• Egyptian domestic architecture, interior

architectural detail and surface treatment

were influenced by the hierarchical status of

the owner as well as by economy.

• Floors were covered with a variety of

materials; mainly mud plaster or mud brick

although stone and glazed tiles were also

incorporated in the palaces .

• Walls were often surfaced with plaster

applied to a base of brick or mud.

• When the owner was affluent, stone or

glazed tiles were used to line the walls.

• Ornamental treatment for wall surfaces

include painting, use of inlay, and relief

carving .

Examples of Egyptian decorative motifs.

Egyptian designer

•The Greeks, like the Romans, had a love for

monumentality and grandeur, and marble which

was in abundant supply in Greece, proved to be

the perfect conduit to achieving their aspirations.

• Designers of later periods adopted and

adapted from ancient Greece and Rome such

features as axial planning, utilizing the

colonnade as a space planning tool, using

natural light as an effective design element, the

atrium plan, among others.

• Classical motifs were used both structurally

and decoratively they took the form of numerous

mouldings and pediments and other decorative

effects and designs on walls

and ceilings.

• Greek buildings are based on central courtyard

theme the courtyard layout in which the court

was the focus of the plan and the various rooms

were cuddled around it.

Greek designer

•The dining room was typically the largest room

in the house .

•Couches and furniture were usually arranged

around the perimeter of the room

Materials and Building Techniques

•The Greeks were the first to use columns in a

structural manner on the exterior of their

buildings, as evidenced in the porticos and

colonnades.

•Marble and limestone were indigenous materials

and were used extensively for the exterior and

interiors of many of their temples and secular

buildings.

•In domestic architecture, floor treatment varied

according to the status of the owner, ranging

from the simply utilitarian to the very decorative.

Furniture and Decoration

• The Greeks used marble, bronze,

iron, and wood in the manufacture of

their furniture.

•Decorative enhancements were

achieved through relief carving and

the use of inlay and

painting.

•The Greeks used various materials

in their inlay work, including imported

woods, gold, ivory, and gems.

Examples of typical Greek decorative motifs.

Roman designer

• The Romans often used the

columns in a decorative and

non-structural manner.

•This emphasis on the interior

is reflected not only in the

lavish palaces

Furniture• Furniture was made of wood, marble, bronze, iron,

and precious metals, usually enriched with carving or

relief ornament.

• The dining rooms were the most elaborate areas

and contained couches placed around a low central

table.

•The couches were covered with cushions and

tapestries embroidered with gold and silver thread

imported from Babylonia or Egypt.

Gothic Design (1150 to 1500)• The plan form was typically in the shape of a Latin

Cross.

•The characteristic features of the Gothic style are

an accentuation of the vertical line, a constancy

towards height and lightness while minimizing the

role of the wall, which became thinner and very

delicate, being broken up into tall bays.

• The Gothic style is characterized by the use of the

pointed arch (which was substituted for the

semicircular arch), groin vault, buttress, tracery, and

large windows, with a corresponding reduction in

wall areas.

Examples of Gothic design elements and decoration.

Furniture• Almost all the furniture and woodwork of this

period was in natural-finished oak, although

walnut was used on occasion.

• The designs were heavy in their proportions

and rectangular in shape.

• The parts were assembled with wooden

dowels, mortise-and- tenon joints and hand-cut

dovetails.

• Furniture designs and ornamentation were

borrowed from architectural forms and motifs

Examples of Gothic furniture displaying a

characteristic emphasis on the vertical. a) Chair

showing line nfold, tracery and buttresses. b)

Credence. c) Oak chest with tracery carving.

NEOCLASSIC PERIOD AND 19TH CENTURY• Prominent artistic personalities of this period include architects like Robert and James

Adam, Sir John Soane, and Sir William Chambers, and designers like Henry Holland.

• Adam collaborated with cabinetmakers such as

Chippendale and Hepplewhite .

•In France, neoclassic interiors discarded the

rococo curves, without sacrificing their charm.

• While retaining the delightful lines and proportions

of the monarchy, less carved ornament was used .

• Furniture developed in the previous period continued to be made; proportions

remained light and delicate, but the dominant line of design was straight and the shape

took on a rectangular form .

PERIOD FURNITURE• The most costly furniture in this Early Colonial period

was usually of solid wood unfinished .

• The pine panelling on the walls might be left

unfinished, waxed, or painted.

RECENT HISTORY

• The early 20th century was an age of

contradictions, as well as great inventiveness.

•The early 20th century also witnessed great

architectural giants and visionaries like Frank

Lloyd Wright, Auguste Perret , Adolf Loos ,

Peter Behrens and Le Corbusier , Eliel

Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, as well as leaders of the

Bauhaus like Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer

and Mies van der Rohe.

• The two primary pioneering industry leaders

at the time that were renown for their innovative

approach to furniture design and manufacture

were Herman Miller and the Knoll company.

Mies van der Rohe

• The Barcelona Chair frame was initially designed to be

bolted together .

• But was redesigned in 1950 using stainless steel, which

allowed the frame to be formed by a seamless piece of

metal .

• An icon of modernism, the chair’s design was inspired by

the campaign and folding chairs of ancient times.

• For his famous 1929 German Pavilion, Mies designed

the classic Barcelona chair and ottoman.

• Subsequently, in 1930, he created the Brno and MR

Collections for the Tugendhat House in Brno,

Czechoslovakia

BARCELLONA STOOLS

• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe defined an

architectural vocabulary for the modern

world in terms that are clear and honest.

• The Mies van der Rohe Collection reflects.

commitment to timeless.

•These pieces mirror the groundbreaking

simplicity of their original environments, with

simple profiles, clean lines and meticulous

attention to detail.

• They demonstrate the Bauhaus approach to

combining industrial materials and modern

forms.

chaise lounge, - adjustable chaise lounge