Priscila Lena Farias / Anna Calvera Marcos da Costa ... - Blucher

Lightness and beauty in furniture design
including their furniture, to prevent the spread of disease. The
principles of ventilation and cleaning were then extended to
housekeeping manuals in the late nineteenth century, with the
discovery that microbes were the cause of disease only going
to provide a scientific basis for these beliefs. The hospital standard
for bathrooms, which were white and free of ornaments, also
started to be applied to homes. (Lupton & Miller, 1996)
Thus, the attitude of sanitary reformers, doctors and hygienists
contributed to a profound change in the standards by which furniture,
artifacts, spaces and clothing were judged. According to
Rybzscynski, ‘after 1920, there was an indisputable change in
popular taste, rooms became less dense, a trend that reached
its peak with the minimalism of the 1970s’. But minimalism is
another story...
4. Conclusion
The image of lightness projected to a chair conveys values inherited
from a modern tradition strongly represented in the context
of home. Home’s new character , originally defined by the
separation between work and home in industrial society, is the
basis for the emergence of new standards of beauty maintained
by archi tects, designers and decorators. These standards derive
from notions about what a home should be and what it represents,
and are embodied in the field of design as objects. The
constitution of home as opposed to workplace, the affirmation
of moral values in response to changes caused by industria
lization, and the subsequent incorporation of principles of
hygiene are a few of the social proces ses from which the field of
design defined a notion of beauty that has been associated with
an appre ciation of simplification and fewer decorative objects,
ultimately expressed in an aesthetic of light ness.
References
Cardoso, R. Uma introdução à história do Design. São Paulo: Edgard
Blücher, 2000.
ECO, H. História da Beleza. São Paulo: Editora Record, 2004.
Forty, A. Objects of desire – Design and Society since 1750. Dumfriesshire:
Cameron Books, 2005.
Lupton, E. e Miller, J. A. The Bathroom, the Kitchen and the Aesthetics
of Waste: A process of elimination. New York: KIOSK,
1996.
Rybczynski, W. Home: a short history of an idea. Nova York: Penguin
Books, 1987
Williams, R. Cultura e Sociedade: 1780 – 1950. Translated by
Leônidas H. B. Hegenberg, Octanny Silveira da Mota e Anísio
Teixeira. São Paulo: Editora Nacional, 1969.
About the author(s)
Marina Kosovski is a master student at the department of Art
and Design, PUC-Rio. She has a graduate diploma in Furniture Design
from Elisava, Barcelona, and bachelor’s degree in Industrial
Design from PUC-Rio.
João de Souza Leite is head of the Graphic Design Department
from the School of Industrial Design of the State University of Rio
de Janeiro. Primarily concerned with historical and theoretical
studies in design, he is the editor and one of the authors of A
herança do olhar: o design de Aloisio Magalhães.
Claudio Magalhães conducts research in design management,
innovation processes, and acts in training of human resources
at undergraduate and graduate courses. Conducts research in
the following areas: strategic design, technological innovation,
government policy design, design management in fashion and
jewelry industry, entrepreneurship in design, product briefing
and research in design trends.
Design Frontiers: Territiories, Concepts, Technologies 611