Charlotte Perriand. Dormitory furnishings from the Maison du Brésil, Paris. 1959. Wood, tubular steel, plastic, formica, fabric, and aluminum. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Joan R. Brewster in memory of her Husband George W.W. Brewster, by exchange and the Architecture & Design Purchase Fund
A new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), How Should We Live: Propositions for the Modern Interior, which opens this weekend, argues that the social shifts kicked off changes in our domestic spaces began in the late ‘20s and ‘30s, when a cadre of radial designers and architects, often women who haven’t fully gotten their due, reshaped space in a way that still influences modern life. Ideas of efficiency, free-flowing space, modern materials, and better design unshackling us from household drudgery—still part of the dialogue today—were pioneered generations ago.
Lilly Reich. Women’s Fashion Exhibition, Berlin, Germany. View of the Velvet and Silk Café. 1927. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Herbert Matter. K(noll) Single Pedestal Furniture Designed By Eero Saarinen. c. 1957 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the designer. © 2016 Alexander Matter