A number of ingredients are inherent in the art of contemporary and modern living. It could be your life style, the way you move and dress, the styles you follow, and the manners you display and a host of other things. However you can also have another aspect of your contemporary living. It is the use of your furniture. Contemporary and modern are rather broad term and encompasses anything and everything that you could perceive of. In fact all the furniture that made their appearance after the devastating Second World War can be called contemporary furniture and they obviously include modern furniture.
Historians attribute the rise of modern furniture, a basic ingredient of the contemporary living to the legendary emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. As he ascended the throne and was crowned as the emperor in 1804, he was initiated the era of empire style furniture. That was the modern furniture of those days. They were ultra majestic, and at the same time extravagant. However it cannot be ignored that they reflected the majestic empire style ushered by Napoleon. It was also a grand combination of Egyptian, Greek, Roman craftsmanship forming the base of the European artifacts.
Human society and civilization has marched a long ways since the era of Napoleon. More than two centuries have elapsed in between and the furniture that was modern those days have now taken their place among the classics. In the same analogy, the classic wooden furniture has also given way to a large extent to other materials like fiber, plastic, and metal. Naturally enough the jarring and ornament oriented face of the modern furniture took an about turn towards simpler yet sophisticated designs. The priority shifted to function more than the mere looks. It resulted in the rejection of the traditional designs and the contemporary living today is largely based on new design furniture.
Contemporary furniture therefore is designed following the philosophy of light, clear and simplicity It has replaced the dark, burdensome as well as cluttered designs of the past. These cluttered designs were more prominent in wood carvings. It did not take much time for the steel, plywood and plastic to replace wood in mass marketed furniture. Designing these materials was radical in approach. At the same time they supported contemporary living the right way matching the requirements of time and the progress of the society from the classical molds to modern.
When the Marcel Breuer Wassily Chair made its appearance in the mid 1920s it also marked the dawn of a new era of contemporary furniture. For the first time the materials like tubular steel and the chrome plating were used to manufacture the furniture. It also brought leather use to prominence with cowhide upholstery. Straps were made of canvas. This also started an era of material combination. Modern furniture manufacturing was gaining momentum facilitating modern living.
Designs followed in quick successions. Much modern furniture made its appearance in the market. The evolution continues and thus there is no such clear distinctive points differentiating modern with contemporary furniture. In the same analogy, modern and contemporary living has become almost synonymous.
Thus unlike the machine made furniture, the hand made ones are something that could keep the heritage living. It is material that could be easily passed on to the next generation as the treasured possession you have. They enliven the past and in the process the excellence and uniqueness of the classic living.
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