ABSTRACT

An Illustrated Guide to Furniture History provides upper-level students and instructors with an alternative visual analytical approach to learning about furniture history from Antiquity to Postmodernism. Following an immersive teaching model, it presents a Nine-Step Methodology to help students strengthen their visual literacy and quickly acquire subject area knowledge.

Moving chronologically through key periods in furniture history and interior design, such as the Renaissance, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Modernism, it traverses Europe to America to present a comprehensive foundational guide to the history of furniture design.

Part I addresses furniture within the context of the built environment, with chapters exploring the historical perspective, construction principles, and the categorization of furniture. In Part II, the author visually depicts the structural organization of the methodological process, a three-category framework: History, Aesthetics, and Visual Notes. The chapters in this part prepare the reader for the visual analysis that will occur in the final section of the book. The book is lavishly illustrated in full color with over 300 images to reinforce visual learning and notation.

A must-have reference and study guide for students in industrial and product design, interior design, and architecture.

part I|119 pages

Furniture and the built environment

chapter 1|9 pages

A historical perspective

chapter 2|30 pages

Construction principles

chapter 3|78 pages

Piece categorically

part II|58 pages

Understanding the piece

chapter 4|32 pages

The Analysis of Form

Nine-Step Methodology

chapter 5|24 pages

A graphic narrative

part III|173 pages

Object of desire

chapter 6|15 pages

Antiquity

Egypt, Greece, and Rome

chapter 7|18 pages

Renaissance

Italy, France, and England

chapter 8|24 pages

18th century

Italy, France, England, and America—Late Colonial

chapter 9|23 pages

Precursors to Modernism

Europe Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau, and Vienna Secession (or Wiener Werstätte), and American Arts and Crafts

chapter 10|19 pages

Modernist movements

Deutscher Werkbund, Bauhaus, De Stijl, International Style

chapter 11|25 pages

Early Modernist designers and architects

Pierre Chareau (1883–1950), Eileen Gray (1878–1976), Jean Prouvé (1901–1984), Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999)

chapter 13|17 pages

Movements after Modernism

High-tech, Postmodernism, Deconstructivism

chapter 14|9 pages

Conclusion