Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown

(...images from here and here and here and here...)

(...Oh - and here is one other good example...)

This post from Design Observer the other day reminded me of these chairs by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown (here is their studio). I remember way back in my design history class our professor showed us a slide of one of these and I was totally sold. I was really intrigued with the whole postmodern architecture thing altogether and I have been meaning to read Venturi's book Learning from Las Vegas ever since then. I am now on a mission to find it and read it once and for all.

Here is a little description of the second chair:

"Its shape refers to the traditional Chippendale chair, and its laminated surface is patterned after an old-fashioned tablecloth. Multiple historical references are a hallmark of the Postmodern movement, which was popular at the end of the twentieth century."

The thing going on here which I think is really interesting is how the mixing and matching of period styles, (with the reinterpretation of the "classic" chair design (Chippendale), the reference to 50ies laminate countertops and the eighties pastel pattern) - results in a perfectly contemporary piece. AND these chairs were made twenty-odd years ago which is maybe even weirder. What did people think of them then?? Maybe they were just born a decade or two before their time (the chairs not the people!).

In any case. I think they are great. And I think this design duo brought up alot of interesting things to think about...