Week 6- Protomodernism

 

Protomodernism (1897–1959)

This week we discussed Protomodernism. Protomodernism introduced early ideas that later developed into modernism. The main idea of this period was that it rejected historical styles and also ornamentation. Instead, they focused on experimenting with new types of forms and materials. Designers during this period began to wonder why buildings and furniture need decoration at all. Instead of copying the past, they embraced industrial production. This period is considered a transition point between older decorative movements and clean, simplistic design movements that came later on. I learned that designers during this period really wanted every decoration to have a purpose. Movements like the Deutscher Werkbund promoted design that could be mass-produced using machines. This is very different from the arts and crafts movement we talked about, which rejected industrialization. Important designers during this period were Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos, whom I will talk about more later on. Furniture started to become very simplified and very basic in shape. 

Favorite Examples:

Secession Building: designed by Joseph Olbrich, this building creates a simple yet symbolic design. It was not considered historically imitative but a new idea of decorative language.

Postal savings Bank: designed by Otto Wagner. Uses modern materials like metal and glass that were probably mass-produced, yet still thoughtful. The interior is cool because it shows how construction becomes the design! 

Postal savings bank stool: cut out handle, emphasizes function over ornament

The Red and Blue Chair: designed by Gerrit Rietveld. This stood out to me because of how simple it is! The primary colors and intersecting planes show how furniture became more abstract.

Current Applications:

Ikea furniture systems: flat pack and mass produced. Simple geometry and are minimal on the ornament. Reflects functional and accessible design.

Muji Home Products: plain form and natural materials. Emphasizes beauty from proportion and material rather than ornament.

Zaha Hadid: very experimental forms

Herman Miller Seating Collections: very minimalistic and treated as functional, not decorative.

Apple Retail Stores: open plans that use glass and steel. Very simplistic in form. Materials and proportions do the visual work.

One Step Further: Adolf Loos

Loos wrote an essay called Ornament and Crime that argued that “decoration without purpose was unnecessary and harmful to progress." He believed that beauty should not come from added detail but from proportion and material. What stood out to me was the materials he used in his design. He used a lot of rich wood and stone in his interiors. Loos believed that the structure and material should speak for themselves. The way loos thought helped create modern minimalism.

Reflection:

I think this era is really interesting because it is a turning point in design history. It was probably strange at the time to remove ornament from design after centuries of this kind of style. I don't know how I feel about it because removing too much decoration may make a space feel empty. However, I agree that the more functional the design is, the better. Overall this unit helped me realize how modern simplicity developed and why it became so popular.