On the Design Style of European Classical Furniture
Let's learn what "classical" is first. There are two interpretations of "ancient": first, it represents the distance between the known and the unknown, and it represents history; The second is to represent a kind of depth, which means that things have rich connotations. There are also two interpretations of "Dian": one is elegance and beauty; Second, classic. Then, "European classical furniture" can be understood as: works that have been precipitated in the long history of European furniture and have been confirmed by history countless times, and have preservation value and can be used as a model.
In this ancient land of Europe, the history of furniture is as long and wonderful as the history of mankind. One thing to know is that European furniture has absorbed more or less elements of oriental culture in its development history. The two river basins are the source of human civilization, and the European "Crusaders" brought back not only trophies, but also oriental civilization and artistic elements.
When it comes to European furniture, people usually think of the words "resplendent". These four words have deep connotations. It not only refers to the luxurious appearance and exquisite materials of furniture products, but also includes the meticulous, exquisite and rigorous production standards of internal technology. More importantly, it contains a heavy history and enduring legends in history. Of course, in ancient times, there were also furniture made directly of pure gold. For example, in the Valley of the Kings of Egypt in 1922, two lionesses were carved in the tomb of the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun more than 3,000 years ago, symbolizing the kingship. On the fourth floor of Yuexing Group's Shanghai Home Plaza, two years ago, a set of bedroom furniture wrapped in pure gold imitation of French King Louis XIV was auctioned, and the price was as high as 2.8 million yuan. It is no exaggeration to describe these furniture with resplendence.
European furniture generally has a historical origin. First of all, who is this product for? Secondly, what are the hobbies of users of this product? What are your values and beliefs? What does this era admire and appreciate? Wait, these are the first questions that product designers have to figure out. Very simply, the early European furniture was the exclusive luxury of aristocrats and bourgeoisie, and they were born with luxury and privilege. Because the early users, admirers and owners of European furniture are powerful people, European furniture will be resplendent and magnificent, just as natural as flowers in a blooming rose garden.
The design style of European furniture is directly influenced by European architecture, literature, painting and even music art. The European architecture that has the deepest influence on European furniture design can be briefly described by five styles:
1. Roman style,11-13rd century. This is an era dominated by column structure, which pays attention to the enlightenment from the circular arch of the church, and the artistic techniques such as carving and mosaic are in a secondary position, with heavy materials and simple lines. The structure of Roman columns can be summarized into five basic columns. Among these five kinds of columns, Klein column, Ionian column and composite column are the most widely used in furniture and furniture exhibition hall decoration. The W20 12 Huntington series among the royal artists produced by Yuexing Group is a work of this style.
Second, Gothic style,14th century. Modern furniture composed of elaborate carvings and gorgeous flowers is very popular in France, featuring spires, arches and vertical lines. It is tall, light, rich and exquisite, and its influential ancient buildings are Westminster Abbey in Britain, Notre Dame de Paris in France and Cologne Cathedral in Germany. People use the following sentence to describe "Gothic" architecture: "It goes straight into the sky like a flame, standing upright and straight". The furniture production in this period mainly imitates the appearance of buildings, and this existing furniture style is the most primitive in Spain. There are also two series of royal craftsman furniture produced by Yuexing Group. Their product models are Duke series of W2007 and Xanadu series of W200 1 respectively.
Third, during the Renaissance,15-16th century. The furniture of this period has become the product of antique art, and it is definitely a flower in a greenhouse. However, the painting art in this period had a great influence on furniture, and furniture manufacturers began to pay attention to the patterns and colors of wood decorative materials and began to use natural colored wood to splice beautiful pictures. People evaluate the furniture works of the Renaissance in this way: balanced, implicit, temperate, full of reason and logic. What is important is that the furniture of this period did not form its own handed down style, so it was gradually submerged in the long river of history.
4. Baroque style,17-18th century. The word baroque is Portuguese, meaning deformed pearl, which means irregular, twisted and grotesque. Its style was first created in Italy. The furniture products in this period were magnificent, lively and passionate, and in terms of technology, a large number of techniques such as carving, gilding and painting were used. If compared with the earlier period (Renaissance), how serene and subtle it is, and how dramatic and colorful the Baroque style is. These two artistic styles are quite different. Renaissance furniture expresses rationality, while Baroque furniture focuses on movement, movement, transformation and melody. More importantly, the design of furniture has changed from the Gothic simple mechanical imitation of architectural modeling to the "people-oriented" humanized design for the functional needs of life. In this respect, Baroque furniture has made a qualitative leap compared with Gothic furniture. The W20 10 Windsor series in the furniture of Yuexing royal artists vividly expresses the meaning of baroque style.
5. Rococo style,18th century. When it comes to Rococo style, we can't help mentioning one person, that is chippendale, a British furniture designer (17 18- 1779). He was the first person to combine the oriental elements such as China Tower and Suzhou Garden Technology with the western furniture making skills. At the same time, he is the most successful furniture designer in the British furniture industry, and also the first furniture designer named after the designer. Chippendale is synonymous with rococo furniture in the history of furniture. He is the founder of rococo style. Rococo style is a compound word of "rock" and "shell" in French, which means rococo, which means imitating the complex wave curves of shells and rocks, with exquisite carving, in order to pursue exquisiteness and splendor in sports and give people a smooth sense of movement. Strictly speaking, Rococo style is an interior decoration technique formed in the French court at the beginning of18th century, and Rococo style furniture gradually replaced Baroque style in 1930s. The W2005 Armani series in the furniture of Yuexing royal artists is the masterpiece of this period. They skillfully modified the "dynamic" to make the wild lines disappear and increase the exquisiteness.
From 19 to the 20th century, the forms of furniture began to show diversification, ranging from neoclassicism to modern freehand brushwork. People create freely according to their own lives and personal preferences, not necessarily limited to a certain style. However, classical furniture has firmly occupied an irreplaceable position on the furniture stage, and its fans and followers, like me, relish and revel in it.