2019-10-01 Robb Report

GUTTER CREDITS

ROBBREPORT.COM 141

scale, mass and bold materiality

in much later works by

American and European

designers, from Wendell Castle

to Zaha Hadid. Furthermore,

Expansion Table represents the

ne plus ultra of French style of

the 1970s, a decade that is still

influencing contemporary

taste. They were the years of

fusion—the merging of art and

industrial design, glamour and

function, when boundaries

were pushed beyond the old,

accepted rules and the

province of style expanded.”

SUZANNE DEMISCH, partner,

Demisch Danant design gallery

4.The Einstein Tower

It may look like a certain

Mother Goose character with

too many children living there,

but the Einstein Tower is a

functioning solar observatory.

Completed in 1921, the tower

was built to test Einstein’s

theory of relativity, and it

remains Erich Mendelsohn’s

most famous work.

“The Einstein Tower is

the most emblematic to

me of the 20th century,

notwithstanding the fact that

it’s in Potsdam. It is strangely

modern and classic at the same

time, solid and light. And, of

course, its purpose could

not be more symptomatic

and its meaning eternal.”

ROBERT COUTURIER,

interior decorator

5. The Barcelona
   Pavilion
   No, not the chair. Far from
   overlooked, that Bauhaus
   icon takes it name from the
   structure for which it was
   created: Ludwig Mies van
   der Rohe and Lilly Reich’s
   German Pavilion for the 1929
   International Exposition
   in Barcelona. Sitting on a
   travertine plinth and with a
   low, flat roof seeming to float
   above it, the pavilion was
   a modernist tour de force,
   breaking down the barrier
   between inside and outside
   and speaking to post–World
   War I Germany’s hopeful
   progressives. Torn down
   in 1930, the pavilion was
   reconstructed in the 1980s with
   the help of photographs and
   the architects’ original plans.
   “Icon defines a timelessness,
   a recognizable style lexicon and
   the power to invoke awe and
   inspiration long after its

creation. The Barcelona

Pavilion paved the way for a

new style of modernism and

design that continues to

influence designers today. The

principles of ‘less is more’

and ‘form follows function’

have become pillars of the

creative industries. The

building firmly planted the

Bauhaus as the single most

important design movement of

the last century, extending into

influence to architecture,

art, textiles, design, literature

and philosophy.”

JASON BASMAJIAN,

creative director

6.The Citroën DS

Making its debut in 1955, the

Citroën has been compared to a

basking shark. The “DS” was a

winking allusion to the French

déesse, or goddess, and French

literary theorist Roland Barthes

famously pronounced it true

to its name. More than a looker,

it set the standard for handling.

“It became one of France’s

most recognizable car designs.

Throughout its long life [it

was taken out of production in

1975] its blueprint barely

changed. The great concept

and engineering of Flaminio

Bertoni, André Lefèbvre and

Paul Magès made it what it

is—one of the finest examples

of success connecting form

and function in design.”

JAMES DE GIVENCHY,

Taffin Jewelry

7. Eames Walnut Stools
   Created in 1960 for the lobby
   of the Time-Life Building
   at Rockefeller Center in New
   York, these carved walnut
   stools by married designers
   Charles and Ray Eames
   doubled as seating and tables,
   and engendered comparisons
   to chess pieces. Herman
   Miller now manufactures
   them, in three silhouettes,
   each retailing for about $1,100.
   “The lounge chairs that
   the creative couple made for
   the space are synonymous
   with their design and the era’s
   aesthetic, but these stools are
   an icon in their own right.

They’re beautiful wooden

sculptures inspired by African

furniture and the work of

Brancusi. They’re multi-

functional, too—comfortable

to sit on and just the right

height for holding a cup

of coffee. Last but not least, it

was Ray—not Charles—who

came up with this brilliant

piece. Because of the era and

her gender, Ray was often

not properly credited for her

major contributions to design.

It wasn’t until this century that

we began to recognize her as

a powerhouse and pioneer.”

DAVID YURMAN, co-founder

and CEO, David Yurman

4

6 7

5

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American

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ROBBREPORT.COM 141

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aterworks by

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instein Tower is a
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ROBERTCOUTURIER,
interior decorator

5. The Barcelona
   Pavilion
   No, not the chair. Far from
   overlooked, that Bauhaus
   icon takes it name from the
   structure for which it was
   created: Ludwig Mies van
   der Rohe and Lilly Reich’s
   German Pavilion for the 1929
   International Exposition
   in Barcelona. Sitting on a
   travertine plinth and with a
   low, flat roof seeming to float
   above it, the pavilion was
   a modernist tour de force,
   breaking down the barrier
   between inside and outside
   and speaking to post–World
   War I Germany’s hopeful
   progressives. Torn down
   in 1930, the pavilion was
   reconstructed in the 1980s with
   the help of photographs and
   the architects’ original plans.
   “Icon defines a timelessness,
   a recognizable style lexicon and
   the power to invoke awe and
   inspiration long after its

creation. The Barcelona

Pavilion paved the way for a

new style of modernism and

design that continues to

influence designers today. The

principles of ‘less is more’

and ‘form follows function’

have become pillars of the

creative industries. The

building firmly planted the

Bauhaus as the single most

important design movement of

the last century, extending into

influence to architecture,

art, textiles, design, literature

and philosophy.”

JASON BASMAJIAN,

creative director

6.The Citroën DS

Making its debut in 1955, the

Citroën has been compared to a

basking shark. The “DS” was a

winking allusion to the French

déesse, or goddess, and French

literary theorist Roland Barthes

famously pronounced it true

to its name. More than a looker,

it set the standard for handling.

“It became one of France’s

most recognizable car designs.

Throughout its long life [it

was taken out of production in

1975] its blueprint barely

changed. The great concept

and engineering of Flaminio

Bertoni, André Lefèbvre and

Paul Magès made it what it

is—one of the finest examples

of success connecting form

and function in design.”

JAMES DE GIVENCHY,

Taffin Jewelry

7. Eames Walnut Stools
   Created in 1960 for the lobby
   of the Time-Life Building
   at Rockefeller Center in New
   York, these carved walnut
   stools by married designers
   Charles and Ray Eames
   doubled as seating and tables,
   and engendered comparisons
   to chess pieces. Herman
   Miller now manufactures
   them, in three silhouettes,
   each retailing for about $1,100.
   “The lounge chairs that
   the creative couple made for
   the space are synonymous
   with their design and the era’s
   aesthetic, but these stools are
   an icon in their own right.

They’re beautiful wooden

sculptures inspired by African

furniture and the work of

Brancusi. They’re multi-

functional, too—comfortable

to sit on and just the right

height for holding a cup

of coffee. Last but not least, it

was Ray—not Charles—who

came up with this brilliant

piece. Because of the era and

her gender, Ray was often

not properly credited for her

major contributions to design.

It wasn’t until this century that

we began to recognize her as

a powerhouse and pioneer.”

DAVID YURMAN, co-founder

and CEO, David Yurman

4

6 7

5

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inmuchla
American
designers
toZahaH
Expansion
neplusul
the 1970s,
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taste.The
fusion—th
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accepted
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SUZANNE
DemischD

4.TheE
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