Nice!

$47.00 maple dresser at a junk shop +

overly expensive crystal knobs +

the help of one very talented painter named Kevin

=

Women in Design: Gertraud von Schnellenbühel (b. ? – d. ?)

Scores and scores of books have been written and exhibits have been presented featuring many well-known designers of the Art Nouveau style. But one designer, in particular, has been forgotten. Her output was not great, but one of her creations...

A masterpiece: 19” high silver-plated brass 24-light candelabrum created in 1913. This is the only work by Gertraud von Schnellenbühel known to survive. A profusion of swirled spirals organized in a rational manner -- it is rhythmic, mesmerizing and creates a sort of restrained freedom. The metal branches seem buoyant which defies the weight of the material.

Her creation was dubbed: The Flowering Tree.

So what happened to Gertraud von Schnellenbühel? How can one designer create something so brilliant, so striking yet there is barely any information about her?

This work was shown in 1914 at the Cologne Werkbund exhibition and received very positive reviews. Most Jugendstil designers harmoniously married elements of both Arts + Crafts with Art Nouveau styles. They merged whiplash lines and organic forms with medieval motifs or geometric silhouettes. Although Gertraud’s work follows the style, it is a creation indomitably its own.

The painter Wilhelm von Debschitz and the sculptor Hermann Obrist opened a private school in Munich’s Bohemian area on January 3, 1902 and called it The Debschitz School. It offered to artists and amateurs foundation courses combined with hands-on workshops. The school was a fertile seed for the emerging industrial design boom to come forth in Germany. It served as an important model for the Bauhaus – well known for integrating art and design education. The school was sold in 1914.

By 1913, The Desbchitz School had grown into the largest institution of its kind. By this time, 240 students were enrolled -- the majority women – and among them Gretraud. Students who attended this school thirsted for something new. They wanted to learn under different teaching methods and to actually make the creations they drafted on paper come to life.

What of Gertraud? One hit wonder? Married and became a haus frau?

It is interesting to note that the candelabrum ended up in the possession of Hermann Obrist, the schools co-founder and Gertraud’s teacher…

(images from Hiesinger and Marcus, Landmarks of Twentieth-Century Design; Beate Ziegert, "The Debschitz School, Munich: 1902-1914", Design Issues :The MIT Press, 1986 .)

Designer: Johan Carpner

Johan Carpner is a Swedish designer who created a light fixture. And I think I am in love.

The lighting fixture, dubbed Glänta, is available in two different sizes, both as a suspension and ceiling mounted fixture, and in three different colors: black, gray and white.


Made from sheet metal and acrylic he designed for Blond a couple years ago.

I'm starry-eyed for this light and can clearly see the suspended version in black hanging in my white subway tiled kitchen in a herringbone pattern over my breakfast nook with a built-in banquette softened with bright cushions... all of which I don't have.

Carpner received his degree from Konstfack in Stockholm. He has produced textile patterns and carpets inspired by nature for Swedish companies such as H&M, Åhléns and Svenskt Tenn and Kasthall.

This pattern is called Vinterek. And I love it too. It is haunting, yet serene.

Carpner also designs book covers the major Swedish publishing houses. You can clearly see how he carried this creativity over to different applications and materials.

He is most known for is his outdoor trellis called Tin Tree Spaljé which trains plants to grow upwards in a pleasing shape, but also brings beauty to the garden in the Winter when everything is dormant and brown.

This winter seems like a long one.

Amazing how your mood can lift when your eye falls upon great design.


(All images from Johan Carpner’s site and Scandinavian Design.)

Inga Sempé (b.1968)

A French furniture designer who created a small, compact sofa to work in proportion with smaller apartments. This design caught my eye when I was craning my neck to read the Financial Times House & Home Section over the shoulder of someone sitting on a plane. The sofa is light and airy. Made from a beechwood frame, it is upholstered in a sort of quilted duvet with cross-hatching of interrupted seams. She named her work: Ruché.


Although it looks as if a comforter cover was simply thrown over a stiff frame, the construction of the sofa is much more complex. It similar to a mattress and has a combination of layers of memory foam for comfort and sprung steel grill for stability. Sempé wanted her sofa to appear uncomplicated -- raised from the ground by a simple structure supporting a comfortable seat. The legs terminate in beveled feet which lends to more of a refined shape.
The height of the armrests is the same as the back. And if the thought of nestling yourself in a duvet cover while watching your favorite BravoTV show wasn’t enough, the armrests are mounted on elastic webbing which allows you to lean back comfortably while you sip on some wine and munch on white cheddar cheese flavored popcorn.



Ruché also is available in a one-arm settee version with an integral table surface at the end so you can conveniently place your bottle of wine without having to wait to get up during the commercials to pour yourself another glass.


This is a great idea for a narrow room or a small space -- a sofa and table all in one. Made for Ligne Roset, Ruché marries the unusual and the traditional; comfortable and practical. You can choose from a few velvety colors and stained or natural wood finish.



Her former employer? The design doyenne Andrée Putman.



Sempé pictured above (love her tights). See Sempé's site with many more great designs: HERE.

(images from DesignBoom and Sempé's site)

Time for a Little Bubbly?

Last weekend in a hotel room in downtown Washington DC, we were toasting to Andrea's birthday -- a friend, colleague and dedicated, hard worker. Her favorite drink of choice: champagne. The hotel did not have any champagne glasses; instead they brought wine glasses to the room. We made toasts and sipped from the glasses frequently pouring the bubbly contents from the thick green bottles again, and again, and again. I dare say… these wine glasses were much easier to drink from.

Flutes are awkward. When you raise a flute to sip, you need to turn your head away so as not to hit the face of another person. And although I love the look, ease and versatility of the coupe.... well, after drinking a few glasses of the bubbly libation, the mouth of the glass seems to somehow widen -- the contents sloshing about and spilling on the floor.

Little did I know (little do I really know as I prefer to sip my red wine from a small juice glass after all) that wine glasses are a perfect receptacle from which to drink champagne.

Stacy Downs has written yet another fantastic article in today's Kansas City Star on the subject of champagne glasses. read HERE

Though I probably will not be sipping champagne for this Valentines Day, (more likely a hearty pint of Guinness), I have always loved the ringing sound a crystal glass resonates when lightly touched with another. In the late 17th century, when lead was added to glass it not only increased brightness, clarity and the light-reflecting quality, but it also gave that ring sound. The tradition of clicking glasses after a toast developed during this time in England -- it was believed the bell-like ring sound had the power to send the devil away.


However, the problem is after one too many glasses of champagne -- regardless of the type of glass -- I tend to want to do exactly as the image above illustrates the following morning to the empty bottle of champagne ...

(images from Casablanca (1942), Notorious (1946), and Casino Royale (1967); to read more about the types of champagne glasses click: HERE)

Sophia Hayden Bennett

The Board of Lady Managers ended up awarding Sophia a gold medal "for delicacy of style, artistic taste, and geniality and elegance of the interior hall." There was a dedication ceremony for the buildings, but Sophia wasn’t there. Rumors began to spread that she suffered a mental breakdown, which plainly indicated why women should stay at home and not wander into the realm of men.

Critics dealt her another blow when they insisted the building was too feminine. One said regardless of her technical knowledge, the structure with its “graceful timidity or gentleness” was clearly designed by a woman.

The Women's Building was torn down after the Exposition ended. Sophia, frustrated with the way she had been treated, retired from architecture. She later married William Blackstone Bennett, an artist. Sophia never designed another building after the 1893 fair, and lived a quiet life in Massachusetts until her death in 1953.

(first image: Exterior of The Women's Building, period photograph, Boston College Digital Archive; second image: MIT)

Women in Design: Sophia Hayden (1868 - 1953)

Born in Santiago, Chile. Her father was an American from New England and her mother was South American. When Sophia was six, she was sent to Boston, Massachusetts to live with her paternal grandparents. She became interested in architecture in high school. In 1886 she was the first woman to be accepted to the architecture program at MIT; she graduated with honors in 1890.

Front elevation of Hayden’s thesis project: A Fine Arts Museum, 1890. (from MIT)

Floor Plan and Section, 1890. (from MIT)

After graduating, Sophia could not find employment as an architect; she accepted a position teaching drawing at a Boston high school. The following year, she entered a design competition for the World’s Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Her design was for the Woman's Building -- a structure given to various social causes such as church groups, temperance societies, a model hospital ward and kindergarten, a sanitary kitchen and a library. It was also to house exhibitions of embroidery, knitting, lace, fans and crockery. Sophia won the competition with her design of a three-story, white building in the Italian Renaissance-Revival style with arches and columned terraces. For this she was paid a modest sum of $1,000 for her design, while men who one competitions for the fair were paid 10 times as much.

Exterior of The Women's Building, period photograph (1894?) Boston College Digital Archive

Sophia traveled to Chicago to produce the final drawings, leaving the execution to Daniel Burnham. Burnham was very pleased with her work describing her as having great adaptability and being a hard worker. She returned six months later to direct the interior and exterior designs of the buildings. At that same time, she discovered another woman was involved in the project. Her name was Bertha Palmer, and she had other ideas.

Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918) Chicago History Museum

A statuesque socialite with well-coiffured wavy hair, Bertha Palmer was a power to be reckoned with. She was not easy to approach. She demanded calling cards be passed scrutinized and screened by several of her servants before any visitor could speak with her. Being of Huguenot descent, no one ever contradicted her. But that was to change once she met the twenty-one year old Sophia.

Officers of Board of Lady Managers, portraits of 10 women. Key: 1. President Mrs. Potter Palmer 2. Mrs. Ralph Trautman 3. Mrs. Edwin C. Burleigh 4. Mrs. Charles Price 5. Mrs. Katherline L. Minor 6. Mrs. Beriah Wilkins 7. Mrs. Flora Beall Ginty 8.Mrs. Russell B. Harrison 9. Mrs. V.C. Merideth. 10.Susan Gale Cooke. 1896. (image via the Field Museum's flicker account.)

Mrs. Palmer was elected President of The Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 Fair. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Mrs. Palmer (née Honoré) met her husband, a wealthy dry goods owner, while she was shopping in Chicago with her mother. Potter Palmer was 23 years her senior. He moved into real estate and became immensely wealthy. Mrs. Palmer enjoyed their North Side mansion with a roof-top ballroom and picture gallery filled with Impressionist paintings she brought back from Paris. She also loved diamond jewelry.

Paul V Galvin Library: The book of the Fair

For Sophia’s building, Mrs. Palmer had invited prominent women to donate architectural elements to adorn the building. Mrs. Palmer believed the building would be better with these donations. Sophia disagreed. A mishmash of elements would dilute her vision, her concept and overall design aesthetic. As the doors, window grilles, columns, wood paneling, balustrades, slabs of onyx and black marble, granite steps, sculpted figures, and tapestries came pouring in, Sophia turned each one down. This hurt the feelings of the high-society donors, which didn’t sit very well with Mrs. Palmer. Sophia explained to Mrs. Palmer her schematic program for the structure -- the exterior and interior -- and why these random donated elements would not work. But Mrs. Palmer wouldn’t hear of it. She fired Sophia from the project and reassigned the final decoration to Candace Wheeler.

Paul V Galvin Library: The book of the Fair

Sophia walked into Burnham’s office, described what happened and from exhaustion began to cry. Burnham quickly called a doctor. Sophia was placed in an ambulance and driven away with the rubber wheels quietly crunching along the gravel road towards the sanitarium. Sophia was said to have a “… violent attack of high nervous excitement of the brain.”

(top image from Penn Libraries.)

Women in Design: Nancy Vincent McClelland (1877-1959)