What Is Mid-Century Modern Design?

The term “mid-century modern” is often said to have been coined by author Cara Greenberg for the title of her 1984 book Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s. The phrase, however, was used before then—though sporadically—to describe the furniture and architecture of the mid-20th century. Indeed, Merriam-Webster indicates that the expression first appeared in print in 1953. Yet “mid-century modern” did not really enter the design and mainstream vocabulary until Greenberg’s book was published. The volume was a success, and the phrase was quickly adopted to characterize architecture, furniture, and graphic design made from about 1933 to 1965.

Although the designs of the mid-century era were wide-ranging in style, they often shared such characteristics as clean lines, organic shapes, and functionality. In the United States, designers adopted the improved technologies and materials coming out of World War II. They embraced mass production and frequently used fibreglass, bent plywood, aluminum, steel, foam, and plastic laminates. In furniture design, Charles and Ray Eames used fibreglass and molded plywood for many of their chairs, while Eero Saarinen used fibreglass-reinforced polyester and cast aluminum for his Tulip chairs and table. Meanwhile, in northern Europe, designers created a distinctly Scandinavian style by handcrafting their furniture and using such natural materials as wood and leather. Examples of this include Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chair, made from beechwood and paper cord, and Alvar Aalto’s Paimio chair, made from bent plywood, bent laminated birch, and solid birch.

When Greenberg’s Mid-Century Modern was published, the book hit upon a trend that had been steadily growing in the 1980s and that continued to increase in subsequent decades. Laura Fenton, writing for Curbed, points to a number of sources for the enthusiasm, including the launch of such design magazines as Wallpaper* in 1996 and Dwell in 2000, the frequent use of mid-century furniture in 1990s advertisements, and of course the debut of the impeccably designed TV series Mad Men in 2007. She also notes that both Knoll and Herman Miller, two manufacturers of iconic mid-century designs, had a hand in the mid-century revival. In the 1990s both companies began to offer their furniture, which previously had been sold exclusively to trade customers (i.e., designers and architects), directly to consumers. They also reissued pieces that had been out of production, usually with some updates and with a stamp to distinguish the new versions from the earlier models.

The mania for mid-century modern led many companies in the 21st century to sell furniture resembling the style, and those pieces are now seemingly sold everywhere. While such sellers as Target and West Elm often call these pieces “mid-century modern,” they are not. Rather, they are inspired by that style (which does not disqualify some of these designs from being great). Consequently, today’s options to make your living space match Don Draper’s office are seemingly endless: you can buy mid-century modern furniture that’s either antique, reissued, or “inspired by.”

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