Mad Men is over but Don Draper’s world lives on. We see his living room flipping through the pages of a Crate and Barrel catalog. In artwork inspired by the era at West Elm. At IKEA, the Scandinavian originator of today’s modern functional design. And if we’re lucky enough to afford it, the real deal at Design Within Reach.
Right: Crate and Barrel’s March spring collection 2015.
What is so appealing about this era in design? FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION. Not a catch phrase but a practical manifesto for post war Europe and America. While Europe was rebuilding, America was entering an era of manufacturing might. After the hardships of war decorative design elements became frivolous, costly, and time consuming. New techniques in manufacturing introduced the world to new possibilities. Artists began designing with a view towards a modern utopia. Not to decorate and hide, but to reveal the structure within. To make beautiful the materials of manufacturing. Strip everything bare to its simplest forms. Painting became abstract, office buildings exposed their skeleton structures, and furniture became bare of decoration. Ultimately, a simple beauty emerged which remains timeless and still popular today.
Modern design emits hope. Hope in the future. Hope in possibilities. Hope in ideas and invention. The style will never go away and will always continue to evolve.
Right: West Elm, Sarah Campbell Wall Art – Hot Day
The simple elegance of this design period plays well with so many other styles. It’s been combined with african art, oriental rugs and global textiles.
Owned and cared for by the Indianapolis Museum of Art
We’ve said goodbye to Don Draper and company but we’ll never say goodbye to modern.
To view the entire galley of award winning Mad Men sets at Interior Design click here.
Zigzoe.com - Every space in time. 