JSR

Moulded plastics and plywood, tubular steel and light wood veneers are indicative of the mid-century furniture movement, which at the time of course, had no such label. Back in the 1950s the looks which were proliferating the furniture stores and magazines were simply considered to be new, innovative and by definition, ‘modern’. The stiff backed, dark woods and heavy formality of the preceding era’s styles were pushed aside in favour of the experimental designs and shapes that harnessed the new technologies and materials developed during the war. Not only did furniture become sleek and elegant, but better still, it became functional. Chairs and sofas were (finally!) transformed into items you could relax and lounge on, and the new democratic modular mix and match ranges of furniture freed up the consumer from buying things in matching ‘suites’. Now furniture could be re-arranged, interchanged or even folded or stacked away… Such changes to how people thought about and used furniture was absolutely revolutionary, so much so that some of the best designs from the era remain relevant and highly sought after to this day.