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EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
TUBULAR STEEL - A TREND SETTER? THE BO1 - AN ICONIC DESIGN?

V.Ryan © 2016
 
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Why did the use of folding tubular steel products become a trend?
The use of folding tubular steel became a trend for a variety of reasons. It started in the 1920s and 1930s, with the Bauhaus and their innovative use of steel tube. Marcel Breuer designed the MB-118 chair 1928, which created a trend in terms of it’s modern, minimalist style. It was the use of a relatively new material (tubular steel), combined with innovative industrial processes, that soon began to influence modernist designers across the world. Eileen Grey’s E1027 Table, was designed in 1929 and was just as innovative as the Breuer chair. Both are now regarded as design classics, as they broke new ground and set a high standard, for those wishing to emulate the modernist style. The growth of the modernist design movement, was based on the use of modern materials including steel tube. As the modernist approach became more popular, the use of materials such as tubular steel saw an increase in use. By the 1940s, the engineer / designer Owen Maclaren, worked with aluminium tube and applied it to the famous B01 folding push chair. After this, the use of tube in the design of folding equipment and furniture was expected and regarded as modern.
 
Useful links:
1. The Bauhaus Design School - 1
2. The Bauhaus Influence on Architecture - the Huf Haus.
3. The Bauhaus Style of Writing
4. Bauhaus Chair Design Exercise
REVISION CARDS - Bauhaus Design
 
5. Modernism - Eileen Gray - The E1027 Table
 
 
 
Why is the Maclaren B01 folding push chair regarded as an iconic design?
Why was it so influential?

The B01 was the first folding push chair and it inspired other designers to follow suit, with a range of lightweight folding products. The high standard of his design and level of innovation set a high bench mark, that other designers tried to meet. His B-01 push chair, was a vast improvement on past designs and set new standards in terms of the materials used, folding capabilities and aesthetics.

Maclaren’s use of aluminium tube was new to the design of everyday products, such as push chairs. After the introduction of the Maclaren B01, aluminium was considered as the main material for many other products. The manufacturing techniques introduced by Maclaren, in the manufacture of the push chair, have been utilised ever since.

The Maclaren B01 ‘stood out’ from other similar products in the 1960s and is still in production today (albeit, an improved version). It has stood the test of time, which is another characteristic of an iconic product.

 
 
 
CRITERIA USED TO DEFINE ICONIC DESIGN
A simplified criteria, which may help describe or determine which designs are iconic, is written below. Some or all of these points, can be applied to iconic designs.
 
A design that sets a bench mark for others to follow.
A ground breaking design, in terms of its technology or manufacturing techniques used during its production.
A design that improves on the past.
A design that sets new standards in terms of quality, functions/features or style.
A design that stands the test of time, remaining popular despite the passing of years.
A design that stays in the memory of those who see/use it.
A design that is often recognised immediately by consumers.
A design that inspires other designers.
Sets a trend.
A design that is innovative.
A design that is aesthetically pleasing.
A design that is often emulated/copied by other designers.
A design that has its place in history, or even helps change history.
 
 
 
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