Esoteric Survey

Pacifica Designed Interiors at the De Young Museum. Image: Arts & Architecture Pacifica wasn't a company. It was an aesthetic based on the synthesis of Pacific island and California design concepts in architecture and furnishings. It emerged in 1949, championed by Harry Jackson, the owner of Jackson's Furniture in Oakland, California. The movement was characterized by a love for natural materials combined with a bold and direct simplicity that adapted the restraint of Japanese design to furnish American homes. This design was shown at the Pacifica exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. In 1952, PACIFICA: Furniture, Textiles, and Ceramics, an exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco gained widespread attention. It was organized by Jackson and was featured in design and architecture magazines including Arts & Architecture and Interiors–each highlighting the fusion of Californian, Japanese, and Pacific island influences. The trend then went national ...

  The Modern Chair  at the  Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center  This exhibition is organized by Palm Springs Art Museum and curated by Brad Dunning, architecture and design specialist, with support from Rochelle Steiner. The Modern Chair traces the evolution from the first cantilevered example by Mart Stam, and then onward to designs of current times including examples by Cini Boeri, Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray, George Nakashima, Charlotte Perriand, Rudolph Schindler, among many others. Technological and stylistic advances pushed chair design forward at a breakneck speed in the 20th century like no other time before. The exhibition will also contain important examples of 21st century as well. The exhibition starts with two Dutch designs by Gerrit Rietveld and Mart Stam. R.M. Schindler Cantilevered chair, 1926-1940  Alvin Lustig Paramount Chair, 1948 I'm without my one comfortable chair until April.  Only 55 chairs wer...