Marcel Breuer (Chart Designer3)

He was born in 1902 in Pecs, Hungary, and died in 1981. He was a modern architect and furniture designer.
He left his hometown at 18. He wanted artistic training and ended up being one of the first and youngest students of the Bauhaus. Breuer was one of the most successful and well known Bauhaus (and later tutor) of all time.
There, he was put head of the carpentry workshop by his tutor Walter Grupious, after he recognized his significant talent. 
He was also known for his invention of tubular steel furniture,inspired from bicycle handle-bar. 

The Cesca Chair, named after his daughter Cheska, was one of the many most-known tubular steel chairs. Breuer believed that combining old furniture with new materials, one could create an aesthetically pleasing piece. He backed up his theory by experimenting further with tubular steel. 

A single piece of tubing was used to form the frame; sled base and back support. Bent timber frames were used to construct the seat and back. They were filled with natural caning and screwed in the tubular metal frame. 

This chair will always be remembered as a huge, influential part of modern furniture history due to the new form the cantilever principle created. 

The Wassily chair designed in 1925 is Marcel's best known chair. This timeless modern piece was named after Breuer's friend, painter Wassily Kandinsky.

He was influenced by the Bauhaus and Cubism, interesting plane composition of De Stijl and complexity were from Constructivism.

He came up with the idea of bent tubular steel while studying the handle-bars of his bicycle. A local plumber had helped him weld the frame together and he achieved what he wanted. 

His designs were first influenced by Rietveld's Zig-Zag and Red and Blue Chair.

Initially, the chair had a nickle plate finish, but then he changed it to chromium. The fabric was initially iron yam and then he changed it to leather, and has become one of the most endurable tubular steel chairs ever mass-produced.

Another revolutionary artist made in the product design history.

Robert F.Gatje . (/). a brief biographical note . Available: http://www.marcelbreuer.org/Biography.html. Last accessed 23rd january 2014.

Gerrit Rietveld (Chart Designer2)

He was born in 1885 and died in 1965 in Wrecht, Netherlands. This Dutch architect and furniture designer was on of the principal members of the Dutch movement De Stijl (the style).

In 1904 to 1908, he attended evening classes for drawing and also the study of Ornamentation in Utrecht.

In 1906 he attended classes by architect PJC Klaarhamer. This tutor was of great importance to Rietveld's future, because through these classes he learnt about recent national and international trends in applied arts and also architecture. 

-The Red and Blue chair was initially developed without its vivid colours in  1918. The coloured version was designed in 1923. Every piece of this chair is either shaped as a square or a rectangle. This is highlighted by the use of a bright yellow in every piece's end. 

The spine of the chair was produced in red and all its "limbs" are connected to each other; the blue sloping back seat and black arms and legs. 

Rietveld chose aesthetics over functionalism. The design's raw state that stripped back to basic structural form was genius and looked good, however it was not comfortable at all. 

His geometric ordering of spcace was influenced by Piet Mondarin's cubist work, and the use of rectilinear design from Frank Lloyd Wright.

When I look at this chair, I remember Marcel Breuer's Lattenstuhl, designed in 1926. It has the same cubist wand rectilinear design. 

Marcel Breuer's Lattenstuhl, 1926

Another recognized piece of Rietveld is the Zig Zag chair designed in 1934. It's made up of only 4 elements. The chair is joined with dovetail joints, brass nuts and bolts through the corner block that are in a triangular form. It has an extremely complex design and shape. On the other hand, its visual effect is pretty simple and occupies little space. It fits in the modernist and De Stijl design principles.

Gerrit Rietveld was a revolutionist, and one of the most important designers and architects of the 20th century.

Gerrit Rietveld Revolution of Spave.Available: http://www.design-museum.de/en/exhibitions/detailseiten/detailseiten/gerrit-rietveld.html. Last accessed 22nd january 2014.

Lattenstuhl. Available: http://www.architonic.com/dcsht/lattenstuhl-model-ti-1a-phillips-de-pury-company/4104512. Last accessed 22nd january 2014.

Le Corbusier (Chart Designer1)

He was born in Switzerland in 1887, and moved to Paris in 1917. He was the son of both famous artist and musician. At age 13, he left primary school to attend Arts Decoratifs at La Chaux-de-Fonds. There he learnt enameling and engraving watch faces. He made part of the Modern movement. 

ARCHITECTURE

A tutor at his school insisted he takes architecture and arranged for him to work on local projects. He designed his first house in 1907 at the age of 20. One of his best works was Villa Savoye 1928-1931

Villa Savoye; 1928-1931

In 1921 he returned to his old school to teach. He designed villas and began to theorize on modern techniques, like reinforcing concrete as a structural frame.

He succeeded in re-building affordable houses in cities that were bombed during World War 1 by this new technique of his.

Interesting characteristics in nearly every structural design Corbusier designed were

-Open space

-Eliminating obstructive pole support

PRODUCT DESIGN

His most famous designs were the Chaise Lounge Chair and the Grand comfort, both designed in between 1928 and 1930.

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Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge Chair's

Both chrome plated with tubular steel and canvas cushions filled with PU foam. His famous chairs remind me alot of Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chair 1926, bent tubular steel and canvas were also used. 

Marcel Breuer's bent tubular steel and canvas Wassily Chair.

not mentioned. (2014). LE CORBUSIER. Available: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3426&page_number=5&template_id=1&sort_order=1. Last accessed 21st january 2014.

Marijke Küper. (2014). about the artist. Available: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=4922. Last accessed 21st january 2014.

Design for Safety

Safety awareness started in the 1960's, when the book "Unsafe at any speed: The designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile" by Ralph Nader was published in 1965. From then onward, a lot of improvement was done. Seat-belts were introduced, airbags, smoke-alarms and many more. The standard safety regulations are set by a committee that specializes on the subject. The standards are in legislations of product design manufacture.

Over the years, seat-belts are said to have saved thousands of lives that might have been lost in collisions. Over time, many countries adapted mandatory seat-belt regulations.


The air-bag has the same concept of a seat-belt; to protect you from a collision. It is a soft pillow to land on. In the US, all car models from the year 1998 have to have air-bags, both on driver's and passenger's side.

All the toys that are for the EU market must all carry the CE conformity mark. This is the declaration from the manufacturer that the toy satisfies all safety regulations. Toys that bear the CE mark get free circulation around the European Economic Area. On the 30th June of 2009, a new toy safety directive was published. This gave customers assurance that the toys that are being sold in the EU have the highest safety regulations all around the world. (Especially those related to the use of chemical substances).

 This pond-cover is raised intentionally, so that a space is created above the pond. This allows for more visibility, allows plants to grow through and lets small creatures pass through. It is safe if kids or pets are running around the pond.

not mentioned. (2004-2014) Available: http://www.creativepondcovers.co.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=58. Last accessed 20th january 2014.

European Union. (1995-2014). Ensuring toy safety for consumers.Available: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/toys/safety/index_en.htm. Last accessed 20th january 2014.

Chart

In my visual chart, I chose 5 designers from different movements and placed them from top to bottom on the left hand side of my chart. I research products, architecture and world news that linked the 5 designers together.

1 - Le corbusier (Modern Movement)

2 - Gerrit Rietveld (De Stijl Movement)

3- Marcel Breauer            (Bauhaus Movement)

4- Charles& Ray Eames   (Organic Design)

5- Ettore Sottsass             (Memphis Group)

I linked their products which had something in common and news with colours.
I linked:

-Tubular Steel Furniture
-Lounge Chairs
-Style-inspired
-Space-related news
-Hitler-realted news and
-War.

Sustainable Design

The meaning of Sustainable design can be broken down in a few characteristics, which are: 

-miniaturization
-economic profit
-resource limitation
-space limitation

One of the most common examples of sustainable design is without any doubt the famous 'Smart For Two' car. It is a two-seater car, less than nine feet long;  it fits in nearly any parking space. It is very fuel-efficient due to its small body and engine. 

Designer Masada thinks that our society is no longer sustainable, and people need to re-think and respect nature more. That is why he designed the above chair and table from recycled materials that are not available to be used in a product.

Tejo Remy's Rag Chair is another environmental-friendly design made from used fabrics.

The highchair designed by Maartje Steenkamp can be used for a small infant aged a few months to few years old kid. This is possible by when it's needed, the legs of the chair are cut. It has the advantage of cutting how much you want the chair to be long. The designer thought that recycling is one of the most important things to do to save the environment. Individuals should start thinking before designing because one chair is not going to change anything.

not mentioned. (/). Sustainable design for furniture.. Available: http://skohei.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/sustainable-design-japan-and-netherlands.html. Last accessed 18th january 2014.

Environmental-Friendly design

-Keeping in mind the building's operating and maintenance issues while still in the designing process gives you improved working environment, higher productivity, minimized energy and resource costs and prevention from system failure.

Over the past decades, some changes had to be made. In the past, not a lot of attention was given to our planet, and this made a huge negative impact many years later. Today, a lot of education and awareness is given to pay attention and respect to our environment. 
 Designers and architects came up with a different range of inventions and disciplines to design environmental-friendly landscapes, buildings, products and much more.

Some characteristics that one should keep in mind when designing for environmental-friendly are ;

Optimizing Site Potential
-One should always select the best site. Maybe even reusing or rehabilitating existing buildings. The landscape and location of a building effect transportation methods and energy use. 

Optimizing Energy Use
-The designer also has to keep in mind the decreasing demand for fossil fuels and the impacts of global climate changes. It is essential to find a way to reduce the energy load as much as possible, and increase the efficiency and the use of renewable energy.

Protecting and conserving Water
-In a number of countries including Malta, fresh water is scarce. A sustainable building should have a system to treat and store rain water, and also re-use it if possible. The effort to get reverse osmosis or government-provided water on site consumes a lof of energy in pumping, transporting and treating. 

Optimizing Building Space and Material Use
-It is also important to choose wisely the materials needed for construction. They need to minimize as much as possible the environmental impacts such as global warming and human toxicity. Health and safety on site is also an important issue for the worker.
Enhancing Indoor Environment Qualities
-The indoor environment effects a number of qualities on a human being, such as comfort, health and also productivity. The indoors also have to be properly light up by daylight, good ventilation and moisture control.

Optimizing Operating and Maintenance Practices

A facade of a sustainable designed building with closed windows that open automatically every hour, depending on the sunlight to save light.

The same facade but with some of the windows opened.Solar-Panels, a common energy-saver to decrease the use of electricity.The use of huge windows was initially used in the Bauhaus movement, and is still used today to get in as much daylight as possible, almost like having a sky-light.

not mentioned. (2013). Warm and Household Pleasant Residence with Sustainable Characteristics in Venice Read more http://www.bestofinteriors.com/other/warm-and-household-pleasant-residence-with-sustainable-characteristics-. Available: http://www.bestofinteriors.com/other/warm-and-household-pleasant-residence-with-sustainable-characteristics-in-venice/. Last accessed 14th january 2014.