MODERN FURNITURE

Grey River Argus, 5 February 1941, Page 6

MODERN FURNITURE

IN HARMONY WITH THE HOUSE. During recent years in New Zealand many peopl.e in arranging for the building of new homes, have had the furnishing in mind at the same time to ensure a proper harmony of various rooms with their contents. Ot course, in such cases, a capable architect’s plans provide for a maximum of built-in equipment and he is able to give good advice about the movable articles. A leading architectural authority remarks that the pace of life has become much quicker and v asks for more strength and for steadier nerves. It is natural that our need for rest and relaxation is greater. Our homes should be made to servo this purpose, devised for our individual use and net as a pretext for a decorative scheme. “The somewhat austere attitude of modern furniture is a natural reaction to the far too generous and not very selective display of decoration in the’ previous period,” continues the commentator. “We all need a' little mental and visual training to understand this spirit. On the other hand, the desire for richness is a feeling born in human beings and the modern style is developing to a stage of mellowness and maturity, which will meet this demand. “In the near future we will probably see a group of new materials employed in furniture making, synthetic materials, called plastics. They can be made transparent, translucent, or opaque in many different colours. They ‘are moulded in forms under high pressure and heat and made ready and finished in one process. Being not breakable, resistent to wear, acids, and damage through heat, they would provide an ideal material for many types of furniture. The high cost of the material is still prohibitive of their use on a large scale. But we must consider it as the material of the future.

“As the process of moulding and pressing is entirely different from the present methods of furniture making, the use of plastic materials will have a strong influence on the design. This is anticipated by some of the later designs, with a preference for rounded edges and curved surfaces. This treatment, well justified in many cases, is called ‘streamlined? ”