Utilitas, Venustas, Firmitas

NYUAD Art Gallery | Reading Room
Thursday, February 21, 2019, 9:00 am – 10:15 am


04Michael Thonet, Side Chair, Model No. 14, 1859 THU, 02-21-19 Usman
05Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hill House Chair, 1904 THU, 02-21-19 May
06Josef Hoffmann, Die Sitzmaschine, 1905 THU, 02-21-19 Adham

Discussion topics/potential questions

The principles of standardisation (to only use a small range of identical components) and mass production meant that a reduced language of form had to be used. The Thonet chairs thus embody an important keynote of design – high production volume with reductionist aesthetic – that was to remain ascendant in that form until the 1970s. Are those principles still valid?

Comparing the Hill House Chair with the Sitzmaschine, what aspects come to your mind? (usability, function, art/design statement…)Which association do you have with the design of the Hill House Chair?

Identify aspects of functionality and of ornaments in the Sitzmaschine. Is there a function in ornaments, too?

2D/3D ressources

https://www.cassina.com/en/collection/chairs/292-hill-house-1https://grabcad.com/library/tag/chair