The 1950s American Home by Diane Boucher

Author:Diane Boucher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The 1950s American Home
ISBN: 9780747813835
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

“A chair should not only look well as a piece of sculpture in a room with no one in it. It should also be a flattering background when someone is in it.” Eero Saarinen, designer of the Womb chair for Knoll International.

Living room with Saarinen’s Womb chair (1958).

This home-office desk by George Nelson incorporates wood and industrial materials in its design. It has a rectangular storage cupboard with sliding doors. A drawer folds out to reveal space for a typewriter. The metal perforated drawer is for files.

According to a Life article, “the chief complaint of those who liked contemporary furniture (50 percent being young married people on a budget) was that pieces by the best designers cost too much and that cheap modern looks it.” Herman Miller did attempt to remedy this situation by producing some affordable furniture, such as a twenty-six-piece “bargain-priced package” by George Nelson and Charles Eames. This consisted of sufficient furniture for a dining room, living room, bedroom and child’s room, all for $1,800. The article adds that a similar amount of traditional furniture “of comparable quality” would cost “$2,500 and up.” Eames used his knowledge of creating body-fitting plywood splints for the navy during World War II to design these simple, inexpensive, functional pieces made of steel, molded plywood and plastic panels.

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