chemnitz villa, germany
stairs of the sanatorium in Trzebiechów, poland
van de velde's wife showing a van de velde's dress made for her
Van de Velde co-founded the German Werkbund, an association to help improve and promote German design by establishing close relations between industry and designers. next follows the debate between Van de Velde and Hermann Muthesius in 1914:
1. van de velde called for the upholding the individuality of artists, he believed that standardization could begin an era of imitation, which in design is like destroying the embryo in the egg (he ignored that the new is fostered by in-built obsolescence).
2. Muthesius called for strict standardization as a key to development.
who won? Muthesius. but why?
Poster for Tropon food concentrate (1899) by Henry van de Velde: This swirling configuration may have been inspired by the separation of egg yolks from egg whites.Van de Velde's dress, specially designed for his wife. Staircase of the Sanatorium of Trzbiechów and the Villa Esche in Chemnitz.
who won? Muthesius. but why?
Muthessius was in tune with the times. Germany was ready to embrace a full cultural/industrial standardization as stimulus of export excellence.
Poster for Tropon food concentrate (1899) by Henry van de Velde: This swirling configuration may have been inspired by the separation of egg yolks from egg whites.Van de Velde's dress, specially designed for his wife. Staircase of the Sanatorium of Trzbiechów and the Villa Esche in Chemnitz.