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Memphis Design is a style of design from the 1980s that features a lot of vividly colored forms and lines. Circles and triangles are frequently combined with black-and-white graphic motifs such as polka dots and squiggly lines. Ettore Sottsass convened with a group of designers in December 1980 to form a new design collective (where a group of artists or designers create work together under one name). Everyone went away to think of new ideas, and three months later, the group got together again, this time carrying over a hundred sketches with them. They named themselves after a Bob Dylan song called Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, which was played repeatedly during their first meeting. Memphis, like many other creative revolutions, was a reaction to the status quo. Structure and straight lines dominated mid-century modern and minimalism in the 1950s and 1960s. To counter this, Sottsass focused the group's thinking on "radical, hilarious, and absurd" ideas, effectively discarding what was considered "good taste" at the time. Their distinctive look was inspired by Art Deco geometric shapes, Pop Art color palettes, and 1950s kitsch.

Ettore Sottsass, an architect and industrial designer, was born in Innsbruck in 1917 and has been one of the most influential and essential personalities in the twentieth-century design landscape. He grew up in Turin, where he graduated from the Polytechnic University in 1939 after being exposed to the field of architecture at an early age, as his father was also an architect. He then served in the military during World War II and spent years in a labor camp in Yugoslavia. After returning home, he worked in his father's business, restoring houses that had been destroyed during the war, before establishing his own practice in Milan, specializing in ceramics, painting, and interior design. He was a founding member of the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus and later worked with industrial designer and Modernist George Nelson in New York City. Entrepreneur Irving Richards then commissioned him to create a ceramics exhibition, a medium he had been working with since the beginning of his career and which was swiftly launching him into international renown for his originality and ingenuity. In 1958, Adriano Olivetti, the most significant typewriter and computer maker in Italy, employed him as a design consultant. Olivetti was known for its very innovative design. He designed the first Italian mainframe computer for them, which earned him the coveted Compasso d'Oro award in 1959, as well as a variety of typewriters, office equipment, and furnishings. During his time at Olivetti, his style began to emerge more clearly: he pushed the limits between industrial design and pop culture by adding vibrant colors, form, and flair to office equipment. From his first utilitarian and austere typewriters to the Valentine, an accessory that became a fashion statement in Italian culture in 1969, he acquired renown and acclaim as an inventive and disruptive product designer who was not afraid to break the rules and go beyond functionality and form.

Ettore Sottsass has created several lamp designs for Memphis, including the 'Ashoka' table lamp. In terms of form, it most closely resembles the 'cactus' or 'totem' design language found in some of its furniture, such as the Carlton room divider and the Casablanca sideboard. The Ashoka lamp is made of painted and chromed metal, with five lights and a halogen light inside the top yellow piece. The details on it, the shapes and colors of the details reflect the understanding of Ettore Sottsass and Memphis group. Since the lamp is very familiar with the design language of Memphis group and Ettore Sottsass, it is very easy to understand that it belongs to them.

References:

A. (2021, January 11). Design Icon: Ettore Sottsass. Artemest.

Memphis Milano. (2021, November 30). Ashoka.

My Modern Met. (2018, April 26). What is Memphis Design and How Is it Making a Comeback?

Levanier, J. (2021, February 5). Memphis Design: the defining look of the 1980s. 99designs.

Week 13

Project 3 Presentations : Memphis and Postmodern Design

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Week 13

Memphis and Postmodern Design

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Week 12

Post-War Art and Design: Materials and Concepts

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Staatliches Bauhaus was a German school of design, architecture, and applied arts that lasted from 1919 to 1933. It was based in Weimar until 1925, then in Dessau until 1932, and last in Berlin in the final months of its existence. The Bauhaus was founded by architect Walter Gropius, who merged two schools, the Weimar Academy of Arts and the Weimar School of Arts and Crafts, into what he termed the Bauhaus, or "house of building," a name derived from inverting the German phrase Hausbau, which means "house building." The education of numerous crafts, which Gropius considered as connected to architecture, the matrix of the arts, was part of his "house of construction." The Bauhaus aimed to bridge the gap between art and technically skilled craftsmanship by educating students in both areas. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, reformers led by English designer William Morris attempted to bridge the same divide by emphasizing high-quality handicrafts combined with design that was suited for the purpose. These efforts culminated in the Arts and Crafts movement in the last decade of the century. While the forward-thinking Bauhaus extended the Arts and Crafts attention to good design in all aspects of daily life, it rejected the Arts and Crafts emphasis on individually created luxury products. Gropius oriented the school's design efforts toward mass manufacture after realizing that machine production had to be the precondition of design if it was to have any impact in the twentieth century. Modern designers have subsequently thought in terms of developing functional and aesthetically beautiful goods for general society rather than singular items for a wealthy elite, following Gropius's example. Students at the Bauhaus were obliged to undergo a six-month preparatory course taught by Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, and László Moholy-Nagy, among others, before being admitted to the workshops. Carpentry, metal, ceramics, stained glass, wall painting, weaving, graphics, typography, and stagecraft courses were typically taught by two people: an artist (known as the Form Master) who emphasized theory and a craftsman who emphasized skills and technical procedures. The student obtained a journeyman's diploma after three years of workshop instruction. Several notable twentieth-century painters were among the Bauhaus's faculty. Paul Klee (stained glass and painting), Wassily Kandinsky (wall painting), Lyonel Feininger (graphic arts), Oskar Schlemmer (stagecraft and also sculpture), Marcel Breuer (interiors), Herbert Bayer (typography and advertising), Gerhard Marcks (pottery), and Georg Muche were among the teachers (weaving). The Bauhaus has been associated with a strict yet attractive geometric style executed with great economy of means, despite the fact that the works created were extremely diverse. Despite the fact that Bauhaus members had been involved in architectural work since 1919 (including the construction in Dessau of administrative, educational, and residential quarters designed by Gropius), the department of architecture, which was central to Gropius's program in founding this unique school, did not open until 1927, with Hannes Meyer, a Swiss architect, as chairman. Meyer took over as director of the Bauhaus after Gropius resigned the following year. Because of his left-wing political views, which put him at odds with Dessau authorities, he was asked to quit. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took over as director until the school was forced to close in 1933 by the Nazi authorities. The Bauhaus had a wide-ranging impact. Its workshop products were extensively copied, and the Bauhaus principle and example contributed greatly to the general acceptance of utilitarian, unadorned designs for everyday goods. Faculty and students spread the Bauhaus educational methods and ideals around the world. Today, practically every art curriculum includes foundation classes in which students master the essential aspects of design in the Bauhaus style. The achievement of Moholy-Nagy, who founded the New Bauhaus (later renamed the Institute of

Design) in Chicago in 1937, the same year that Gropius was appointed chairman of the Harvard School of Architecture, is among the most well-known Bauhaus-inspired educational undertakings. Mies traveled to Chicago a year later to lead the architectural department at the Illinois Institute of Technology (then known as the Armour Institute), where he later planned the new campus.

References:

Bauhaus | Definition, Style, Artists, Architecture, Art, & Facts. (2021, December 14).

History.com Editors. (2020, April 15). Bauhaus. HISTORY.

Week 11

Bauhaus & De Stijl & Modern Movements

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Week 10

Art Nouveau & Art Deco

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Reference : Artstor

Week 9

Arts&Crafts Movement

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Week 9 – Week 13 // Project 3: Industrialization and Modernization in Arts, Craft and Design

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This project started with recognizing "Anadolu Kültürel Girişimcilik". After the presentation made to us and a short introduction, we went to the Topkapı Palace Museum and saw the products of Anadolu Kültürel Girişimcilik and how they work and design products. While we were visiting the museum, we saw multiple patterns and embroidery that were the source of the Ottoman period and could inspire us. These patterns were encountered almost everywhere in the palace, but they were mostly found on the walls of various parts of the palace and on the columns in the palace. During the trip, we made drawings about things that inspired us.

While brainstorming for the project, I focused on four of the many drawings I made. The first of these was "cintamani", one of the famous Ottoman patterns. This pattern consists of three circles, two side by side and one on top. Also, these three circles have meanings: force, strength, power. The other pattern I used was the polygonal pattern I saw on the columns of the palace. The third pattern I chose was the golden crown shape I saw at one of the gates of his palace. The last pattern I chose was the tile wall embroidery with 4 leaves and 2 leaves on each leaf on the walls of the palace. Inspired by these four shapes and abstracting them, I came up with a pattern design. Paying attention to the colors of the original forms of the patterns, abstraction, and modernization, I determined a color scale: dark blue, purple, orange, yellow and its tones.

As a product, I decided to use this pattern by covering a reflective led lamp on the wall. In this way, when the lamp is turned on, the patterns and colors on the wall will appear as reflections.

Week 8

Project 2 Presentations and jury feedback

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Week 7

Topkapı Palace Museum Visit; on-site observation and documentation, sketching activities

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Week 6

General introduction, corporate presentation – mission vision etc, product development process in a cultural context, storytelling through design, design process explanation through an example “conceptualization-sample preparation-idealization-production”, key challenges

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The nakkashane, or imperial painting school, specialized on religious and secular, or non-religious, texts in the palace. The traditional style used floral elements with intertwined vines and blossoms; the saz style was more fanciful and filled imaginary scenes with Chinese-influenced dragons and other creatures; the naturalistic style included gardens with specific types of plants and flowers like tulips and honeysuckles that came from Islamic and Chinese sources; and the naturalistic style included gardens with specific types of plants and flowers like tulips and honeysuckles that came from Islamic and Chinese sources.

Calligraphy, which was the art of writing with a concentration on the beauty of the figures, was another kind of Ottoman art. Calligraphy was beautiful but also meaningful in the Islamic world because it signified God's word. It took years of study and skill to master, and artists used it in a variety of ways, notably as mosque wall decorations. A figure known as the tughra, which was a calligraphic seal that functioned as the Ottoman sultan's signature, was unique to Ottoman calligraphy. The spectacular combination of text and decoration may be seen in this example, a tughra of Süleyman the Magnificent.

The Ottoman Empire was also known for Iznik ware, a type of pottery named for the location where it was made. The earthenware forms were painted after being glazed, fired or baked at a high temperature. Initially, Iznik products were largely blues and greens, but later on, painters developed a unique deep bright red paint. Some motifs were hand-painted, while others were created with elaborate stencils. Weavers of the Ottoman Empire created lovely woven carpets and rugs, some with pile, or knots connected to a backing and then looped or tufted to form a luxurious carpet, and others with kilim, or flat weaving. Wool carpets were common, and symmetrical geometric patterns were common. Vases, floral designs, trees, and animals were among the other items offered. Carpet weaving became a major industry throughout the Ottoman Empire, with numerous products being shipped to Europe and the Far East.

References:

Ottoman Empire: Art & Architecture. (2019, August 19). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/ottoman-empire-art-architecture.html.

Week 5

Comparative discussion on Ottoman Arts and Crafts

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Week 5 - Week 8 // Project 2: Ottoman Cultural Heritage and Istanbul’s Legacy in Arts & Crafts

Mentor: Gizem Vayvay, Anadolu Kültürel Girişimcilik

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Reference : Artstor

Week 4

Dutch Baroque and Technological Innovations in Arts and Design

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Reference : Artstor

Week 3

European and Ottoman Baroque Period, Crafts and Design

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Reference : Artstor

Week 2

Italian Renaissance, Rationality and Technological Innovations in Arts&Design

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Week 2 – Week 4 // Project 1: Design Culture After Renaissance

Mentor: Assist. Prof. Ufuk Soyöz, KHas Dep. of Architecture