Designer Furniture
PRODUCTS ON THIS PAGE MAY BE DISCONTIUNED AND NO LONGER FOR SALE.
Designer furniture is often defined as such because it offers many options. For example, the Rotola Italian leather sectional shown in the photo above is available in different grades of leather, and many exciting colors. And it is available in different configurations, sizes, and shapes. But Rotola comes from just one of over 40 top name furniture brands that we sell. Our famous brand names employ the most renowned modern furniture designers in the world today such as:
Rick Lee
Nolen Niu
Carl Miller
James Dipersia, president of the American Society of Home Deigners
Nicole Miller/Excelsior Designs
Robert L. Ebel
Poolo Cattelan
Jade Friedman
Jim Calhoun
Vladimir Kagan
Giorgio Soressi/Natuzzi - Winner - 2008 Pinnacle Awards
American Society of Furniture Designers
Excellence in Furniture Design
Luxury Designer Furniture
The Bellagio Italian bedroom set from Excelsior Designs represents modern classic design and is a great example of luxury Italian designer furniture. Bellagio is offered in rosewood only, but each bedroom set from this extraordinary collection is offered in a different exotic wood like sycamore, burl, and rosewood. Metal trim in this collection is always surgical grade polished stainless steel. Designer furniture like the Bellagio collection is high-end, but interior designers can do miracles with discount furniture too.
Top Contemporary Designers in History
Some of the best sellers today in modern furniture where designed in the 50's. Some factories today specialize in reproductions of the top hits from the 1950'. Here are some of the most famous furniture designers in history - according to one of our best Italian reproduction companies:
Marcel Breuer | 1902 - 1981 | One of the most important furniture designers, he was self-taught, and became one of the most significant architects of his generation. He designed and created the first tubular steel chair in 1925, whilst he was director of the " Bauhaus furniture workshop". Marcel Breuer is one of the great pioneers of tubular steel chair design, and as early as 1925 he invented a series of systems using tubular steel to in the construction of chairs, stools and tables. His "Wassily" chair was the first tubular steel chair and has become a modern design classic.
Le Corbusier | 1887 - 1965 | Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, who chose to be known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-born architect and writer, who is famous for his contributions to what now is called Modern Architecture. He is considered to be both Swiss and French, having become a citizen of France in his 30's. He was a pioneer in theoretical studies of modern design and was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities. His career spanned five decades, with his iconic buildings constructed throughout central Europe, India, Russia, and one structure each in North and South America. He was also an urban planner, painter, sculptor, writer, and modern furniture designer.
Eileen Gray | 1878 - 1976 | Eileen Gray was born in Enniscorthy in Ireland in 1878. She died in Paris in 1976. She was from an emigrant family and attended the Slade School ion London, before finally moving to France in 1907. Following an initial experimental period with lacquers, she became increasingly involved in furniture design, and later in architectural projects. Her designs always being highly original and refined.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe | 1886 - 1969 | Mies Van Der Rohe was trained at the studio of Peter Behrens (like Gropius and Le Corbusier) and he flourished under the influence of De Stijl, he was in 1930 nominated as the Director of the Bauhaus, as the successor of Annes Meier, a position that he occupied until its closure. He was not only responsible for truly revolutionary building designs, but of the furnishings often conceived for the same. The development of the Stockholm suburb of "Wessenhof" (1927),the fitting of the German exhibition hall at the International Exhibition of Barcelona (1929), the Tugendhat House project in Brno all being characterized by chair and armchair designs of the highly refined elegance.
Eero Saarinen | 1910 - 1961 | Eero Saarinen, the son of the famous architect and the first president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Eliel Saarinen, was born in Helsinki, and moved to the United states in 1923. He studied scuplture at the Académe de la Grande Cheumiere in Paris (1929/30) and subsequently architecture at Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut), from where he graduated in 1934. He went to Europe in 1934/35 on a scholarship awarded by this same university. On his return he began teaching at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He worked together with Charles Eames in 1937, on the design of a series of modern furnishings that were presented and awarded prizes at the "Organic Design in Home Furnituring" competition, organized in 1940 by the Modern Art Museum of New York. He subsequently designed several other pieces of furniture with the greatest success. He worked in his father’s architectural studio, until his father’s death in. His most famousr architectural project remains the TWA terminal of the J.F.Kennedy airport in New York.
Isamu Noguchi | 1904 - 1988 | Isamu Noguchi was born on 17th November in Los Angeles the son of Leonie Gilmour, an American writer of Irish origin and Yonejiro (Yone) Noguchi, a Japanese poet. "Everything is sculpture. Every material, and each idea that is freely born in space, I consider to be sculpture. The boundary being in a certain way, perceived as the starting point embodying all the elements of space perception, and volume: a perception of volume that is not only bi-dimensional, but a three–dimensional. This is the manner in which I have carried out all my work."
Gabriele Mucchi | 1899 - 2002 | Born in Turin in 1899, he was the son of the famous painter and critic Anton Maria Mucchi. He got graduated in Civil Engineering in 1923 in Bologna. In Milan he became one of the most influent artist of the 30's. He was painter, architect and designer working in Milan, Berlin and Paris. In 1947 he designed QT8 district of Milan. After the partisan experience during the Second World War, he taught at the Art Academy in East Berli
Philippe Starck | 1949 | Born in Paris on 18th of January 1949, Philippe Stark is considered a very important european designer.He works also as an architect projecting locals all over the world. While he's studyng at the Notre-Dame of Saint Croix in Neully, he opens an inflatable structures company financed by the french actor Lino Ventura. In 1970 he created the luminous system " easy light". In 1981 he met Jean Louis Costes that allows him 3 years later the restructure of the famous cafe' Costes in Paris. Brilliant self-taught, he come to the honour of popular reports by collaborating to the realization of some rooms in the private apartments at the Eliseo Palace for president Mitterand.
Arne Jacobsen | 1902 - 1971 | Arne Jacobsen was a Danish architect and designer, exemplar of the "Danish Modern" style. Among his architecturanal Bank building in Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Embassy in Knightsbridge, London as well as a number of town halls and other buildings in his native Denmark. Jacobsen has created a number of highly original chairs and other furniture. He has received several international distinctions and medals. Many of Jacobsen's furniture designs have become classic, including the Ant chair from 1952 and the Swan and the Egg which were both designed for the Radisson SAS Hotel. Jacobsen is, however, perhaps best known for the Model 3107 chair of 1955, known also as the "Number 7 Chair" which has sold over 5 million copies. The Number 7 chair is perhaps best known for being the prop used to hide Christine Keeler's nakedness in Lewis Morley's iconic portrait of 1963. Morley just happened to use a chair that he had in the studio, which turns out to have been a copy of Jacobsen's design. Since then, Number 7 chairs have been used for many similar portraits imitating the pose. His other visible contribution to pop culture in the media is his flatware design , with right- and left-handed spoons in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, picked for the film because of its "futuristic" design. St Catherine's College, Oxford, his interpretation of a quadrangle-based college, has all the requisite elements: a quad centered on a lawn (a circle with one or two Cedar of Lebanon trees), student rooms (laid out in two long rows), a garden, a dining hall and SCR, Master's Lodgings, and a "feature" (in this case, a lily pond). His creativity did not end there, however. A fastidious perfectionist, he also designed the original flatware, all of the furniture in the rooms, the locks and keys, the door handles, the sinks, the taps, and all the lights. Though only staircases 1 and 2 have the original and completed design (and his entire design originally was more extensive, with a three-story layout), the metal shower stalls and bathrooms are intact. It is also notable that the original paving is almost perfectly parallel and perpendicular to the buildings despite 30 years of wear. Many of the furnishings and fixtures Jacobsen designed for St. Catherine's are considered classics of modern design, represented in galleries around the world. Jacobsen's work for St. Catherine's College is now a Grade 1 Listed Building , the highest designation available for architecture in England.
Luxury Designer Furniture
The Hula-op Italian coffee table is another example of fine Italian designer furniture. The table base and legs are available in different metal finishes. This famous Italian table has been copied in China. The copy is not anywhere close to the quality of the original Italian made table above. The mushroom sofa also pictured above is custom made in North Carolina. It's extraordinary furniture not only because of it's unique contemporary design, but also because it is custom made in your choice of fabric, suede, or leather.
Use Interior Designer or Design Your Own?
The green onyx tables (made in Italy), design your own rug (made in America), and Italian leather sectional in the photo above all came from the same designer furniture store - 1 Contemporary Furniture. You can usually tell where the furniture is made by the price and always by the quality. Can you tell if a professional interior designer designed the room above? Or was it designed by the customer? The answer: All done by the customer. Only the drapes are an issue to some contemporary fans. However, mixing contemporary with traditional is called eclectic design. A good example of eclectic design is the old ships wheel on the Star Ship Enterprise. Eclectic design incorporates time into the design mixing the future with the past. Eclectic design is a very effective tool if used in an appealing way. In addition, eclectic design in the photo above fits the customers taste and his life experiences. The three most important principles of furniture design are design, appeal, and functionality. But interior design reflects ones life, feelings, belief, and taste. The interior design of any home makes a statement about the personality of the home owner. The drapes in the photo above reveal the customers past connection with European design, in particular the UK. The customer is from Jamaica, a former British colony and commonwealth today. Every sailor will say that the sun never sets on the British empire. The Italian stone reflects the customers heart for the Caribbean - a place where there is great love for the earth and nature. A professional could not have done a better job in the design of this room. Our customer who designed the room in the photo above on his own, gets an A+ rating in Interior design because the customer has talent, and extraordinary taste in designer furniture.
Designer Leather
Italy offers the finest Italian leather in many grades and colors. There are so many stunning colors. Today the consumer is left with many confusing choices in leather, many different grades of fine leather, and all complicated by the new man made leather. The man made leather, like natural cow hide leather, can vary from very good quality to very poor quality. Not only is the quality of leather important to the couch, but the quality of the stitching is important. And most important is the quality of the foam. Look for authentic Italian furniture if you want the best quality designer sofa, sectionals, chairs, and couches. Everyone in the world admires fine Italian designer leather. To the contrary, if you want the best price you will find that the man made leathers are most impressive. Designer leather may be grain corrected or not corrected at all. Most American consumers purchase from the middle grade - and they always expect some grain correction. Without grain correction, you real leather looks more natural - like the side of a cow. Man made leather does not have grain issues. The grain is perfect because it's made by a machine to look like a cow. But nothing in this world is finer than quality Italian leather for living room and bedroom furniture.
Outdoor Designer Furniture
Today designer furniture is available for every space in the home including outdoors on the porch or patio. This modern stackable outdoor furniture is made of woven PVC in these extraordinary outdoor designer colors. This collection of designer outdoor furniture is an example of very good quality made in China. In fact, the weaving of PVC is a very difficult and time consuming process. But it produces outdoor furniture that last and will not tarnish under normal use for as long as PVC last. Considering that fact that PVC is used in all the plumbing in homes today, our guess is that it will last at least 100 years. And the cushion covers are removable. The covers are made of a special fabric for out door use. The cushions are fade, stain, and water resistant.
Touch and Feel is Everything
When selecting wood, fabric or leather. Selecting is best done in person at a furniture showroom. This is why so many online shoppers today demand that we have a designer showroom. There are many choices and many grades of leathers. In Italian leather, we like the middle grades for two reasons. One is that the high grades of Italian leather are often more natural than Americans are accustom to. The other reason is that the middle grades are thick and lush but have more grain correction that Americans are use to. 1 Contemporary Furniture sends fabric and leather samples thru post mail to consumers nation-wide. In wood we like real top-grade sliced veneer on an MDF core. Our favorite woods for modern designer furniture today are the same ones that have been respected and admired for centuries - the best woods are maple, mahogany, cherry, teak, oak, cyprus, burl, walnut, sycamore, and rosewood. Rosewood has all but disappeared. Large pieces have teak have disappeared. The Bellagio at the top of this page may be the last rosewood left in modern dining furniture. Our favorite choices in the Italian stone furniture are the green and red onyx, but custom order these tables in any stone. You can see why many consumers trust a professional interior designer to help with all the choices. Either way, you too will become hooked on modern designer furniture and accessories. Modern designer furniture today represents creative thinking at it's best.
Selecting the Type of Furniture, Fabrics, and Leather
The Ludlow Tufted Leather Italian platform bedroom set above is a great example of discount designer furniture made in China. You have a few choices of colors. Of course Ludlow is not made of fine Italian leather or fine man made leather, but its made well. Ludlow is not expensive but worth the money to everyone except those who demand the finest quality. Ones budget is a huge a factor. Selecting the type of furniture is also based on the four types of designer furniture; modern classic, contemporary, traditional, or transitional furniture. Also, the origin of manufacture determines if you are buying European, Italian, Canadian, American, or Chinese made furniture.
Web design by Gill Fisher
© 2000 / 1 Contemporary Furniture ® / all rights reserved worldwide.
|
