Modern Furniture Store Washington DC

Revivalist Contemporary? New Modern? Après Avant-garde? Whatever the name, contemporary design is experiencing a resurgence not seen since the end of World War II.

Then, it was the advent of new materials, exuberance of families being re-united, an influx of European immigrants, and a desire to be rid of traditional ornaments that combined to provide a fertile landscape for new designs and processes. Now, it is the streamlining of electronic technology and our exposure to good design that makes us demand sophisticated products and architecture. That’s in addition to an increase in two-career households. According to Gail Burton, professor of architecture at North Carolina State University, modern’s clean, minimalist lines are soothing, something people wrapped in the chaos of two-career families can really appreciate.

Those soothing, pure lines advanced in the last century with work by the likes of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Jean Prouvé. They re-defined design as a balance of structure and materials: simple but elegant, technically intricate but possible to make. Mies’ chair, made for the exposition in Barcelona, was an example of a chair aesthetically worthy of a king yet simple and sturdy. Prouvé, an engineer with a scholarly mind, wanted to merge the excellence of craft (he had apprenticed as a blacksmith) with the soulful awareness of art.

The two, and others from Germany’s Bauhaus School, married art, functionality and technological breakthroughs to impact architecture, furniture, typography––indeed anything that could be manufactured. “What we are seeing today,” says Gregg Wittkopp, Art Museum director at Cranbrook Academy, “is a re-interpretation of this International Style famed by Mies and Prouvé.”

owhere was this reinterpretation more evident than at Swiss manufacturer Vitra’s showrooms in Cologne and Milan this spring, where the company featured edited classics by Charles & Ray Eames, Prouvé, and others. But where the International Style was criticized fo...

The best modern outdoor furniture takes its cues from the very surroundings it inhabits. Bright surfaces echo vivid colors in flowers and birds. Woven, organic and natural materials complement the warmth and rustic nature of outdoor spaces. The looks are unique and can be mixed to suit any taste as long as it's modern, bright, fun and maybe a bit eclectic...

Frank Ligthart's leaf-loungers.

Light, stable & fun stools by Flod.