I. Ngeow - Midcentury Modern

Written and illustrated by I. Ngeow

This book has been written in US English.

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Leopard Print

Copyright 2021 by Ivy Ngeow

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

The initial ideas that sparked this book came from my architectural and design profession, TV (the Queens Gambit, Mad Max and Twin Peaks), travel (Miami and Vegas opened my eyes), Hitchcock movies and modern American literature.

This handbook is a style guide aimed at amateurs, designers or enthusiasts. By bringing together popular culture of TV and the spaces which surround us, I have come up with 15 ideas for inspiration to start us off on a midcentury modern journey to creating looks from the Queens Gambit. You can use them in a combo, separately or as a springboard to your own style portfolio. Each chapter has a HOT TIP to further amp up any design and give it the professional touch.

The Queens Gambit has been described as a maximalist style with minimalist design. It is not for those who baulk at stuff or dislike color. There are no neutrals except the chessboard. Kondo your fear and combo your thoughts! The beauty of midcentury modern design is balance. With the right lighting, color, finishes and simple interesting furniture, you will have a perfectly workable form follows function modern space configuration that works.

This book does not cover modern graphic design which was largely instigated by the Bauhaus movement. Minimalist, blocky modern sans serif typography that we use now had its roots in the midcentury era. Flat, minimal colors and abstract shapes filled modern art, book covers, travel advertisements and movie posters such as those of Saul Bass for Hitchcock movies.

Although the scope of this book will also not include literary criticism, the works of Patricia Highsmith, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Harper Lee have always been my big influences when I was growing up.

Midcentury modern has been used to describe a design aesthetic, in particular, furniture, but it actually refers to the golden age of architecture and design. Midcentury modern, which began its ascent in the 1930s after Art Deco and Art Moderne, lasted into the 1970s. Purists might like to insist that it is a precise post-World War II decade from 1947 to 1957.

The principles of midcentury modern design are still practiced today. Elegance and simplicity have evolved from origins of the modernist mantra:

Form follows function- Louis Sullivan

The phrase originated from Louis H. Sullivan in his 1896 essay, "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered." Often called Americas first modern architect, Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Pioneer of the Midwest American skyscraper, he influenced architectural language which became known as the Chicago School. Mentor to his young apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Sullivan's design philosophy was the multi-use building, which is still discussed and practiced today. As he professionally matured, Wright challenged the original dogma of form follows function, concluding that, in fact, form and function are one.

Midcentury modern is about understated ornamentation and problem-solving. All mass-produced housing, buildings and modern furniture are based on midcentury design principles.

Though it is now roughly 60-80 years old, its a never-gone-out-of-style style. This is because its not really a style but more a design philosophy, an eclectic movement, which overlaps with other styles of the time. Traditionally, it has been viewed as an American movement, which in turn has developed from European, South American and other global modernist languages. The International Style or the Bauhaus movement is a strong influence, for example. The postwar aesthetic was an important factor in the design of houses and the modernization of American suburbs.

Midcentury modernism is a living concept. It will be applicable forever.- William Krisel

Midcentury modern architecture is the most well-defined category of the movement. The endeavor and focus of post-war architecture has always been to reimagine modern life and to ease the horrors of World War II. Ideas were spreading quickly on how to solve problems in a minimal and more efficient way and how to create new and exciting spatial configurations. Regular suburban people had the opportunity and access to modern good design.

This ethos for living spaces is alive even today. All if not many of the ideas of transparency, openness and a connection to nature are considered the pillars of good architecture. Large horizontal opening windows, ample daylight entering and flooding a space, flat roofs, open plan living leading to the outdoor space, use of natural materials like stone and wood these are solid principles that will never date. Midcentury modernism did not just stay in the postwar American residential suburb. It extended to public buildings, infrastructure and municipal architecture.

Furniture and industrial design followed architectural principles. "Multipurpose became a catchphrase," wrote Cara Greenberg in Midcentury Modern: Furniture of the 1950s explaining that this new furniture stacked, folded and bent; it was rearrangeable and interchangeable; it nested and flexed. Chairs were designed to be pressed into service for a dozen different reasons. Tables were non-specific, for eating, writing, or playing cards."

It was very forward thinking for 60 years ago. That same furniture has its purpose today, which is multipurpose. Minimalist furniture, lacking in ornamentation was so popular that even the structural elements were minimized to make the furniture appear lighter, such as the thin legs, and hairpin legs.

Simplicity is a key concept of midcentury modern design. Chairs were simplified, from seat to back in one continuous shape, for example, the Eames shell chair. Wooden Scandinavian furniture, in clean streamlined curved shapes, is still highly-sought after. The radical shapes come from experimenting and challenging traditional ideas, for example, the Egg chair by Arne Jacobson which has a bold shape and is one-legged rather than four.

I hope I have whet your appetite and that you will get to the end, where there are three BONUS midcentury classic cocktail recipes awaiting you. If youre ready, lets start with our first design idea.

The winged armchair is a restful piece of furniture in which we have seen Alma Wheatley (Beth Harmons adoptive mother) relaxing or having a drink next to the grand piano. It is in the teal velvet winged armchair that she has a few conversations with Beth.