"Design is thinking made visual."
—Saul Bass

Dutch:
Wat is Design? Veel producten, die in serie- en massafabricage worden gemaakt, zijn ontworpen door ontwerpers. Voor dit ontwerpproces wordt vaak de term design gebruikt. Een definitie van design is: 'het proces van het ontwerpen van producten, die in serie- en massafabricage worden gemaakt, met in acht name van constructieve, ergonomische, esthetische en markttechnische aspecten'.

Acrylnitrile contributes with thermal and chemical resistence, and the rubberlike butadiene gives ductility and impact strength. Styrene gives the glossy surface and makes the material easily machinable and less expensive.

Generally, ABS has good impact strength also at low temperatures. It has satisfactory stiffness and dimensional stability, glossy surface and is easy to machine. If UV-stabilizators are added, ABS is suitable for outdoor applications.

Some people think abstract art just means something weird-looking; this is incorrect. Weird is easy, but abstract work springs from, and must be responsive to, a physical reality.

For example, a brief summary of a written treatise such as a dissertation is called an abstract. It is based on the real thing but is a more concise version, getting immediately at its essential character.

A dominant theme of all forms of art in the twentieth century is alienation. Humankind is seen as removed from Nature, out of touch with inner or animal needs, disconnected from social bonds, and lacking a sense of continuity in time. Given all this, is it any wonder that abstract art is a central response?

Abstract art comes from spirit rather than from nature and in this sense abstract art is uniquely human. Because abstraction is rooted in humanness as distinct from "American-ness" or "male-ness," it complements the world unity found in technology and science. A color field painting, for instance, can speak outside the restrictions of language, culture, and geography.

There is no abstract art. You must always start with something.
—Pablo Picasso.

During the second half of the 20th century the artists followed the basic principals of the mordern art of before World War I. The difference is that after the first world war the artists were very emancipated. In stead of working in groups, many artists developed an individual style, sometimes combined with existing or older trends.

From 1960 on, the art movements were replacing each other more and more quickly. In 1980 one can count over 40 different art movements, existing closely together.The artists did not bound themselves to one movement anymore. They represented themselves in more than one movement.

Abstract Expressionism originated in the 1940s, and became popular in the 1950s.

Artists who painted in this style include Hans Hoffman (German-American, 1880-1966), Adolph Gottlieb (American, 1903-1974), Mark Rothko (American, 1903-1970), Willem De Kooning (Dutch-American, 1904-1997), Clyfford Still (American, 1904-1980), Barnett Newman (American, 1905-1970), Franz Kline (American, 1910-1962), William Baziotes (American, 1912-1963), Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956), Philip Guston (American, 1913-1980), Ad Reinhardt (American, 1913-1967), Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991), Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994), and Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928).

Imagery which departs from representational accuracy, to a variable range of possible degrees, for some reason other than verisimilitude. Abstract artists select and then exaggerate or simplify the forms suggested by the world around them.

Verisimilitude
Appearing to be true or real (~likeness, realism, representation, simulacrum).

Aluminum melts at 1220°F (660.2°C) and can be cast and welded. It is available in a wide variety of colors (possible through a process called anodizing), and is often used in paints, foil, jewelry, and welding and is used when lightness combined with strength is desired. Aluminum is derived from the mineral bauxite.

Although bauxite is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust, the processes necessary to creating aluminum were not developed until 1825, and aluminum was not used extensively until the twentieth century.

Atomic symbol Al; atomic number 13; atomic weight 26.98; specific gravity 2.69; valence 3.

Het Scheepvaarthuis in Amsterdam (1916) wordt beschouwd als een stenen manifest van de `Amsterdamse School', waarbij beeldhouwwerk een belangrijke plaats innam. De architecten in die periode (Van der Mey, Piet Kramer, Michel de Klerk) propageerden een individualistische, emotionele kunst. De stijl is plastisch, twee- en driedimensionaal, met zware vormen en grillige decoraties; parabool- en trapeziumvormen komen veel voor.

Beeldhouwwerk neemt in de `Amsterdamse School' een belangrijke plaats in; belangrijke kunstenaars zijn Hildo Krop, John Rädecker, Bernard Richters en Theo Vos.

The battle for social recognition can result in several problems in the society. For example: jaelousy, theft, waste of resources and low usability of products. Do designers have a responsibility for the use of their products by consumers? Can designers design products, that won't allow consumers to show off and simultaneously have success on the consumer markets?

Dutch:
De strijd van het individu voor sociale erkenning kan resulteren in verschillende problemen in de maatschappij zoals: afgunst/diefstal, verkwisting en slechte bruikbaarheid van producten. Hebben productontwerpers een verantwoordelijkheid ten opzichte van de consument? Hebben ontwerpers die produkten ontwerpen, die niet voldoen aan de profileringswens van consumenten, weinig kans op de consumptiemarkt?

Artists, museum curators, art patrons, art educators, art critics, art historians, and others involved with art change their ideas about it over time. Early in the twentieth century, for instance, artists expanded the definition of art to include such things as abstraction, collage, and readymades. Even in the second half of the twentieth century, the artworld expanded its definition of art to include textiles, costumes, jewelry, photography, video, concepts, and performances as art. Only in the last ten or twenty years works of various native peoples have come to be considered art rather than artifacts.

However, people of some cultures do not (or refuse to) refer to some works as "art." Because of this, many people have taken to using the broader terms material culture or visual culture when referring to such works. No American Indian language includes such a word as art. The Japanese created such a word only after coming into contact with European ideas.

Art Deco is a movement involving a mix of modern decorative art styles, largely of the 1920s and 1930s, whose main characteristics were derived from various avant-garde painting styles of the early twentieth century. Art deco works exhibit aspects of Cubism, Russian Constructivism and Italian Futurism-- with abstraction, distortion, and simplification, particularly geometric shapes and highly intense colors--celebrating the rise of commerce, technology, and speed.

The growing impact of the machine can be seen in repeating and overlapping images from 1925; and in the 1930s, in streamlined forms derived from the principles of aerodynamics.

The name came from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs Industriels et Modernes, held in Paris, which celebrated living in the modern world.

It was popularly considered to be an elegant style of cool sophistication in architecture and applied arts which range from luxurious objects made from exotic material to mass produced, streamlined items available to a growing middle class.

Art Déco is de stroming in de toegepaste kunsten die haar hoogtepunt bereikte in de jaren twintig van de 20ste eeuw, maar pas in de jaren zestig, toen deze stroming evenals de Jugendstil (art nouveau) weer sterk in de belangstelling kwam, als zodanig wordt aangeduid. Tegen de stroming van het functionalisme in (Nieuwe Bouwen) gaf art déco lucht aan de behoefte aan verfraaing en esthétiek.

De benaming, gevormd naar analogie van art nouveau (de Franse benaming voor de Jugendstil), is ontleend aan de wereldtentoonstelling l'Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, die in 1925 in Parijs werd gehouden.

Art déco ontstond deels ook als reactie op de grillige vormen van de Jugendstil. Onder invloed van het kubisme werd de vormgeving strakker en eenvoudiger. De Ballets Russes van Diaghilev die vanaf 1909 in Parijs opgevoerd werden, inspireerden tot het gebruik van felle kleuren. Andere invloeden waren: Afrikaanse kunst, de zgn. Wiener Werkstätte (J. Hoffmann), fauvisme, oosterse kunst, expressionisme en futurisme. In de decoratiemotieven – guirlandes, mandjes met bloemen en vruchten, fonteinen en geometrische figuren – traden rechte lijnen en symmetrie op de voorgrond. Voorbeelden van art deco treft men zowel in Europa als in de Verenigde Staten aan. Belangrijke ontwerpers waren Cassandre en E.S. McKnight Kauffer (affiches), René Lalique (glaswerk) en Jean Puiforcat (zilver).

Dutch:
In de architectuur vormde art deco vaak een element binnen een andere architectuurstroming. In Nederland werd deze vormgeving bijv. vaak geïntegreerd in de Amsterdamse School (theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam, H.L. de Jong, 1921) en in Duitsland in het expressionisme (Paula Modersohn-Becker huis in Bremen, Bernard Hoetger, 1926). In Rotterdam kan men de hang naar meer decoratie ook terugvinden in het werk van Kromhout die een aantal massieve kantoorgebouwen heeft neergezet, die echter rijk gedecoreerd waren. Een overblijfsel is het voormalig kantoor van de Scheepvaart Vereniging Zuid (havenwerkgevers) aan de Pieter de Hooghweg. Een ander voorbeeld in Rotterdam is het Atlantic Huis van Buskens.

Dutch:
Deze stijl wordt ook wel Jugendstil genoemd. Een stijl in de architectuur, toegepaste kunst en beeldende kunst die rond 1890 ontstond en waarvan de bloeiperiode plaatsvond tussen 1895 en 1902. In de bouwkunst is dit de eerste geslaagde poging tot een eigentijdse, niet historiserende stijl sinds lange tijd. Kenmerkend is de voorkeur voor vloeiende lijnen in plaats van rechte lijnen. Andere kenmerken zijn: asymmetrie, veelvuldig gebruik van decoratieve patronen en gestileerde organische motieven. Belangrijke architecten waren onder andere de Belgen Horta en Van de Velde. In Nederland maakte Jan Toorop affiches in deze stijl. Een bekende schilder van international allure is Klimt.

Franse c.q. Duitse benaming voor de stijlvernieuwing rond 1900. Met name Art Nouveau komt voort uit de toegepaste, decoratieve kunsten. Samuel Bing opende in 1895 in Parijs een kunsthandel "Salon de l'Art Nouveau". De term is ontleend aan het sinds 1896 te München uitgegeven tijdschrift Die Jugend, waarvan Otto Eckmann de eerste jaargangen met karakteristieke vignetten en randversieringen illustreerde; in Groot-Brittannië spreekt men van art nouveau, modern style of Liberty style, naar de firma Liberty and Co. te Londen; in Italië van Stile Liberty of Stile Floreale, in Oostenrijk over Sezessionstil, naar de Weense groep Sezession De stijl kenmerkt zich vooral door de asymmetrie en de uitbundige sierlijke, beweeglijke lijnen. Met name het "zweepslagmotief" werd graag gehanteerd. Het kan worden gezien als een reactie op de opkomende massaproductie, die in de ogen van de aanhangers, de schoonheid uit het voorwerp had weggenomen. Als het voorwerp weer op de natuur werd gebaseerd, dan kon de schoonheid weer deel van het leven worden. Maar dan moest wel in alle disciplines van de kunst dit principe worden toegepast. Voor de bouwkunst bracht de toepassing van het ijzer als nieuw materiaal nieuwe constructieve mogelijkheden, maar de term Jugendstil heeft toch vnl. betrekking op de decoratie van bijv. trapleuningen, gevels, enz. IJzer leende zich goed voor verwerking tot de sierlijk gebogen vormen waarom de Jugendstil vroeg. De architecten waren veelal tevens interieurontwerpers. Gewijzigde sociale en economische omstandigheden, toepassing van nieuwe materialen (beton) brachten na de Eerste Wereldoorlog het einde van de Jugendstil.

In Nederland kent de Art Nouveau uiteenlopende verschijningsvormen. De geometrisch georiënteerde constructief-rationeel-maatschappelijke stroming vind met o.a. in Amsterdam rond Berlage, terwijl het sierlijke elegant-artistieke-pragmatisme meer in Den Haag en Rotterdam is te plaatsen.

In Rotterdam is het meest opvallende bouwwerk in deze stijl het Witte Huis aan de Wijnhaven (1897-1898) van Molenbroek. Andere mooie voorbeelden zijn de sociëteit van Roevereniging "de Maas" en het kantoor Van Uden aan de Veerhaven. Ook in Kralingen zijn, met name aan de Avenue Concordia en de Voorschoterlaan een aantal Art Nouveau huizen te zien.

A generic name for the American version of Arts and Crafts furniture is called Mission Style.

Ducth:
De Arts & Crafts-beweging streefde naar een herleving van het ambacht en naar verbetering van decoratieve ontwerpen en architectuur in Engeland. De kunstenaar moest ambachtsman en de ambachtsman moest kunstenaar worden. Vooral William Morris, C.R. Ashbee en Walter Crane zijn van belang in deze stroming. Vanuit een romantisch socialisme wees men de gemechaniseerde productie af en riep men het beeld van de ambachtelijk ideale middeleeuwen op. Diverse gildes werden opgericht en vaak trok men uit de stad naar het platteland. Na aanvankelijk veel invloed in Engeland, Duitsland en de Verenigde Staten uitgeoefend te hebben, werd de beweging later beschouwd als een doodlopende weg.

Around the turn of the century, the Belgian born scientist Dr. Leo Baekeland, working as an independent chemist, came upon the compound quite by accident. Anyone familiar with the newspaper printing business is aware of the Velox used as a proof; that was his first discovery. Velox was invented in 1899 and is still in use today. After selling the rights to this product to Eastman Kodak for three quarters of a million dollars, he started developing a less flammable bowling alley floor shellac; bowling was becoming the latest rage in New York City. Dr. Baekeland soon realized that a resin that was both insoluable and infusible could have a much wider appeal when used as a molding compound. He obtained a patent and started the Bakelite Corporation around 1910.

Phenolic resin could be produced in a multitude of colors, commonly yellow, brown, butterscotch, green and red. Ommitting the pigment could produce a transparent or translucent effect. The resin could be molded or cast, depending on variations in the formula. For molding, the formula was cooked until resinous, spread out in thin sheets to harden, then ground to a fine consistency. At this point, powdered fillers and pigment were added, to enable the resin to be molded and to add color. This mixture was then put through hot rollers which created large sheets of colored, hardened resin. These sheets were then ground into a very fine powder which was molded under high heat and pressure into the final product form. As a molded material the resin's drawback was the limited range of colors which could be created. For casting, the formula was modified slightly, enabling the resin to be poured into lead molds and then cured in ovens until it polymerized into a hard substance. The liquid resin could be tinted to any color or "marbelized" by mixing two colors together.

For the first ten years or so after its introduction, the resin was used primarily to make electrical and automobile insulators and heavy industrial products. Eventually, uses for the resin spread into the consumer market. Castings were made in the shape of cylinders or blocks, and then sold to novelty and jewelry makers. Industrial designers began experimenting with the new material. Fine craftsmen sculpted the molded products on fast wheels with razor-like tools to carve out designs that the world has not seen since; after World War II, most companies switched to creating designs through the use of patterned molds, instead of hand-carving. Bakelite replaced flammable celluloid, previously the most popular synthetic material for molded items, as a major substance for jewelry production.

The process to the collector of today may not be significant, as Bakelite is now treasured for its unique, unreproducible beauty. A deeply carved half inch bangle bracelet may sell for $225.00, and a two and one half inch bangle may command $900.00. Bakelite often acquires a patina within a few months to a few years of its date of production, and metamorphisizes into a completely different appearing color. The red, white and blue Bakelite designs of yesterday have mellowed into lovely yellows, reds and blacks, enhancing further the value of those rare pieces which have continued to maintain their original color and luster.

Bakelite's many uses allowed it to become a standard item in the family home of the 1930s and 1940s. It was frequently found in the kitchen, in the form of flatware handles, rabbit or chicken napkin holders, salt and pepper shakers, or serving trays. During the Depression Bakelite sold more than any other commercial product, and was loved by the public for its brilliant and cheerful colors and its affordability.

When the Bakelite patent expired in 1927, it was acquired by the Catalin Corporation that same year. They began mass production under the name Catalin, using the cast resin formula which enabled Catalin to add 15 new colors to the original five produced by the Bakelite Corporation, which used the limited color range molded formula, as well as the now-famous marbelized effect. One of their most notable products was the Fada bullet radio. The Catalin Corporation was responsible for nearly 70% of all phenolic resins that exist today.

Bakelite-Catalin was sold mostly by Saks Fifth Avenue, B. Altman and Bonwit Teller, but was also on the shelves of F.W. Woolworth and Sears. To the wealthy socialites, whose husbands had fallen on tough times during the Depression, with Tiffany diamonds and Cartier jewelry now well beyond their means, the vibrantly colorful carved jewelry adorned with rhinestones became de riguer for cocktail parties and formal dinners. Yet, Catalin and Bakelite were within everyone's reach with Depression prices ranging from twenty cents to three dollars. Diana Vreeland, editor of Vogue, often spoke of the versatility of Bakelite, as did Elsa Schiaparelli, who was constantly contracting with the Bakelite and Catalin Corporations for exclusive buttons for her dress designs.

But in 1942 Bakelite and Catalin suspended sales of their colorful cylinders to costume jewelry manufacturers in order to concentrate on the wartime needs of a nation which had totally shifted its focus. Defense phones and aviator goggles, as well as thousands of other Bakelite products, found their way to armed forces around the world. The scheme shifted from the 200 vibrant colors which brightened the dark days of the Depression to basic black, the no-nonsense symbol of a nation at war. By the end of the war, new technology had given birth to injection-molded plastics, and most manufacturers switched to less labor-intensive and more practical means of developing products. The next generation of plastics had been born - lucite, fibreglass, vinyl and acrylic - and they were molded into products commonplace in our everyday lives today.

Bakelite and Catalin became obsolete, but survive in the hearts of collectors who hunt flea markets, swap meets and antique shows for the Depression treasures of a generation now consigned to the pages of history. Bakelite was given a boost in the mid-1970s by artist, photographer, and flea market icon Andy Warhol who fell in love with Bakelite carvings and whimsical Martha Sleeper pins, and amassed one of the largest collections.

A very influential German school of art and design, the aesthetic of which was influenced by and derived from techniques and materials employed especially in industrial fabrication and manufacture-- steel, concrete, chrome, and glass for instance. It was founded in 1919, and closed by the Nazis in 1933, many of its teachers emigrating to the U.S.A. Walter Gropius (German-American, 1883-1969), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (German-American, 1886-1969), Wassily Kandinsky (Russian-German, 1866-1944), Lyonel Feininger (American, 1871-1956), Paul Klee (Swiss-German, 1879-1940), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (German-American, 1895-1946), Josef Albers (German-American, 1899-1976) and other important artists were teachers there. Even though their styles were often quite varied, the artists of the Bauhaus had such a stong effect on the art and art education that this school is often considered as an art movement in itself.

In 1933, Hitler closed down the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus fused the aesthetics of design, functionalism and the industrial mass production together.

Many of these have become so popular among people desiring to make rubbings of them that casts of the originals have been made to use this way in order to preserve the originals.

The springiness of tubular steel (cantilevered). Projected into space by means of a beam supported only at one end.

A Cantilever Chair. From Avant-garde Design to Industrial Production
(Title of the original: Der Freischwinger, vom Avantgardeentwurf zur Ware)

The subject of this dissertation is the cantilever chair, invented in 1926 by the Dutch functionalist architect Mart Stam (1899 – 1986). Today this chair without rear legs is a common everyday object relegated to the waiting rooms and offices where nobody stops to give it a second thought. Sixty-five years ago, however, the situation was quite different. The chair was a design that aroused astonishment – it seemed as if one was sitting suspended in the air. In very short time inventive manufacturers realised that this was a promising product for their market. Conducted by both the inventors and producers, a long-lasting struggle for patents has begun at that very moment. In particular in Germany this is still continuing until now.

Mart Stam’s project is the most important functionalist contribution to furniture design. Its concept was hardly influenced by traditional furniture but rather stemmed from the renovational aesthetic and social ideas of modern architecture. Its financial success led to a conflict between avant-garde concept on the one hand and on the other hand the pragmatic norms of business life and legal questions of patent rights.

This dissertation starts with an introductory summary of the appearance of tubular steel furniture and in particular the cantilever chair. The second chapter reviews the criticism covering the history of the cantilever chair to be found in literature from 1945 to the present. Chapter three deals with the introduction of tubular steel and the cantilever chair in the market. Above all the position of Stam and Breuer and the manufacturers Anton Lorenz and the Thonet company is looked at more closely. This chapter is closed with an account of the first legal case between Lorenz and Thonet, which ended with the inventor’s patent (rights of original authorship) being awarded to Stam. The fourth chapter is concerned with the tubular steel furniture, which became fashionable at the start of the 30ies and the forthcoming legal cases between the protagonists. Among other things it deals with the law suits on the cantilever chair in Holland and Scandinavia and with Mies van der Rohe’s and Lorenz’ case against the Arnold and Mauser companies in Germany. The last chapter traces the development since WW II; here attention is directed towards the different relationship between Lorenz and Stam and the new attempts to fight for patent rights for the chair in Germany. The study concludes with an analysis of the latest legal case on the rights of production between the Thonet and Tecta companies.

This investigation is based on earlier work at the Delft University of Technology focussed on functionalist metal furniture design in general and in particular on the cantilever chair. The co-operation with the Lorenz Archiv (Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany) and the Stam Foundation (Deutsches Architektur Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was of fundamental importance for this study. The availability of formerly inaccessible material has made it possible to finally reconstruct the history of the cantilever chair.

The specific gravity of amorphous carbon is 1.8 to 2.1, of diamond 3.15 to 3.53, and of graphite 1.9 to 2.3. Also, may refer to a sheet of carbon paper, or an image produced by marks made to carbon paper.

In the fiber arts, to card is to comb out fibers with a wire brush (also called a card). Also see bristol board, carding, card stock, foam core or foam board, matboard, and oaktag.

Catalin is no Bakelite.

Although chromium is an element, chrome can be either pure chromium or an alloy of it.

See Art Deco and design. Chromium's elemental symbol is Cr; atomic number 24; atomic weight 51.996; melting point 1,890°C; specific gravity 7.18; valence 2, 3, 6.

An element of art with three properties: (1) hue or tint, the color name, e.g., red, yellow, blue, etc.: (2) intensity, the purity and strength of a colour, e.g., bright red or dull red; and (3) value, the lightness or darkness of a colour.

When the spectrum is organized as a colour wheel, the colors are divided into groups called primary, secondary and intermediate (or tertiary) colors; and also as warm and cool colours.

Colours can be objectively described as saturated, clear, cool, warm, subdued, grayed, tawny, mat, glossy, monochrome, multicolored, particolored, variegated, or polychromed.

Some words used to describe colours are more subjective (subject to personal opinion or taste), such as: exciting, sweet, saccharine, brash, garish, ugly, beautiful, cute, pretty, and sublime.

Sometimes people speak of colours when they are actually refering to pigments, what they are made of (various natural or synthetic substances), their relative permanence, etc.

Photographers measure colour temperature in degrees kelvin (K).

Light colour can be expressed using xy coordination as chromacity coordinates in a standard colorimetric system, or given as the colour temperature TF for white light colours. White light colours can also be classified more generally as warm white (ww), neutral white (nw) and daylight white (dw). The same light colours can have different spectral distribution with simultaneous variance in colour rendition.

2. Skill in evasion or deception; cunning; guile

craft (Middle English) = strength, skill, device

In its first sense, craft refers to the quality of anything that is made. A painting, a building or a meal may be well crafted. Usually excellent craftsmanship is the result of talent, training, and experience.

The pleasure of good craftsmanship is universal, transcending language, culture, and time.

A more specific use of this word refers to objects of a principally utilitarian origin, as in "handicrafts" such as furniture, textiles, metalwork, and so on. This double use of the word can be confusing and requires care: not all crafts are well-crafted, and most fine art relies on its craft. (Read that again until it makes sense.)

A good idea poorly realized because of a lack of craft is like a song poorly sung — a nagging disappointment.

The work of craft is a fine example of the work of life, our universal obligation.
—Carla Needleman

One of the most influential art movements (1907-1914) of the twentieth century, Cubism was developed by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1882-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963), who were greatly inspired by African sculpture, by painters Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) and Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1991), and by the Fauvists.

In Cubism the subject matter is broken up, analyzed, and reassembled in an abstracted form. Picasso and Braque initiated the movement when they followed the advice of Paul Cézanne, who in 1904 said artists should treat nature "in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone."

There were three phases in the development of Cubism: Facet Cubism, Analytic Cubism, and Synthetic Cubism.

The cubists developed the use of collage and several new materials.

Several artists employed the chance results of accident as a means of production, for instance. Literally, the word dada means several things in several languages: it's French for "hobbyhorse" and Slavic for "yes yes". Many artists associated with this movement later became associated with Surrealism.

De Stijl (Dutch for The Style) was the name of a group of artists and architects who gathered around the largely theoretical architect Theo van Doesburg. He founded the group in Leiden in 1917 and published the magazine De Stijl, which ran from 1917 to 1928. During the tumultuous decade following World War I, De Stijl artists set out to create a universal style in painting, architecture and design, using rectangles and squares in flat planes of bold primary colors and black, gray and white, all carefully orchestrated with straight lines. The compelling geometric paintings of Piet Mondrian and equally striking furniture of Gerrit Rietveld have become oft-quoted classics of 20th-century design.

De Stijl was an art movement advocating pure abstraction and simplicity-- form reduced to the rectangle and other geometric shapes, and colour to the primary colours, along with black and white. Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872-1944) was the group's leading figure. He published a manifesto titled Neo-Plasticism in 1920. Another member, painter Theo van Doesberg (Dutch, 1883-1931) had started a journal named De Stijl in 1917, which continued publication until 1928, spreading the theories of the group, which also included the painter George Vantongerloo (Belgian,1886-1965), along with the architects J.J.P. Oud (1890-1963) and Gerrit Rietveld (Dutch, 1888-1965). Their work exerted tremendous influence on the Bauhaus and the International Style.

Dutch:
De Stijl is de naam van een tijdschrift, in 1917 door Theo van Doesburg in Leiden opgericht, dat de spreekbuis wilde zijn van een groepering van schilders, architecten, beeldhouwers en schrijvers. Tot de oprichting hebben bijgedragen de schilders Piet Mondriaan en Vilmos Huszar, de architect J.J.P. Oud en de schrijver A. Kok, terwijl reeds in 1917 aan het tijdschrift en het gemeenschappelijk werk deelnamen de schilders Bart van der Leck en Gino Severini, de architecten Jan Wils en Robert van 't Hoff en de beeldhouwer Georges Vantongerloo. Later traden de architect Gerrit Rietveld, de schilders Hans Richter en El Lissitzky, de architecten Cornelis van Eesteren en F. Kiesler, de architecte G. Schröder-Schräder, de schilders César Domela en Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart en de beeldhouwer Constantin Brancusi, terwijl Th. van Doesburg sinds 1920 onder één en later twee pseudoniemen gedichten en proza in het tijdschrift publiceerde.

De beginselen die deze kunstenaars van zo uiteenlopende herkomst en verschillend karakter samenbonden, kunnen in het kort als volgt worden omschreven: de volstrekte abstractie – dwz. de uitbanning van elke referentie tot welk onderdeel van de waarneembare werkelijkheid dan ook – en de beperking van de beeldende taalmiddelen tot de elementaire gegevens – dwz. de rechte lijn en de rechte hoek (dus de verticale en de horizontale lijn), alsmede de drie primaire kleuren – rood, geel en blauw – en de drie primaire niet-kleuren: zwart, grijs en wit. Met deze beperking van hun beeldende vocabulaire en met verwijdering van elke referentie naar de zichtbare werkelijkheid trachtten de kunstenaars een universele ziening van de werkelijkheid uit te beelden, die bij voorbaat elke beperking uitsloot, zowel door het toevallige karakter van het uitgebeelde onderwerp alsook door het willekeurige individuele temperament van de kunstenaar. Hun eerste manifest, verschenen in 1918, formuleert deze gedachte: ‘Er is een oud en een nieuw tijdsbewustzijn. Het oude richt zich op het individueele. Het nieuwe richt zich op het universeele. De strijd van het individueele tegen het universeele openbaart zich, zowel in den wereldkamp als in de kunst van onzen tijd. De oorlog destructiveert de oude wereld met haar inhoud: de individueele overheersing op elk gebied. De nieuwe kunst heeft naar voren gebracht hetgeen het nieuwe tijdsbewustzijn inhoudt: evenwichtige verhouding van het universeele en het individueele’ (De Stijl, II, blz. 2).

In de architectuur werd Ouds project voor een fabriek in Purmerend (1918),het eerste resultaat van de nieuwe stijl in de architectuur, met Rietvelds gelijktijdige leunstoel, spoedig gevolgd door Ouds woningbouw in Rotterdam; na de experimenten in ruimtelijke vormgeving, door Van Doesburg, Van Eesteren en Rietveld gezamenlijk ondernomen (1923), ontstond Rietvelds Schröder-huis in Utrecht, Van Eesterens ontwerp voor een huis aan de rivier en vóór 1928 zowel Van Doesburgs binnenarchitectuur voor restaurant L'Aubette in Straatsburg als Ouds wijk ‘Kiefhoek’ in Rotterdam. Van Eesteren heeft later de beginselen van De Stijl tot basis van het nieuwe stadsontwerp gemaakt in zijn uitbreidingsplan voor Amsterdam-West.

Naast de wijken Kiefhoek en het Witte Dorp, realiseerde Oud in Rotterdam ook Café de Unie aan de Mauritsweg, met de directiekeet voor het Witte Dorp de meest duidelijke Stijl bouwerken van zijn hand in Rotterdam.

decorare (Latin) = to ornament

Often used in the pejorative (negative) sense of unnecessary embellishment, arbitrarily applied to an object without regard to its form.

Decorative additions are frosting on a cake: sometimes used to camouflage mistakes in what lies beneath, and sometimes appropriate additions that elevate what was good to something outstanding.

In Eastern aesthetics, decoration is a testament of devotion. Hindu temples and Muslim mosques, for instance, are dazzling monuments to decoration. In their approach, it would be impossible to have too much decoration, just as it would be impossible to have too much devotion to god.

God lives in the details.
—Mies van der Rohe.

densus (Latin) = thick, crowded

Density can be used to indicate stability, weight, and or a sense of movement. It also brings an opportunity for contrast — "more dense" contrasts with "less dense". These are, of course, relative measures.

Though usually a visual term, we can apply the concept of density to other situations. For instance, some works are more dense with meaning than others. In some contexts, like underbrush and poetry, dense might translate to impenetrable.

Density refers to the effect of locating elements close to each other. It is a way of creating shade with a single, fixed-value mark such as a dot of ink that is always the same black. An example is the Benday pattern used to reproduce photos in newspaper printing.

When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take — choose the bolder.
—W. J. Slim.

1. To conceive, invent, contrive
2. To form a plan for
3. To draw a sketch
4. To have as a goal or purpose, to intend
5. A visual composition, pattern
6. A reasoned purpose, intention

(Latin) de (out) + signare (mark) = mark out, designate

The organisation or composition of a work; the skilled arrangement of its parts. An effective design is one in which the elements of art and principles of design have been combined to achieve an overall sense of unity. Also, the production of attractive and well crafted functional objects. Subcategories of the design arts include: architecture, bonsai, fashion design, furniture design, graphic design, ikebana, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, stagecraft, textile design, and web page design.

This word is both noun and verb. When we attempt to arrange parts in a way that is most efficient, attractive and/or meaningful, we are engaged in the process of design. The result of the activity, which may be an intellectual property as well as a sketch or model, is also called a design.

As verb, design refers to a human activity. We don't think of nature as designing, though we often see configurations in nature that we call design. The process of design is rooted in intention. Nature develops forms to achieve certain ends (the egg to protect the chick) but not because an intellect decided this would be best. In this example, the stimulus was the continuation of the species, which as far as we can tell is a component of the natural world.

As a creative act, design is related to innovation in other fields, such as literature, music, and science. Nevertheless, subtle shades of difference are built into the language. We do not speak of designing a symphony, an equation or a novel, anymore than we compose a building.

Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.
—Victor Papanek.

"A plan for arranging elements in such a way as to best accomplish a particular purpose. The design is an expression of the purpose. It may (if it is good enough) later be judged as art" —Charles Eames - Design Q & A 1972.

Dutch:
Zelden bezitten design classics uitmuntende ergonomische, constructieve of esthetische eigenschappen. Het succes van een design classic hangt af van de mate, waarmee de consument zich met het product kan profileren. Design classics zijn uitermate geschikt voor het profileren. De producten zijn meestal duur, de ontwerpers bekend en de vormgeving apart. Dit heeft als resultaat dat een design classic vaak een blikvanger is die rijkdom en 'goede' smaak uitstraalt.

Het komt dan ook geregeld voor dat ontwerpers de primaire functie van producten ondergeschikt maakt aan de uitstraling, wat de bruikbaarheid niet ten goede komt. Vanwege de verdwijning van de vaste rangen en standen in de individualistische westerse maatschappij, gebruiken consumenten producten om hun status mee te bepalen. De ene rijdt in een Mercedes-Benz om zich te profileren als rijk en succesvol; de ander rijdt in een Deux-chevaux om te laten zien dat hij daar boven staat. Beide gebruiken producten om hun status en visie te profileren, in de hoop dat de maatschappij hun sociale positie zal erkennen.

Dutch:
Sinds de industriële revolutie zijn ontwerpers ingezet bij het ontwerpen van producten. Een belangrijke reden hiervoor, is het vergroten van de kans van slagen van het product op de consumptiemarkt. Sommige producten zijn zo buitengewoon goed ontvangen door de consumenten dat deze ontwerpen 'design classics' zijn geworden. Deze ontwerpen worden na lange tijd nog steeds gefabriceerd en zijn nu ook te bewonderen in musea.

eklektikos (Greek) = selecting

When working within an established tradition, compatible ingredients have already been identified. An architect planning a colonial style house has a limited menu of detail elements from which to select, in some ways making his job easier. Artists working eclectically must be better informed and more sensitive in order to make appropriate choices.

The challenge of an eclectic style lies in defining what's best, determining the particulars of arrangement, and bringing the results to a physical reality.

In the truest sense of the word, this describes the task of the arts: to select, assemble, and arrange the best parts of all that there is.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
—Theodore Roosevelt.

Niels Diffrient’s Jefferson Chair is an excellent example. It has adjustable angles for maximum comfort and function and is named after one of President Thomas Jefferson’s chairs of similar design.

2. Design factors, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by minimizing operator fatigue and discomfort

3. The study of the behavior of groups of muscles, with the assumption of seeking the most efficient or least harmful application of those muscles; a tool handle that takes best advantage of leverage while minimizing strain would be called "ergonomically correct"

(Greek) ergon (work) + nomos (law) = proper work, best method.

Ergonomics is a specific branch of functionalism that relies on scientifically gathered information about the human form and the way it moves. Where function can be broadly interpreted, the angles and range of movement of an elbow or a knee can be objectively measured. This merges the roles of scientist, designer, and physician.

Originality is nothing but judicious imitation.
—Voltaire

In the early years of the expressionism (before world war II), the artists built on the ideas of the Post-Impressionism. They went on with the same experiments and the thoughts and the ideas given by the work were more important than the realistic interpretation of the visible reality. The artist were still searching for a new and more intense truth behind the painting. Therefor the artists kept on looking at and reflecting the same things over and over again, but every time in a different way. In 1911, the term 'Expressionism' was used for art for the first time. In the beginning the term was used only for the German artists who painted art belonging to this movement from 1905 on. Later other artist were count to this movement as well.

The word 'expression' tells us enough. The artists tried to express their feelings and interpretations. Characteristic for the Expressionism is the way in which the artist tried to express those feelings and interpretations. They did not create scenes reflecting their feelings and interpretations. They did reflect them by the use of forms and colors, often not having any relation to the visible reality at all.

The expression of a feeling becomes obvious in the paintings of Edvard Munch. Munch could have had anxiety-attacks which he expressed in his work. By the use of the color and the form he emphasized his feeling of fear. Therefor he had to let go of the visible reality. His work also belongs to the symbolism.

The global characteristics of the Expressionism are: the use of 'screaming' colors (often dark and primary colors), the amply use of paint and other materials and the use of simplified forms.

Feminists point out that throughout most of recorded history males have imposed patriarchal (father-centered) social systems (in which they have dominated females). Although it is not the goal of this article to recount the development of feminist theory in general, the history of feminist art cannot be understood apart from it. Feminist art notes that significant in our patriarchal heritage is the preponderance of art made by males, and for male audiences, sometimes transgressing against females. Men have maintained a studio system which has excluded women from training as artists, and a gallery system that has kept them from exhibiting and selling their work, albeit somewhat less recently than before.

Feminist art history must be considered as part of this subject. Its proponents have demanded that women's arts from all cultures, of all periods, be included in studies and exhibitions of art. Feminists have asked why there haven't been more women artists, and what kept women artists from producing more and better work. Numerous histories of women artists were published in the 1970s, and some since.

Before the late 1960s most women artists, struggling to participate in the male-dominated art world, had overwhelming disincentives to put feminist meanings into their work, and sought to de-gender their art. On the basis of appearance alone, their work could not be identified as woman-made.

Several countercultural movements arose simultaneously with feminism in the 1960s. At this time the United States experienced social upheaval coming with the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, economic prosperity, the arrival of oral contraceptives, reforms in the Catholic Church, nostalgia for the presidency of John F. Kennedy, and experimentation with psychotropic drugs. Many other countries experienced social unrest of various kinds during this period.

Some gender issues have been of interest to both male and female artists. Although feminist art has arisen from the concerns of artists of one gender, and some of those concerns are sexual in nature, more often than not feminist issues have been about women's power in arenas of which sexuality (reproductive acts and roles) is an important part.

Sometimes called spun glass. Often spelled as fiberglas, fiberglass or fiber glass.

In architecture, a curvilinear, often lobelike figure or space formed between the cusps of intersecting arcs, found especially in Gothic tracery and Moorish ornament. Also see a chart of steel sheet gauges, acetate color, jewelry, quatrefoil and trefoil.

In its widest sense, total structure; a synthesis of all the visible aspects of that structure and of the manner in which they are united to create its distinctive character. The form of a work is what enables us to apprehend it.

Form also refers to an element of art that is three-dimensional (height, width, and depth) and encloses volume. For example, a triangle, which is two-dimensional, is a shape, but a pyramid, which is three-dimensional, is a form. Cubes, spheres, pyramids, cone, and cylinders are examples of various forms.

Also, all of the elements of a work of art independent of their meaning. Formal elements are primary features which are not a matter of semantic significance -- including color, dimensions, line, mass, medium, scale, shape, space, texture, value; and the principles of design under which they are placed-- including balance, contrast, dominance, harmony, movement, proportion, proximity, rhythm, similarity, unity, and variety.

fungi (Latin) = to perform

An obvious use of function in design is as a solution to a specific problem. The function of a cup is to hold liquid, etc. But defining function is rarely as easy as that. Is the function of a chair to support weight, ornament a room, or display the taste of the owner? Probably all that and more. And to make things more complicated, these functions will change depending on context.

In mathematics the way a number acts upon another number is called its function. Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing are functions. We also use the word to describe a relationship between elements, as in: "His power is a function of his wealth." Or in a visual example, "That texture is a function of repetition."

The sculptor Horation Greenough said, "form follows function." First identify what needs to happen, then satisfy that need in a way that makes best use of materials, space, and resources. The result, he reasoned, is automatically the correct form.

Function can be inferred from association. Objects may look like tools or toys, even though they don't function as such, if they use a formal vocabulary associated with those functions.

If the function of a greenhouse is to raise plants, what is the function of a shrine?

Nothing is beautiful that is not useful; nothing is useful that is not beautiful.
—Japanese saying.

De architecten die ertoe gerekend worden, waren beïnvloed door het Bauhaus en Le Corbusier en groepeerden zich in ‘de 8 en Opbouw’ (naar de gelijknamige tijdschriften). Met name Van Eesteren leverde een belangrijke bijdrage tot de stedenbouw. Vertegenwoordigers waren o.a. J.A. Brinkman, B. Bijvoet, J. Duiker, L.C. van der Vlugt, W. van Tijen, J.J. van Loghem en J.J.P. Oud.

Rotterdam kent vele bouwwerken die tot het Nieuwe Bouwen kunnen worden gerekend. Al voor de oorlog werd er al geëxperimenteerd, getuige de wijken Kiefhoek en Witte Dorp van Oud, de Van Nelle fabriek van Brinkman en Van der Vlugt en de Bergpolderflat van Van Tijen, Brinkman & Van der Vlugt. Ook kent Rotterdam een aantal villa's van deze architecten (m.n. in Kralingen en bij het Museumpark). Na de oorlog hadden de Nieuwe Bouwers veel gelegenheid om in Rotterdam hun ideeën gestalte te geven. In afwijking van het vooroorlogse functionalisme is er een grote variatie in gebruikte materialen en vormen. Bekendste voorbeeld is de Lijnbaan (Van de Broek en Bakema) en de de flats ernaast (Maaskant) en tal van woningbouwprojecten in het centrum, Kralingen en op Zuid.

In the Stone Age objects were carved from natural glass such as obsidian and rock crystal. The earliest known manufactured glass is from Egypt, c. 2000 B.C. Much was produced by the artisans of the Roman empire. Following the fall of Rome, however, there was very little glass manufactured in Europe until the tenth century, when stained glass appeared. As in ancient times, glassmakers fuse their materials at high temperatures in fire brick containers. Then the molten glass is boiled, skimmed, and cooled several degrees so that it can be ladled or poured into mold and pressed, or blown, or drawn. In its final shape, the glass is annealed to relieve stresses caused by manipulation, then slowly cooled. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the principal center of European glass-making was on the island of Murano at Venice.

Twentieth century innovations with glass include fibreglass and safety glass, although plastics have replaced glass in some applications. Much of the credit for the current resurgence of interest in glass art is given to Harvey Littleton (American, 1922). Other leading artists working in glass include Dale Chihuly (American, 1941), Marvin Lipofsky (American, 1938), and Mary Shaffer (American, 1947).

De bogen zijn spits en alle lijnen lijken omhoog (naar de hemel) te wijzen. De gotiek begint in Nederland ergens in de 13e eeuw. Bekende kerken uit die periode zijn de Dom in Utrecht, de St Janskathedraal in Den Bosch en de St Bavokerk in Haarlem. In Rotterdam zijn met name de Laurenskerk en de Oude Kerk in Delfshaven voorbeelden van gotiek.

2. A pattern of horizontal and vertical lines forming squares of uniform size on a map, chart, or aerial photograph, used as a reference for locating points.

Short for gridiron, the flat framework of parallel metal bars used for broiling meat or fish, from gredil (Middle English) = griddle

A series of alignments and intersections, grids can be used to assemble, organize or separate elements. They can be seen or inferred.

In mathematics, cartography, and bingo a grid is a locating device.

Cities are sometimes designed on a grid because the logical system can be translated from large to small scale without loss of information. Whether you are going to the next block or across town, the grid will allow the language of directions to be consistent. If you can find your way around the block, you can find your way across town.

Because of its mathematical origin, a grid is "transparent," meaning it can be understood without language. In a city laid out on a grid, a couple of fingers and a little pointing can direct a stranger to a destination.

Grids are used to reduce or enlarge an image. They simplify a mathematical relationship. Digitization, which has revolutionized our media, uses a grid.

It is respectable to have no illusions, and safe, and profitable and dull.
—Joseph Conrad

In de interieurkunst zette zich dat voort. De houten meubels werden veel via industriële productiemethoden vervaardigd en onder invloed van De Stijl vaak in meerdere kleuren gelakt. Opvallend aan de zitmeubels van H. Wouda, Cor Alons en Frits Spanjaard zijn de hoge rugleuningen, rechtstreeks geïnspireerd op Frank Lloyd Wright.

1. an image, representation
2. a simile or symbol
3. a representation or picture of a sacred Christian personage, itself regarded as sacred

An icon is a graphic symbol of almost universal nature — a visual shorthand that is understood by most members of a community.

Icons enlarge communication within the community of viewers who understand them ("A picture says a thousand words") but alienate those who do not.

The adverb version is iconic as in "The artist used iconic structures of domes and towers for their sexual references."

Good design is whatever addresses the need a society has for an image of itself.
—Ettore Sottsass, Jr.

Dutch:
Het Impressionisme (1870-1880) is ontstaan in Frankrijk. De Impressionisten onderscheidden zich door een bijzondere belangstelling voor lichtwerking, atmosfeer en het weergeven van een momentweergave. Zij bouwden hun voorstelling op met duidelijk zichtbare verftoetsen. Met behulp van deze penseelstreken probeerden zij het prismatische van het licht weer te geven. Zij schilderden actuele en eigentijdse voorstellingen. Vaak betrof het landschappen en andere voorstellingen in de buitenlucht. Voorheen was het de gewoonte om een landschap in het atelier te schilderen eventueel met behulp van schetsen die in de open lucht waren vervaardigd. Enkele bekende vertegenwoordigers zijn Auguste Rodin, Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Berthe Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir en Sisley.

To convert square inches into square centimeters, multiply them by 6.4516. To convert cubic inches into cubic centimeters, multiply them by 16.3871. Abbreviated in. or with a " (feet abbreviated as either ft. or with a ').

The 87 Seconda is one of his most popular works. Italian designers Vico Magistretti and Gaetano Pesce continue as leaders in the design field in Italy today. Magistretti’s Sinhbad Chair, and Pesce’s Sunset in New York are good examples.

innovare (Latin) = to make new, renew

Innovation is a fresh, unexpected, inventive approach to a problem or unresolved situation. It generally goes beyond a clever rearrangement of familiar ideas, and involves something dramatically unlike conventional solutions.

Some people maintain that the role of the artist is intimately connected with, perhaps even defined by, innovation. This is in contrast to the attitude that the arts are primarily about communication, in which case newness is only appropriate when it better conveys an emotion or perception. In some cases, what passes for innovation is simply a trendy new wrapping on a familiar idea or process.

Design is not invention. It is sensitivity.
—Carla Needleman.

A person whose profession is the execution of interior design. Also called interior decorator.

Interior Design has moved from being a specialist service in the void between decoration and architecture into a holistic profession addressing complex issues ranging from detailed object-based designs to immense interior cities.

Interior design is the total creative solution for a programmed interior. It encompasses the conceptual planning, aesthetic and technical solutions applied to achieve the desired result. By 'programmed interior' is meant a specific intended purpose or use of the built environment.

It is also used in armatures. Its reddish-brown oxide, or rust, is a permanent, inexpensive, and commonly used pigment. Atomic number 26; atomic weight 55.847; melting point 1,535°C; specific gravity 7.874 (at 20°C); valence 2, 3, 4, 6.

Examples of work in iron: Gustave Eiffel (French, 1832-1923), Eiffel Tower, 1887 - 1889, exposition observation tower, exposed iron construction, height 985 feet, a symbol of Paris worldwide. Built for Paris's 1889 International Exhibition, the centenary celebration of the French Revolution.

To connect, usually permanently. Means of joining include the use of adhesives, nails, nuts and bolts, mortice and tenon, pegs, rivets, screws, solder, staples, stitches, tapes, Velcro, weaving, welding, and wire. Also see fuse, joiner, and ligature.

A classic of kitsch example is the psychedelic sixties lava lamp - sometimes called the glob light, wax, oil, or blob lamp. Englishman Craven Walker who is the one responsible for the proliferation of all of these popular liquid motion lamps invented it in 1963 based on previous research he was doing for the making of an egg timer.

Lead was used also as the principal metal in some alloys used for cast sculpture generally combined with tin in making pewter, or with antimony. Such sculpture often requires an armature. Elemental symbol Pb; atomic number 82; atomic weight 207.19; melting point 327.5°C; specific gravity 11.35; valence 2, 4. Also refers to the grooved lead strips called came used in making stained glass.

Light has been important to visual artists for obvious reasons, and has frequently become either the subject or the material of artists' works.

Light is taken to mean the electromagnetic radiation that the human eye can perceive. This is the radiation between the wavelengths of approximately 380 nm and 780 nm. There are no precise limits for the spectral range of visible radiation as they depend on the amount of radiated power reaching the retina and on the sensitivity of the eye of the observer.

To perceive light, the human eye contains 2 types of light-sensitive receptors:

Types of line include: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, straight or ruled, curved, bent, angular, thin, thick or wide, interrupted (dotted, dashed, broken, etc.),blurred or fuzzy, controlled, freehand, parallel, hatching, meandering, and spiraling. Often it defines a space, and may create an outline or contour, define a silhouette; create patterns, or movement, and the illusion of mass or volume. It may be two-dimensional (as with pencil on paper) three-dimensional (as with wire) or implied (the edge of a shape or form).

A luminaire is defined as a device used to distribute, filter or transform the light from a lamp or lamps, including the components needed to hold and protect the lamp(s) and supply them with power. Distinctions between luminaires can be made on the basis of the type of lamp (luminaires for incandescent lamps, luminaires for fluorescent lamps or luminaires for discharge lamps), the number of lamps (one or more), the location (indoors, outdoors), the type of protection (luminaires for dry, humid or dusty rooms), the type of construction (open luminaires, closed luminaires, reflector luminaires, specular luminaires, louvered luminaires, troffer luminaires, spotlight luminaires), the type of installation (wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, pendant or hand-held) and the purpose (special purpose luminaires, decorative luminaires and special-effect luminaires).

The spatial distribution of the luminous intensity of a light source produces a three-dimensional luminous intensity distribution graph. A section through this graph produces the luminous intensity distribution curve for the relevant plane. It is usual to use the polar coordinates or the Cartesian coordinates and normalize the values to a luminous flux of 1000 lm for luminaires so the figures can be more easily compared.

A metamorphic rock (metamorphosed calcite or dolomite), finely grained, dense, with a nondirectional structure, capable of taking a high polish, and often irregularly veined and colored by impurities.

White marble has been quarried in Greece, Italy, Turkey, India, China, and the USA. Among the most renowned sources has been the quarries of Carrara in the Apuan Alps of Italy. Confusingly, the name marble is sometimes used to refer to any stone that takes a polish, although such stones may include alabasters, granites, and serpentines, as well as true marbles.

Sottsass’s colorful Carlton bookshelf / room divider is a well-known piece. Michele de Lucchi’s First Chair with its circular composition is another piece that has received worldwide recognition.

Was founded in 1981 as a cultural operation started by architect Ettore Sottsass and a group of young Milanese architects and designers. Tired of the uniform, "bon goute" "bon genre" panorama projected by contemporary production, they wanted to promote and to make possible more up-to-date styles of living at home and of designing the environment. Examination of the designs that reached Memphis from all over the world, led to the conclusion that the Memphis idea, thought popular and immediately inviting, is hard to imitate. Some designers thought that a crooked leg or a range of pastel shades is enough to "make" Memphis.

The immediately catching effect of Memphis springs not from its striking and colored figures, but from its intensity, which is the drawing of a complex cultural idea reached by the designers involved after years of research, debate, trials and alterations. Memphis is an attempt to restore to the furniture objects a functional and symbolic autonomy, a reassuring and consoling presence, a communicative impact.

Typical metals form basic oxides with oxygen, salts with nonmetals, and alloy with each other. Examples include aluminum, antimony, chrome, copper, gold, iron, lead, nichrome, nickel, palladium, platinum, silver, tin, titanium, and zinc. Also see anneal, arsenic, brass, britannia, bronze, electroplate, electrum, foil, Index of American Design, leaf, memory, Mohs Scale of Hardness, pewter, solder, temperature, welding, and the names of things made of metal.

De lijnen zijn eenvoudig en clean, functionaliteit overheerst, afwerking is licht en decoratie ontbreekt of is gestroomlijnd. Grote namen zijn de fabrikanten als Knoll, Fritz Hansen, Herman Miller en Vitra en designers Eames en Eero Saarinen.

It is sometimes called ABC art, minimal art, reductivism, and rejective art. Precursors to Minimalism include the Russian Suprematists, such as Kasimir Malevich (Russian, 1878-1935).

The word "modern" has the literal meanings of "recent" or "current" and generally refers to recent times or the present, or the sense of something being contemporary or up-to-date, recently developed or advanced in style, technique, or technology. Sometimes this refers to something being innovative or experimental. Therefore came into use in discussion and criticism of art and design to describe developments of the early 20th century in which historicism and dependence on traditions were rejected in favour of directions that would relate to the social economic and technological realities of the "Machine Age".

Moderne
Striving to be modern in appearance or style but lacking taste or refinement; pretentious. More common in the 1930s to 1950s.

Modernism refers to this period's interest in new types of paints and other materials, in expressing feelings and ideas, in creating abstractions and fantasies, rather than representing what is real. This kind of art requires its audience to observe carefully in order to get some facts about the artist, his intentions, and his environment, before forming judgments about the work.

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) is often called the "Father of Modernism."

A principle of design, it can be a way of combining elements of art to produce the look of action.

Rond 1830 werden architecten steeds meer gegrepen door de Middeleeuwen. Als gevolg hiervan ontstond een stijl die zich op de middeleeuwse gotiek baseerde: neo-gotiek. Met name in de kerkbouw vond deze stijl veel toepassing.

Vanaf 1875 liet men zich steeds meer inspireren door de bouwkunst van de Gouden eeuw, de Hollandse Renaissance. Niet geheel toevallig viel deze hernieuwde interesse voor deze bouwstijl samen met een periode van economische bloei als gevolg van de industrialisatie. Kenmerkend voor de Hollandse Neorenaissance zijn trap- en topgevels, klassieke details als zuilen, obelisken en diamantkoppen - soms van echt natuursteen, maar vaak ook in gips - en versieringen van hekken en muurankers. Geveltableaus verwijzen vaak naar historische gebeurtenissen en personen. De Hollandse Neorenaissance lijkt een soort nationale bouwstijl te worden. Een stijl waarin gebouwen van nationaal belang in gebouwd kunnen worden, zoals het Rijksmuseum en het Centraal Station in Amsterdam en het Academiegebouw in Utrecht. In Rotterdam is veel neorenaissance toegepast in de woningbouw in het Oostelijk deel van Kralingen.

Soms gebruikt men alle stijlen door elkaar of kiest men de neostijl die het best bij de functie van het gebouw of de wensen van de opdrachtgever lijken te passen: eclecticisme.

Architectuur is niet zozeer een kunstvorm, als wel een ambacht. Gebouwen worden volgens een technisch recept ontworpen, waarna er een stijl bij wordt gezocht.

It is common, for example, for feminist criticism to describe a female nude as the object of the male gaze, as in the painting by Alexandre Cabanel (French, 1823-1889) of The Birth of Venus, 1863, oil on canvas, 4 feet 3 1/4 inches x 7 feet 4 1/2 inches (130 x 225 cm), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Such figures are thus oppressed

When the female figure exhibits a less passive personality, as in the painting by Edouard Manet (French, 1832-1883) of Olympia, 1863, oil on canvas, 51 3/8 x 74 3/4 inches (130.5 x 190 cm) Musée d'Orsay, Paris; she is sometimes described as a subject, at least with respect to the single issue of her gaze.

It is derived from, and is also known as Optical Art. In the 1960s art world, some critics faulted Op Art's persistent involvement with optical illusion at a time when "the flatness of the picture plane" was the mantra on either side of the Color Field - Minimalist aisle. Clement Greenberg saw flatness as painting's essence. Donald Judd saw it as an escape route into three dimensions.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (The Netherlands, 1898-1972) is often called the "Father of Op Art."

It is found on items imported from Asia, but is rarely available for use in the West. Oriental lacquer is produced from the resin (sap) of certain trees in the Far East (in China and Japan this tree is a sumac, Rhus vernicifera, aka Rhus verniciflua), and can be used on many different materials. Lacquer can carry several pigments, but red, black, or a combination were used most frequently. Lacquer has extraordinary adhesive qualities; once cured, it is virtually impervious to moisture, alcohol, food acids, or decay.

Any of various alloys with tin as the main component; bright modern pewter contains 6-7% antimony and 1-2% copper; the dull metal of the past contained up to 25% copper, antimony, or lead.

Sometimes sculptures described as made of lead have actually been made of such an alloy as this.

See Bakelite (Phenolic Resin)

Polymers are organic materials characterized by long chain-like molecules built up from many units (monomers), generally repeated hundreds or thousands of times. All atoms in a chain are bonded by covalent bond to each other, while Van der Waals bonding keeps the chains together. All plastics are polymers but not all polymers are plastics (e.g. starch and cellulose).

Plastics generally have low density, low strength, are electrical and thermal insulators and have good resistance to chemicals. They can usually be recycled as raw materials (thermoplastics) or as inert fillers (thermosetting).

That which is modeled, or which can be modeled; also said to have plasticity or plastic quality. (Distinguished from glyptic.) Or, having the qualities of sculpture; being well formed. Also, any of various organic compounds produced by polymerization (many are petroleum byproducts), capable of being molded, extruded, or cast into various shape. It can be made highly transparent, translucent, or opaque. Also see acrylics, cel, cellocut, cellophane, fibreglass, Lucite, memory, plastic art and plastic arts, Plasticine, Plexiglas, polyester resins, polymer, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, and resin.

Sources:
Plywood is made by gluing together a number of thin veneers or plies of softwood or hardwood.

Advantages:
There is always an odd number of veneers and each ply is at a right angle to the one below, this gives the material it's strength. The more veneers used, the stronger the plywood becomes. Both the type of glue and veneers determine the suitability of a sheet for a particular application. The finish quality of plywood varies considerably, some plywood have attractive grains while others can contain knots. Plywood may be used inside and outside. Plywood is graded for exterior or interior use depending upon the water resistance of the glue used to stick the plies together. Code letters shows this grading on each sheet.

Exterior grade plywood (WBP - Weather and Boil Proof). This type of plywood can be used outside. Water-resistant adhesives are used and can resist a certain amount of moisture.

Uses:
Sheds and cladding are made from this material.

Weather boiled proof plywood requires paint or varnish to protect the outer veneer from the elements.

Internal plywood does not contain water-resistant adhesive. The code used to represent this plywood is (Int.interior use only).

Uses:
It may be used for wall panelling, flooring and furniture.
Shuttering boxes are made from shuttering plywood. Shuttering boxes are used in the construction industry to contain concrete while it sets. The material is water resistant to a certain extent. The surface of this material does not have a decorative veneer and is generally not suitable for use where an attractive quality finish is required.
Marine Plywood is made with waterproof adhesive so that it can be used under water. The material should still be protected with paint or varnish.

Other codes used on the surface of plywood are: BR: -Boil Resistant, MR: -Moisture Resistant.

The smoothness of the surface and the number of defects in it grade plywood. Plywood can be nailed and screwed. Thin plywood is flexible and can be formed into curved shapes.

Sizes:
Plywood is sold in 2440 x 1220mm and 1525 x 1525mm sheets. The most common thicknesses are 4, 6, 9 and 12 mm.

Plywood was invented in the 1850s as a combination of three or more layers of wood. Cheap and easily accessible, it has been an important medium for experimentation by modernist designers from the 1920s onwards.

Many important examples of modernist furniture were made in plywood. Cheaper and more easily accessible than aluminium or steel, plywood was a key material for early 20th century designers such as Gerrit Rietveld, Marcel Breuer and Alvar Aalto, as well as mid-century modernists like Charles and Ray Eames, and contemporary figures including Jasper Morrison.

Plywood consists of at least three layers or veneers of wood which have been plied together with the grain running crosswise to add strength and resilience. The earliest examples of plywood furniture date back to the 18th century, but it was not until the 1850s that it was put into commercial production by John Henry Belter, a German emigré to the US.

Using heat to bend plywood in three dimensions, Belter produced eight pieces at once. But his innovations were obscured: first by the commercial success of other US plywood furniture makers, like Isaac Cole and the Gardener Company; then by the experiments of Thonet, the Austrian furniture manufacturer widely regarded as the pioneer of industrial furniture production.

Founded in Vienna in 1853 by Michael Thonet, a German cabinet maker who patented his bentwood furniture in 1841, Thonet experimented with plywood in the 1880s. Most of its furniture, notably the famous Chair No14, was made from bentwood, yet most of the early 20th century designers who worked with plywood claimed to be influenced by Thonet, rather than Belter or Cole.

The next advance in plywood technology was during World War I, when its quality, flexibility and durability were improved by research for the aviation industry. When the avant garde architects and designers of the 1920s searched for ways of making cheap mass-producible furniture, plywood looked like an attractive solution.

The first breakthrough was the 1927 chair with a seat made from a single piece of plyboard by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, the Dutch cabinet maker and member of the De Stijl group. A lighter version of Rietveld’s chair was later mass-manufactured in molded plywood.

Alvar Aalto, the Finnish architect, took plywood to the next stage in 1933. After three years of experiments, he developed Armchair 41, the first ‘resilient’ plywood chair by suspending a one-piece seat within its own frame. "Though buoyant as a spring cushion, the seat back is virtually unbreakable," he boasted of Armchair 41, which was designed for the Paimio sanatorium.

Other plywood pioneers were less enthusiastic about the material. Marcel Breuer, the Hungarian-born architect and Bauhaus stalwart, reluctantly agreed to work in plywood when he sought refuge from Nazi Germany in London during the late 1930s. Breuer longed to continue designing in aluminium and tubular steel as he had in Germany, but Jack Pritchard, the British furniture maker who had encouraged him and other Bauhaus emigrés to settle in London, insisted that he worked in plywood. One reason was that Isokon, Pritchard’s company, specialised in plywood furniture. (His nickname was ‘Plywood Pritchard’.) Another was his conviction that British consumers preferred the warmth of wood, even in an industrialised form like plywood, to cold metal. Breuer designed five plywood pieces including the sinuous 1935-36 Isokon Longchair, which replicates the curves of the human body. His achievements were then clouded by a legal battle when Aalto’s British licensees tried (unsuccessfully) to stop production of his plywood designs.

Both Breuer and Aalto’s plywood experiments were admired by young US furniture designers, notably Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames: as were the multi-dimensional plywood designs of Gerald Summers, a British designer and manufacturer whose chairs were sold in the US during the late 1930s.

As students at Cranbrook in Michigan, Eames and Saarinen entered a Organic Designs in Home Furnishings Competition organised by the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, with a molded plywood chair and cabinet. Although they won first prize in both the categories, producing their designs was problematic. Yet Eames and his wife, Ray, continued their plywood experiments after leaving Cranbrook for Los Angeles, where they set up a makeshift studio in their apartment. The studio had to be kept secret from their landlord, while Charles smuggled woods and glues into the apartment from his ‘day job’ at the MGM movie studio. The couple designed more plywood chairs and, later, leg splints for the US Navy made from Douglas fir veneered in mahogany or birch and modelled on Charles’ own leg.

Other Eames' plywood pieces include children’s furniture, abstract sculptures and animals for children to sit on. When the Museum of Modern Art invited Charles Eames to stage its first "one man" furniture exhibition in 1946, the highlights (actually designed by Ray too) was the unveiling of the DCW (Dining Chair Wood) and DCM (Dining Chair Metal with a plywood seat) which reappeared in the ‘Good Design’ shows of the 1950s. They then added an opulent dimension to plywood by molding it into their 1956 Lounge Chair.

In the 1960s and 1970s, plywood fell from favour and as plastic became popular among avant garde designers. By the late 1980s, it seemed time-warped in the 1950s until the young British designer, Jasper Morrison, unveiled an installation, Some New Items For The House, at the 1988 Deutsche Werkstatt exhibition in Berlin. It was a replica room and everything in it - except for a couple of rugs and a Buckminster Fuller map - was made from plywood: the dining table and chairs, a pair of armchairs and a side table, a chaise longue, even the walls.

Like Gerald Summers and the Eameses, Morrison revelled in plywood’s flexibility by contrasting the rough texture of the walls with the sleekness of his subtly curved furniture. That year, one of Morrison’s contemporaries, the Australian designer, Marc Newson, exploited the sculptural qualities of the wood in the complex curves of his 1998 Wood Chair, a competition entry.

Both Morrison’s Plywood Chair and Newson’s Wood Chair were put into commercial production, by Vitra and Cappellini respectively. And the young furniture designers of the 1990s and early 2000s saw plywood as an intriguing vehicle for experimentation just as Rietveld and Aalto had in the 1920s.

One of the scientifically approaches is called pointillism or divisionism. The artists studied the optic effect of colors. They experimented with this optic effect by creating paintings in which the colors were not blended but in which little points in pure colors were grouped next to eachother. With this method the colors were not blended in reality but were blended in vision. Work like this was theoretical very well grounded. Many drawings were made and it sometimes took the artist about a year to finish his painting. There is no question about impressionistic art anymore, because the artist did not paint the quick impression anymore. They forgot about one of the basic aspects of the impressionistic movement.

The rigid foam is used for the thermal insulation of refrigerators, trucks, and buildings. In the furniture industry the rigid foam is molded into mirror frames, chair shells, and other parts that were formerly made from wood. Some polyurethanes are highly elastic materials that are resistant to chemical attack and to abrasion.
They are used in such things as solid rubber tires and shoe heels. Lycra, a fiber used in stretch clothing, is a polyurethane. Polyurethanes are also used as decorative and protective coatings, exhibiting high gloss, hardness, and toughness.

The term 'post' tells us that this movement followed after the Impressionism (1870-1880). And just as the impressionism the post-impressionism became a typical French movement. Already in 1880, six years after the beginning of the Impressionism, a reaction on the movement follows. What had began as a revolution in art, was now accepted. Therefor a large group of artists began experimenting with new methods. This in the believe that the development to a new kind of art had not ended yet. They were all searching for a new and more intense truth behind the painting. Although they developed themselves in different directions, the main approach was to get trough to the matter in a scientifically and more intense way; to find the true nature of the matter. One of the scientifically approaches is called pointillism or divisionism. The artists studied the optic effect of colors. They experimented with this optic effect by creating paintings in which the colors were not blended but in which little points in pure colors were grouped next to eachother. With this method the colors were not blended in reality but were blended in vision. Work like this was theoretical very well grounded. Many drawings were made and it sometimes took the artist about a year to finish his painting. There is no question about impressionistic art anymore, because the artist did not paint the quick impression anymore. They forgot about one of the basic aspects of the impressionistic movement.
The most famous artist of the post-impressionism is Vincent van Gogh. The development of his painting method is very locally. During his Dutch period van Gogh used dark colors, which was very trendy in Holland at the time. While he visited his brother Theo in Paris, he came into contact with the impressionists. He got inspired by the methods of the impressionist (specially the use of colors) and soon after he decided to move to the south of France, to Arles. By getting into contact with Gaugain, he started experimenting with more vivid colors. Later on, maybe because of his mental state of mind, the stroke of his brush became more aggressive and the layers of paint became thicker.
Because of the style of painting he used during the last period of his life and the energetically expression of his work, van Gogh is called the father of the expressionism.

Dutch:
Het Post-Impressionisme (1880 - 1895) is een verzamelnaam voor diverse reacties op het Impressionisme van kunstenaars die een impressionistische fase hebben gehad. Bekende kunstenaars zijn Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, van Gogh, Césanne, Redon en Gaugin.

Often the emphasis would be on user-intervention, altering the object to serve the consumer's particular needs.

In addition, the subversion of dominant visual languages of design was seen as necessary, in order to undermine the visual codes used by mainstream capitalism. These proposals lost their vigor in the 1970s, due to mostly to the West's economic depression, as it became evident that they would never be carried out. They did, however, form an important background to the new design of the 1980s.

Dutch:
Redesign wordt gebruikt bij herinterpretaties van bestaande ontwerpen. Raymond Loewy was een vroege invloedrijke vertegenwoordiger van dit concept met zijn ‘restyling’ van auto’s en andere objecten. Het werd ook opgepikt door Alessandro Mendini in de jaren zeventig als onderdeel van Alchimia’s designproject. Met de stelling dat het uitvinden van nieuwe vormen niet meer mogelijke is, herinterpreteerde Mendini op ironische wijze klassieke Bauhaus- en Thonet-stoelen door er stukken op te plakken zoals kleurpatronen of kleine vlagjes op Breuer’s Wassily chair.

The reflective behaviour of a material is expressed by the reflection factor r. This is the ratio of the luminous flux reflected by the material to the luminous flux incident on the material (r= F/ F0). The reflection factor (reflectance) is specified in most cases for diffused incidence of light (rdif) or quasi-parallel incidence of light under 80 (r). In lighting technology the value mostly used is rdif. In theory, the maximum value for r and rdif is 1 (100%).

Most divergent reflectors have a white coating. The efficiency and the way in which light is distributed are primarily determined by the mounting depth of the lamp and dimensions of the reflector. Their shape has only a small influence.
 
In the case of convergent reflectors, which nowadays are almost exclusively manufactured from polished anodised aluminium, the contours of the reflector play an important role. The following forms are the most common:

• Spherical reflectors return the light to the focal point; they are often used as additional reflectors for point-source lamps and spotlights.
• Elliptical reflectors send the rays of light to a second focal point. These reflectors enable a large quantity of light to be directed through small openings, provided small lamps with high luminances are used. The disadvantages are high temperatures at the focal point due to the concentration of the light and heat.
• Parabolic reflectors send the light from a light source out in a parallel beam. The maximum luminous intensity is determined by the luminance of the light source and the diameter of the reflector. Parabolic reflectors are used predominantly in spotlights and narrow angle luminaires.

The Renaissance is a period in art-history in which the end of the Middle-Ages and the principles of the Middle-Ages became very obvious. It is the period of light and new beginnings, in contrast to the dark Middle-Ages. For the first time since the end of the Classic Period human became aware of the beginning of a new era. They got inspired by the ideas and principals of the Classical Period; The Greek and Roman Cultures, because they saw these cultures as the best human had ever acomplished.

During the Renaissance man as self-reliant being more and more forms the centre of society. This not in spite of God but at Gods service. People started to explore and analyse everything scientifically, like nature, philosophy, politics and art.

rhuthmos (Greek) = recurring motion or measure

Repetition, which is related to rhythm, creates the opportunity for interval and rhythm. These in turn can create pattern, harmony, dissonance, and a sense of movement. Rhythm can be regular, progressive, alternating, syncopated.

Rhythm requires multiplicity; one element cannot have rhythm.

Psychologists theorize that because our first experience of sound is dominated by the mother's heartbeat, all humans innately associate rhythm with security and well-being.

Rhythm is widely used in art, but predominantly in those branches of decorative arts that supply the sense of our day-to-day life—fabric design, wallpaper, architectural detail, and landscape. Remove from that list all examples of rhythm and you will have stripped the world of most of its ornament.

The mysterious law of rhythm seems to be a universal law, since rhythm is coordinated movement, and movement is life, and life fills the universe.
—Henri Herz.

The space race between The United States and the USSR had an influence on design following the launch of Sputnik in 1957. One of the most collectable and recognizable designs was made for the Victor Company of Japan (JVC). A simple black and white television was house inside an ABS plastic case. Designed to look like the helmet of an astronaut, the Videosphere was first developed in 1966/67, but went into general production in 1969/70, depending on the market.

Spherical in aspect when viewed from the front, the JVC Model 3241 had a recessed panel at the top that held the controls. A telescoping antenna was located in the upper right quadrant. The set was also equipped with a heavy chromed chain that allowed for the set to be carried from room to room, or even suspended from the ceiling. A smoked plastic panel covered the picture tube and completed the spherical impression that otherwise would have been spoiled by the relatively flat-faced picture tube.

There were variations in the design. Some models had a digital clock radio set in the base (with leaf-type numbers). Some sets were a reddish-orange colour, others simply white. A somewhat later model, the 3250, also featured a UHF tuner with a slider 'dial' to tune the channel. The 3250 had a more ovoid plastic cover screening the picture tube.

Its forms included kitsch references and motifs recalling imagery from the 1950s - an obvious source in the collection' aims to amalgamate design and everyday life and culture. Mendini became the studio's key spokesman in the 1980s and he remained preoccupied with the ultimate inability of design to change society.

He wrote, " the avant-garde is fated to play an isolated, aristocratic, restricted and brief role: a kind of enervating program of self-immolation consumes it and destroys it before it becomes widely acceptable". Thus Studio Alchymia described itself as "post avant-garde". In many respects, Alchymia was a forerunner of the more commercial Memphis.

Voorbeelden in Rotterdam: Kunsthal (Rem Koolhaas, OMA) en Pathé Schouwburgplein (Van Velsen)

They worked on real and utopian architectural designs and film projects. The group's increasing disillusionment with mainstream design was reflected in its catalogues and exhibitions up until 1973. It envisaged an environment in which everyone had a basic, neutral space to inhabit without the need for objects, and therefore production and consumption. Its "quaderna" table of 1971, imposed a plastic laminate grid pattern on the carcass, reflecting Superstudio's visionary architecture projects, so that rows of such tables appeared to stretch into infinity.

Influenced by the theories of the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (German, 1856-1939), the images found in surrealist works are as confusing and startling as those of dreams. Surrealist works can have a realistic, though irrational style, precisely describing dreamlike fantasies, as in the works of René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967), Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1988), Yves Tanguy (French, 1900-1955), and Alfred Pellan (Canadian, 1906-1988).

These artists were partly inspired by Symbolism, and partly the Metaphysical Painting of Giorgio de Chirico (Italian, 1888-1978). Or, it could have a more abstract style, as in the works of Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983), Max Ernst (German, 1891-1976), and André Masson (French, 1896-1987), who invented spontaneous techniques, modeled upon the psychotherapeutic procedure of "free association" as a means to eliminate conscious control in order to express the workings of the unconscious mind, such as exquisite corpse.

In lighting technology, the temperature of light sources is expressed on the Absolute Temperature scale (the unit of measurement is the "Kelvin" [K]). Infra-red radiation increases disproportionally with temperature; as the temperature rises, maximum radiation shifts towards shorter wavelengths (Wien's displacement law).

The spectral emissivity of a material is determined by its coefficient of emission e, which is a function of the wavelength and the temperature. It indicates the relationship between this material and an ideal black body radiator.

The coefficient of emission of the metal tungsten, which is used for the filaments in incandescent lamps and tungsten halogen lamps, has the advantage that its peak radiation can be within the visible spectrum.

Transmittance t = Ft / F

Ft = Transmitted luminous flux
F = Incident luminous flux

By using quartz instead of glass, the bulbs of tungsten halogen lamps can be made much smaller and the pressure of the filler gas can be increased which enables the lamp life to be extended

Plastics based on resins made by condensation of organic isocyanates with compounds or resins that contain hydroxyl groups. The resin is furnished as two component liquid monomers or prepolymers that are mixed in the field immediately before application.

A great variety of materials are available, depending upon the monomers used in the prepolymers, polyols, and the type of diisocyanate employed. Extremely abrasion and impact resistant.

Sawn veneer however, because the saw destroys as much wood as the veneer it produces, is much more expensive. Brass, copper, ivory, mother-of-pearl, pewter, and tortoiseshell can also be used and are often combined with such woods. Semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli and malachite (also used for inlay) are sometimes employed as a veneer, as are the more showy types of calcite alabaster.

Veneering is more easily achieved on a flat surface, but thin slices of wood can be bent, for example into the hollow of a molding. Stone cannot be bent, so its veneering on curved or complex forms is particularly difficult.

One famous member of the Academy, Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851), was notorious for making major changes to his paintings on this day. English speakers originally referred to this day of finishing touches simply as "varnishing day," but sometime around 1912 we also began using the French term "vernissage" (literally, "varnishing").

Today, however, you are more likely to encounter vino than varnish at a vernissage, which is often a gala event marking the opening of an exhibition.