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Fads or trends
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When it comes to furniture, fads seem to prevail over genuine design trends. Read on to find out why...
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INTERIORS, LIKE our clothes, reflect us. On walking into the home of an unknown person, we subconsciously draw a mental picture of the personality and profession of the occupants by evaluating their collection of objects and furniture. When we set out to decorate our interiors what design trends are we inspired by and whom do we seek to emulate? While seeking to establish furniture trends today, we cannot divorce the present from the past socio-cultural and political history of India, which has left its impact on our architecture and interiors. But unlike the West, though India has a rich and ancient craft tradition, design as such is a relatively new phenomenon.
The upbeat mood soon after Independence inspired a collective desire to create a modern India and, in keeping with the idealism of the 1950s, many new architectural projects were initiated, some by famous architects such as Lois Kahn and Le Corbusier.
Corbusier himself was a strong proponent of the modern movement in Paris and these collaborations ushered in fresh concepts with an emphasis on new materials, design and technology.
Besides bent wood, one of the most popular new materials was chromium plated steel and, in 1928, M. Breur, influenced by the tubular structure of the cycle handle bar, created one of the first cantilever chair forms known as the `Cesca' chair. The `Cesca' is a design classic and its copy in the country is commonly used in government offices.
Other designers associated with the modern movement included Charles Eames and Alvar Alto, and they too created classic furniture by exploring the properties of other industrial materials such as moulded plywood, laminated wood and fibreglass.
While studying the various design movements from the Art nouveau, to the Modern and much later to the Memphis, one is struck by the fact that each movement was inspired by a common ideology — and there was a synergy in the architecture and products because individuals were honestly exploring similar principles in grappling with design problems.
Design is essentially a problem solving exercise and what importance you give to form, function, or material depends on the individual designer's strengths and influences. Keeping this in mind, is there a design movement in the country? In my opinion, design today means `fads', and `designer type' furniture is usually synonymous with furniture that shouts out its presence by virtue of its extraordinary form or the use of bright colours, and a generous use of glass and acrylic.
Areas of expression should be tackled after function and technical details are taken care of but, unfortunately, one is struck with a lot of so-called `modern' design in the country being merely `decorative' and not holistic.
The reasons for this are many. Large-scale furniture manufacturers have so far operated in a sellers market so the need to innovate was minimal.
Barring a few exceptions, the small-scale furniture manufacturers, which cater for the demands of the bulk of the Indian population, have treated furniture purely as a business and not as a passion. They have not sought to innovate or even perfect what they copy.
The clients, on the other hand, visit showrooms or employ carpenters armed with their personal collection of `Ikea' and `Good Home' catalogues and seldom reward better quality with a better price. As long as the final product looks like the picture, they are satisfied though the shock is just as great if the wonderful chair collapses a few months later because the technical details or material, which may have been unique features of the design, were never understood or observed in the first place.
Also architects and designers do appear to operate in ivory towers. Let's face it. How much have we sought to guide the aesthetic language of our society? After Independence, the largest aesthetic influence on the masses has been provided by the Hindi movies.
We can all instantly visualise `filmi' interiors by conjuring up images of curving staircases, chandeliers and opulent furniture.
Even if we choose not to accord the `filmi style' a place in the current `design' trends, it is the common man's image of `class' and what he hopes to one day emulate if he ever makes it big. It has already carved out a niche for itself in the furniture market and has a steadily growing fan following among builders, contractors and the business class.
I would not like to hazard a guess as to where we go from here but, as a result of the mushrooming of cable TV, and sophisticated advertising selling lifestyle concepts, there is a demand from the consumers for new unique furniture that could be purchased by their enhanced buying power.
This has created an opportunity to spur furniture development. But whether this opportunity will translate into better products will depend largely on whether our industry will take the initiative.
If designers, industry and market analysts work collectively, they can respond to and influence market forces by shaping future trends. But without our industries' active involvement in research and development, and a serious creative commitment by the design community, `fads' will continue to prevail over genuine design trends.
(The author is a furniture designer, working with Industree Crafts Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore)
BANI SINGH
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