Arts and Crafts Movement – The Green & Greene Contributio

Brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870-1954) are best known for their architectural firm Greene and Greene, which was responsible for building the ultimate bungalow, the Gamble House in Pasadena. Their work is characterized by externalized construction and the extraordinary aesthetic intricacy this type of building creates.

The Greene brothers were born in Brighton, Ohio, but grew up on their family’s farm in West Virginia. They started learning woodworking and metalwork as teenagers at the Manual Training School of Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Later, they completed a two-year program at MIT’s School of Architecture in 1891, where they studied classical building styles. After completing their studies, both brothers took up apprenticeships, mostly in Boston, Massachusetts; Charles Greene apprenticed at architectural firms such as Andrews, Jacques and Rantoul and R. Clipston Sturgis. Henry Greene worked with Herbert Langford Warren and Winslow and Wetherell.

Eventually, they made their way to Pasadena, CA. to join their parents, who had already been living there for about a year. While traveling by train from Boston, a stop at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago exposed them to Japanese architecture. Nevertheless, the Japanese influence didn’t prevail until a few years later, in 1904 after visiting another exposition in St. Louis, MO. Another influence on their work was their father, who as a homeopathic doctor educated them on the importance of sunlight and circulating fresh air. The Greene brothers embraced the importance of these elements and incorporated them into their work.

The Greene and Greene architectural firm was established in Pasadena, CA. in January 1894, leading to the construction of their most distinguished work, the Gamble House, which was constructed in 1908-1909. The former winter home of businessman, David B. Gamble of the Procter and Gamble Company, is now a National Historic Landmark and museum in Pasadena, CA.

The Gamble House is a three-story Arts and Crafts masterpiece paying homage to Japanese influences and California lifestyle. Employing teak, maple, oak, and mahogany, these woods are laid out throughout the house to enhance contrasts of color, tone and grain. The inlay in the furniture matches the inlay found throughout the home; this type of customization was also a characteristic of Greene and Greene construction. The light fixtures, furniture and woven textiles were all created to fit a specific space in the home.

The construction of the home features asymmetrical forms and scales with ceilings of different heights, second-floor semi-enclosed porches and free-form terraces. The main patio contains a large koi pond, walls of clinker brick (bearing volcanic textures of dark, purplish color) and arroyo stone paths.

After David and Mary Gamble’s passing, the home was passed down to their younger generations and almost went up for sale, until 1966 when the Gamble family deeded it to the city of Pasadena as part of an agreement with the University of Southern California School of Architecture. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

The Gamble House currently receives 30,000 visitors a year from all over the world and several vendors offer reproductions of Greene & Greene styled furniture and décor.

Pre-Owned Office Furniture – Save Money and Save the Environment

Save the environment while you save money for your business. Pre-owned or used office furniture is affordable and it is green.

In Los Angeles County and many other places in the US used business and office furniture and equipment are in abundant supply. The unfortunate downturn in the current economy has contributed to one of the largest gluts in quality used office furniture and products. This condition makes it an excellent time for you to find top-notch recycled office furniture at extremely affordable prices.

The wide availability of pre-owned business furniture and equipment in Southern California and other places around the country means wholesalers and retailers of pre-owned or used office products and services need to sell at low, low prices to move their inventory.

Two more factors are creating a buyer’s market in recycled business furniture and equipment. Those factors are online or virtual stores and the rising tide of imports.

First, the prices of used furniture are affected by internet retailers and wholesalers. In the past a wholesaler or retailer had to have 30,000 to 80,000 square feet for showroom and warehouse space as well as sales and warehouse personnel which amounted to huge overhead costs. Today, with the development of the world-wide-web and just-in-time (JIT) inventory technologies almost anyone with a little initiative and curiosity can open a virtual store over the internet. With an online store, a gung-ho entrepreneur can get by with 2,000 to 10,000 square feet max cutting his outflow significantly and giving him/her an advantage over the older business model and competition.

Second, the onslaught of imported business related furniture and supplies is also putting downward pressures on prices for used office furniture and equipment.

Buying used or pre-owned business and office furniture is technically recycling and therefore counts as green. By purchasing used business equipment or products, you help your community save huge amounts of landfill space. Furthermore you help slow down the need to use up the country’s natural resources. Recently the Fluor-Daniels Corporation chose to purchase pre-owned cubicle workstations from A.B.E. Office Furniture in the Los Angeles area. Fluor had A.B.E. install the systems stations in offices all over the United States including St. Louis, Houston, on the East Coast and the famous glass building in Irvine, California. In doing so the Fluor executives saved huge amounts of operating cash and rescued an estimated 500,000 square feet of landfill space. Finally, another way to buy green for your business and office is to look for companies that refurbish or remanufacture old workstations using recycled materials. Most fabrics and even some work surfaces used in Today’s cubicles or systems stations are made from recycled plastics.

Purchasing green, used and pre-owned office furniture is a win-win proposition for your company and society.

Furniture Designers That Paved The Way For Contemporary Furniture Inspiration

Many of today’s modern furniture designs and creations are inspired by the greatest minds in architecture and design. The idea of mixing form with function, style with ease and minimalist looks with comfort have been captured by simplistic geniuses. Designer pioneers like Le Corbusier, Eames and Philippe Starck have cultivated a modern furniture style that has become globally appreciated and anointed into modern design museums all over the world. Materials such as metal, steel and wood were first introduced by these men along with a unique and exquisite artistic furniture design aesthetic that is limitless and will forever hold a candle in modern furniture history.

The French theoretician Le Corbusier

A French architect who gained popularity during the 1920′s, Le Corbusier believed in functionalism. Before he created some of his notorious high design models of furniture, Le Corbusier studied modern high design, opened an architectural firm with his son and designed housing projects for the poor. In doing this, he attempted to use as little of the space allotted by injecting it with as creative utilities that made things easier in the household. For example, a chute in the kitchen was installed for milk and bread to be delivered daily. With as little ornamentation as possible, Le Corbusier introduced intelligent architectural frameworks to modernize society. He believed in harmony, proportion, subtlety and mathematical order in creating his design masterpieces. One of his most famous quotes is: “Chairs are architecture, sofas are bourgeois.”

Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in Switzerland, he later changed his name to Le Corbusier (which might correlate to the French verb courber, meaning “to bend”). One of his first projects was an architectural model of the “Dom-ino” House, which was a minimalist approach to constructing a three-level home, with a single staircase on one side of the floor plan. Many of his designs were invented along with the help of his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and partner Charlotte Perriand.

In 1928, Le Corbusier and Perriand spoke of three different furniture types in his book, “L’Art Decoratif d’aujourd’Hui”: Type-needs, type-furniture and human-limb objects. He explained how furniture is a tool to extend the human limbs and serve the human being, and he wrote about how he combined that philosophy with good taste and modern touches.

In 1928, they introduced a line of metal furniture that is now noticeable worldwide and is still extremely successful to this day. The LC1 sling chair is one of his most popular designs. It is now included in the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The idea is for the chair to adjust and shift according to the sitter’s position, giving continuous support. The steel frame of the Sling chair can be upholstered with leather, but is most recognized with pony skin. Another one of Le Curbosier’s famous models is the high-armed LC-2 Chair and Sofa, which was used in the 1980′s Maxell commercial of a man sitting low in the leather chair, and is almost blown out of his chair by a stereo system. It will forever be an icon of pop culture history. Other staples include the LC-4 Chaise Lounge, which mimics the human body form and is also known to come in pony skin.

Husband-and-wife team Charles & Ray Eames

Among the most influential designers of the 20th century, Eames has introduced revolutionary and modern furniture icons that have become staples in the design world.

In 1946, the pair was living in a small L.A. apartment and Charles Eames worked at MGM studios, designing movie sets. At night, he would stay up late with Ray working on furniture inventions. The pair created the wooden LCW chair, one of furniture’s most desirable items. It is still hugely popular to this day and has been named the Best Design of the 20th Century by Time Magazine. In 1958, the Eames created the standard aluminum management chair. They used materials like plywood and chrome-plated steel and mixed them together, which at the time, was taboo for furniture design. What followed was the Elliptical Table, the LC-7 Swivel Chair, the molded plastic Eiffel side chair, storage units and folding screens.

One of their most popular designs was the molded plastic RAR Rocker, a plastic chair designed to sculpt the human body with steel rods and wooden slats for the rocking element.

The La Chaise is another massively popular furniture piece that was designed in 1948 to capture Gaston Lachaise’s 1927 sculpture Reclining Nude. Too expensive to mass produce at the time, the design went into production in 1990 and has since gained international appeal, becoming one of the hottest selling modern furniture items on the market. In 1956, Eames came out with the lounge chair and ottoman, which is one of their most recognized pieces. Designed with the “the warm receptive look of a well used first baseman’s mitt,” said Charles Eames, many modern furniture stores and in turn, households, now carry a similar version of this item.
Starck has produced modern furniture pieces that gained instant popularity. Some of his most famous products include the Rosy Angelis lamp, the La Marie chair, the transparent Louis Ghost chair, Ero [S] chair, the Bubble Club sofa, the La Boheme stool and the Dr. No chair. Like Le Curbosier before him, he’s said that he hopes “to create more happiness with less.”

Starck is notable for breaking the mold by combining materials like glass and stone, plastic and aluminum, and plush fabric and chrome. For the famous Victoria Ghost Sidechair, created in 2005, he used transparent polycarbonate to interpret the Baroque-inspired Louis XV-style chair, which added a modern touch and a chic element of design. A pure example of Starck’s brilliance is highlighted in the Prince Aha stool, which is equally a seat and a base in one piece. It also serves as storage space with detachable caps. In addition to modern furniture and design, Starck has also gone on to design clothes, kitchen utensils, luggage, motorbikes, yachts and cars.

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