A style in product and architectural design that, taking its cue from the beauty and efficiency of machines, pursues the principle "form follows function." Designed primarily with functional or practical concerns in mind, the resulting products and buildings feature simple, streamlined geometric forms and little or no decoration. Arising at the beginning of the twentieth century, this style is usually associated with the modern style of design.
Arts and Crafts movement
A movement in Europe and North America from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth that sought to raise all product design and decoration to the level of art. Founded by William Morris and others, it emphasized handcraftsmanship and well-made, functional, and simply but attractively designed products.
Art Nouveau
A European and North American movement in the applied arts at the turn of the twentieth century that rejected the old, traditional styles and emphasized the development of "new" (nouveau) functional and decorative artworks. Stylistically, Art Nouveau graphic, product, and architectural design and jewelry and glassware featured sinuous lines and organic shapes abstracted from natural subjects.
Bauhaus
A famous school of art and design active in Germany from 1919 to 1933. It sought a union of artists, designers, and craftspersons for the purpose of creating excellent works of design--products, graphics, decorative art, architecture--that might be mass-produced for the good of all persons in society.
international style
A worldwide, modern style of architecture and product design that rose to prominence by the middle of the twentieth century. It embodies the functionalist ethic of "form follows function" and is characterized by abstract geometric shapes with little or no decoration and by the absence of reference to regional or traditional styles of the past.
postmodernism
A movement that arose in the second half of the twentieth century in reaction to modernism's rejection of the past and emphasis on artistic individualism and abstraction. Postmodernist artists, architects, and designers value the past (its styles, subjects, and symbols), art that is socially and contextually sensitive, and imagery that is figurative (portraits, still lifes, landscapes) and sometimes narrative.
ergonomic
Describes a functionalist approach to product design in which human (or ergonomic) considerations such as comfort, health, and effective operation are the most important criteria for the design process and final product.
