After Modernism : 60's and 70's

    After Modernism 

The 60's & 70's

           Interior design after World War II had a lot of the ideas from 1950s modernism carried into the 1960s. Events like the Festival of Britain helped spread modern design to a wider audience, and styles like Scandinavian design became really popular for their simplicity and focus on functionality. Designers during this time were experimenting with new materials like injection molded plastic and fiberglass, which made furniture more affordable and easier to produce. At the same time, there was still a strong connection to art, especially through abstract expressions. You can see this mix of art and function in pieces like Joseph Albers nesting tables, Marimekko Unikko pattern, Tulip chair, and Swan chair. A lot of interiors also started using “all-in-one systems,” where furniture and storage were combined to make spaces more efficient and streamlined.

         By the 1960s and into the 1970s, design started to feel more commercial and more connected to what was happening culturally. When Terence Conran opened Habitat in 1964, it made modern design way more accessible to everyday people, not just designers or the wealthy. At the same time, the countercultural movement, especially events like the Woodstock Music and Art Festival, influenced interiors to become more expressive and less strict, with bright colors and ideas from pop art. Designers like Joe Colombo even imagined futuristic living spaces, like his Visiona 1, which showed flexible, almost space-age interiors. But by the early 1970s, modernism started to lose its dominance. The demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe demolition is often seen as the symbolic end of modernism, showing that its ideals didn’t always work in real life. After that, design began to shift toward more personal and diverse styles, moving away from the strict rules that had defined earlier modernist interiors.

        There’s still a lot of nostalgia for the 1960s, especially when it comes to its music, fashion, and bold, playful design style, and you can see that influence in designers like Terence Conran, Marimekko, Verner Panton, and Pierre Paulin. The 1970s, though, haven’t really gotten the same love and are often remembered for their darker colors and heavier materials, even if that perception might change over time. Overall, both decades clearly moved away from modernism, but they didn’t really hint at just how different and unexpected design in the 1980s, especially postmodernism, was going to be.

                                Philip Johnson - Sheldon Art Museum - Lincoln, Nebraska 1963

                                            Joe Colombo - Visiona 1 - Cologne, Germany 1969

                                                Olivier Mourgue - Djinn chair and sofa, 1965

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                                                            60's fireplace and furniture 

Retro furniture from the 60's

70's living room "set"

70's inspired couch design 

ONE STEP FURTHER

 

            The Aarnio Bubble Chair, designed by Eero Aarnio in 1968, is one of those pieces that really captures the experimental vibe of the late 1960s. Instead of making a traditional chair that sat on the floor, Aarnio used clear acrylic to create a hanging, bubble-like seat that feels almost like it’s floating. It was super futuristic for its time and showed how designers were starting to play with new materials like plastic to make furniture that was not just functional, but also fun and visually interesting.

            This idea of a suspended chair ended up influencing the swing chairs that became really popular in the 1970s and 1980s. Those versions were usually made out of wicker or rattan, so they felt a little more relaxed and homier, but they kept that same hanging, cozy feel. Over time, they became kind of a staple in homes, especially in bedrooms or basements, and even now, a lot of people still have one tucked away somewhere, like in their daughter’s room or a chill hangout space, which shows how that design idea really stuck around.

            I actually saw this firsthand when I went to a vintage clothing shop in Wicker Park in Chicago. They had a Bubble Chair hanging in the store with the clear shell around it, just like the original design, and it immediately stood out. It was kind of cool seeing something I’d only learned about in class actually exist in a real space; it made the design feel way more real and still relevant today.

Extra Credit 

Why 1970's living rooms were so iconic - Bing Videos 

Exploring the 60's furniture - Exploring 1960's Iconic Furniture Trends | Mondoro