FOR HOUSEHOLD products, it's fair to say that the design and production cycle isn't getting any longer. Mass production techniques and commercial pressures ensure that some designers today knock out new furniture and other products pretty much by the yard, constantly moving onto the next thing and sometimes not worrying too much about those all-important details - the things that mark out a classic. But that wasn't always the case.
The most timeless, classic 20th-century designs have something in common: a bit of loving care and attention. It's no accident that, of the items chosen here as classics of 20th-century design, several come from the middle of the century, when the pace of life was slower and automated production hadn't completely taken over.
Lane Crawford's creative director of home and lifestyle Ross Urwin says he's obsessed with the period between the 1940s and 1960s, mainly due to the precision of designers then. 'Generally they would spend years working on one item; keep sampling, testing, until they thought it was ready for the general public's use. Although more and more of today's designers are learning that it is better to perfect one piece, consumerism dictates that the more designs launched in a year, the better.'
According to Urwin, the pieces 'have a common denominator: they create design related to architectural forms. The structure of their design encompasses beautiful shapes ... and comfort'.
Renowned New York-based interior designer So Takahashi says that for him, classic, timeless designs can be divided into two categories. One is personal - 'Objects you own, inherited or are familiar with. Chairs you sat on at elementary school, the shape of your food utensils ... or your favourite pen you use every day. Objects that carry your personal memories. Here, most of the objects are designed anonymously.' The other, he says, is history: 'Objects that are a record or symbol of a certain time in history. Here, most of the objects are designed and signed by known designers or manufacturers.' The much-emulated Egg Chair, he says, for example, is a record and a symbolic icon of Scandinavian culture from the late '50s and '60s that still echoes with our lifestyle half a century later. 'This is the reason it's a design classic.'
Aalto Vase
