End of WWII, a Revolution in Furniture Design

The post-World War II era marked a significant period in home furnishing design, with designers experimenting with new shapes and materials. This revolution in furniture design brought about functional modern design, with scaled-down furniture for smaller homes. It featured innovative creations like the shell chair.

Womb and shell chairs, biomorphic tables, cat’s cradle pedestals, and architectural shapes are reminiscent of the Second World War’s fertile furniture design era. It was indeed a revolution in design.

Hand in hand with fashion trends – the “new look” of the 40s by Christian Dior and the “sack” dress of the 50s by Balenciaga – home furnishing designers cast aside wartime limitations and played with new shapes and materials. These materials included plastics, tubular and stainless steel, and lightweight alloys. This period truly was revolutionary in furniture design.

For home-furnishing design, this era was a significant period. This revolution in furniture design created an affordability in items like furniture, textiles, and accessories that had never been seen before, meeting the general public’s needs.

A sense of optimism

A sense of optimism prevailed as designers, architects, manufacturers, and homebuilders. They positioned themselves to meet the demands of increased population growth and the standard of living enjoyed by the increasing middle-income community.

Massive housing developments were built to accommodate the newlyweds and their children in the postwar period. The architecture of this type of shelter required a different approach to furniture design, marking another milestone in this ongoing revolution in furniture design.

Smaller homes

The houses were much smaller, and they needed furniture that had been scaled down. The postwar population also wanted a more leisurely lifestyle and looked for furniture that could be cared for more easily.

Functional modern design was born in 1940 when a competition and exhibition entitled “Organic Design in Home Furnishings.” was held by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, sparking a key part of the revolution in furniture design.

Shell chair

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, two young architects, won the first prize for their groundbreaking shell chair. The chair was a mix of the back, seat, and armrests in a single wood-veneer laminate frame. It had tremendous potential for low-cost mass production.

Their practical approach to design was rooted in the Bauhaus tradition, a German school of rational design that flourished in the 20s.

Charles and Ray Eames exhibited their new group of moulded plywood chairs at MOMA in 1946. At the time, well-designed quality consumer goods were in demand. Their chairs were an instant sensation and catalyzed the revolution in furniture design.

The Eames plywood chairs made from 1946 to 1948 are the most prized of all postwar items. George Nelson, director of design for furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, purchased the chair’s distribution and manufacturing rights, continuing the revolution in furniture design.

In 1948, an “International Competition for Low-cost Furniture Design.” was sponsored by MOMA. Don took the first prize. R Knorr, for a chair, that Knoll International made.

A single flat sheet of metal bent in a seam around the seat was made of the chair. It is hard to find early examples.

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