The furniture of the twenty-first century has become the focus of attention characterized by clean shapes and finishes, plus a combination of dynamic and resilient materials such as wood, polyurethane, steel and glass, and other high tech materials.
Some brands of furniture have signed strategic alliances with well-known designers, to deploy a sensory experience of good taste and sophistication in search of the practical and comfortable. This furniture sets new standards of ergonomics, innovation, technology, security and respect for the environment, taking as its starting point the combination of these areas.
The shades used in the furniture show a radical change, and now look for increasingly intense colours. Without a doubt, the combination of styles and simple lines indicates emerging trends in international design of furniture. That is why, with the use of space, and the use of fine materials and equipment is necessary to achieve a level comfort.
The choice of materials for the furniture must be commensurate with the role of the same style and chosen. There is a wide diversity of materials, from steel (for a contemporary finish) and wood (for a classic or rustic finish) as well as many others. In selecting materials, for example, for kitchen furniture it is advisable to opt for the use of stainless steel and ceramic and melamine coatings for ease of cleaning and hard warring surfaces.
Surfaces of items such as tables and chairs should be smooth, stainless steel, and other non-polluting materials that allow easy cleaning and a simple way of keeping them in good condition. The porous materials (such as all types of wood) are contraindicated, since this feature is a source of contamination.
Materials in contemporary furniture are often a trade off, many people would love to have a pure white carpet and a brilliant white sofa and chairs but if you have three children running around white may not be the most practical of colour choices.
Other furniture compromises are often needed such as the physical size of various items. Even if you can manage to fit a huge audio visual unit into your lounge does it in reality suit the room, and realistically is it over-powering everything else in the room or even the home.
When choosing a house full of furniture or one single item it has to have the ability to blend with not only the other articles of furniture but also the architecture of the building as well as the size and shape of items such as rugs or ceiling shapes.
It is always best to get qualified professional help when deciding on contemporary furniture can offer Natuzzi furniture outlets as a source for solid, reliable advice.
By: Darrell F
Archive for September, 2009
The Do and Don’ts of Contemporary Furniture
September 20th, 2009Constructivism Trends In Moscow Architecture
September 20th, 2009In Russia Constructivism is one architectural style that appeared ahead of its time. Russian architects began to develop it more or less immediately after the Great October Revolution in 1917, and the style that is also known as the aesthetics of straight corners, emerged in Moscow in 1919-20.
One of the most famous examples of Constructivism, the style which combines straight lines and various forms such as cylinders, squares, rectangles, cubes and so on, is the world-famous Lenin mausoleum in the center of Red Square. It was designed in 1924 by architect Alexei Shchusev.
The style does not only exploit the opposition between different forms and models, but it also plays on the contrast of different surfaces: rough walls (decorated with granite chips) and windows. Windows are usually either strictly square or rectangular. They can also be horizontal like giant ribbons wrapped around an entire building. Ideally, there are round windows, too, usually at the very top of the building.
The earliest buildings designed by architects Konstantin Melnikov, Ilya Golosov, the Vesniny brothers, Moisei Ginzburg and many others, appeared in 1925 as the country was just emerging from WWI and had no money for new construction. Constructivism did not live for long, only until 1931-33. There are about 600 Constructivism-style buildings in the Russian capital today.
Private mansions were things of the past, the revolutionaries decided, and it was time to build public buildings instead: communal houses, factories doubling as communal kitchens, workers clubs and office buildings.
Besides the mausoleum, another famous Constructivist building is the newspaper Izvestia offices at 5 Pushkin Square. While looking very business-like, it has a number of round windows on its top floor.
The editorial offices of Pravda on 24 Pravda Street also belong to the style, a rectangular building fitted out almost entirely with windows.
Then there is this amazing department store near metro 1905 Goda on the corner of Krasnaya Presnya street and Presnenskaya Zastava, the one with the Benetton sign on it. It occupies a small area and looks like a triangle with its top cut off. On one side a huge window rises from the first to the third floor.
Constructivist buildings began to undergo considerable reconstruction after 1930-33, when the political situation in the country had changed. The new functionaries called the famed style poor, rough and bourgeois, saying it made the city look ugly. Later on, it was replaced with what later became known as Stalin Empire style (It is sufficient to mention the seven almost undistinguishable skyscrapers that dominate the city skyline.)
In the 1940s and 1950s, the Constructivist architects were denied the chance to work, so some of them either gave up architectural design altogether, while others resorted to teaching.
The architects returned to Constructivism after 1958, when they designed a lot more public buildings such as the hotels Yunost, Sputnik, Luzhniki, and Orlyonok, the post-graduate student house on Shvernik street near metro Leninsky Prospekt and one of the buildings that makes up the Kursk railway station and others, basing their designs on the once popular architectural style.
But all over the word the style gave a push to contemporary architecture. Today, to see the precise, simple structures of the Constructivism age, you merely need to travel to Ivanovo, Kizhma, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, or St. Petersburg. Examples of industrial towns that underwent rapid growth in the 1920s and ’30s include Pavlovsky Posad, Voznesensk and Nizhny Novgorod. There are other examples of such cities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
By: Winston Johns
Ideas for Contemporary Landscaping
September 17th, 2009You are in the process of modernizing your home, and as such you would also like to do some contemporary landscaping. (Contemporary- existing or occurring at, or dating from, the same period of time as something or somebody else). You would really like to do your own landscaping, but are considering hiring professional landscapers because you are not especially familiar with landscaping. So, what you need are some contemporary landscaping ideas.
About Contemporary Landscaping
History: Contemporary landscaping began to emerge in northern Europe during the first half of the 20th century, and combined elements of English landscape gardening with influences from modern architecture. New materials such as wood, concrete, metal and glass, and other non-traditional materials found their way into the creation of this new vitality. Contemporary landscaping utilized variations in scale, time, space and texture to create abstract patterns. Newer designs also created innovations in light and space, often told in color, creating new focal points and visual patterns.
There is actually no one kind of contemporary landscaping, since modern houses love to emulate older styles, especially the English Garden look. If this look appeals to you, consider that for one of your contemporary landscaping ideas.
What many people like the most about the English Garden look as a contemporary landscaping idea are the flowers. This look is thus very popular with people that have large yards. This is because people that have large yards are able to accommodate one of the trademark facets of an English Garden, and those are rose bushes
Rose bushes are classically beautiful, and as such they can really add to your contemporary landscaping ideas. For example, if you are the kind of person who loves colorful flowers, purchase several kinds of roses. While roses traditionally come in bushes, they can also come in vines. However, you should make sure they are carefully fed and pruned if you do decide to implement rose bushes into your contemporary landscaping ideas.
Some people prefer to have an herb garden as part of their contemporary landscaping idea. Herb gardens appeal to people because herbs can be used for cooking, as well as for decorative reasons. However, when planning your herb garden be sure that you know what herbs can be planted together, because some herbs end up taking over other herbs.
Another thing that people like to do when it comes to contemporary landscaping is various fauna in patterns. Perhaps you have seen things like this before, and they really are impressive. While you can try to get the fauna to do this yourself, it is not the best idea to do so, because if you hire a professional to do that, you are saving yourself time and possible annoyances!
Contemporary landscaping mixes the elements of man made structures, such as buildings with natural trees and flowers. Such landscaping is common among city people or people that like shrubs, trees and flowers but do not necessarily have the time to take care of them.
If you would like more landscaping ideas, go to your local garden center. There you will find a variety of different plants that you might want to include in your yard. You can also search the internet for more landscaping advice. With the proper research, you are sure to find the right contemporary landscaping ideas!
Copyright © John Hanna All Rights Reserved.
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By: Doug Woodall