy with our routines – their efficiency, and our bandwidth. So, this week we want to take a pointed note to pause in the noise of each of these days. This post is dedicated to that intention, and specifically to our favourite kind of pause: the coffee break.

Looking into a brief history of it, we found that the coffee break is intrinsically linked to the dawn of an eight-hour factory workday that took place in the early twentieth century. The establishment of a set workday fueled the formation of unions, who in turn demanded breaks from their strenuous work. Enter: coffee, a perfectly energizing pause, and a product that also began to be commercially available around this time. Our research led us to realize that the world’s love for coffee breaks set in place a high demand for their functional counterparts: the coffee and tea sets. What we’re showing here are a selection of our favourites, tracing the timeline of the coffee break from the late 1800s onwards, and marveling at these marriages of form and function. The incorporation of thoughtful design into each of our daily routines is something we celebrate. These give us all the more reason to do so.

Teapot, Josef Hoffman for Wiener Werkstätte, 1903, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Tea Infuser and Strainer, Marianne Brandt, 1924, The Met

Tea Service, Josef Hoffman, 1910, National Gallery of Australia

Teapot, Wiener Werkstätte, Circa 1900-1920, University of Michigan Museum of Art

Teapot, Josef Hoffman, 1904, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Coffee Pot, Carl Auböck, 1960, Collection of Michael Maharam

Teapot, Chinese Qing Dynasty, Circa 19th Century, Bukowskis

Tea Set, Josef Hoffman, 1903, MAK Center

Coffee Caddy, Hanz Przyrembel, 1926, Sotheby’s

Coffee Set, Fratelli Caccione, Circa 1970, Sotheby’s

Tea and Coffee Set, Jean E. Puiforcat, Circa 1945-50, Sotheby’s

Coffee Pot, Wiwen Nilsson, 1956, Bukowskis

Coffee and Tea Piazza, Michael Graves for Alessi, 1983, Sotheby’s

Alessi, Circa 1970′s

Coffeemaker, Florian Seiffert for Braun, 1972