Memphis Group

    The Memphis Group was founded in 1981 in Milan, Italy by a group of designers and architects who believed that their designs should consist of different textures, colours, patterns and shapes. Memphis was a reaction against the slick, smart, warm, black humorless design of the 1970's. They wanted to give their designs more personality. The bright colours they used were a huge contrast against the big bold brown furniture of the early 1900’s. They found inspiration from the previous movements Pop Design and Art Deco. The name of the group was invented after the Bob Dylan song ''Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again''.

    Below is one of the iconic designs of the Memphis Group. It is the Super Lamp by Martine Bedin which was exhibit in the first exhibition of the group in 1881. It is made of metal, which has been painted and lacquered. It is a half circle on wheels with six bulbs on it. At the time cars started to become very popular and slowly it become a common thing for families to have one- Bedin must have got the inspiration from there. Each bulb holder has a different bright colour, while the base is in a darker tone of blue. The idea of lights on wheels is very original and futuristic, you could move it very quickly and very practical to put on a desk. This design looks very fun and childish, it actually looks like a kids’ toy. 

    Right below the Super Lamp there is the Scoop which was designed recently, thirty years later. Australian designer Stephanie Ng has created these pendant light made from wood and metal that was inspired by the shape of an ice cream cone. The bulbs wrap around the globe tightly as possible to look like an ice cream cone. The top part of the pendent is light brown, like the colour of the cone and the bulb is white- like the ice cream. The cord from which is hug is grey and has the texture very similar to a cone. The product looks like it is of very good quality and like the Super Lamp it is made from minimal lines. Both lamps have a fun character but this one is more smart and elegant.

    Another famous design from this time is the above Carlton Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass. It looks wooden but is made of cheap plastic laminates rather than fine material. Like the Super Lamp and all designs from the Memphis this set of shelves are very colourful with bright colours. It would defiantly light up a living room or an office. The designe is inspired from cactus, as we can see it has a very similar shape of this plant. When it was invented this was considered as a very luxurious object. The vivid colous and the abstraction of the shape looks like a painting! 

    Below is a set of table and chair from the early nineteen hundreds of Hector Guimard from Art Nuovoue. Look how a few years time can change design completely! This design has no connections at all from the previous ones we have seen. It is made out of wood with its natural colour- neutral brown. The design is very smart and stiff. It has a lot of details for decoration, while the other designs have no decoration at all. I personally prefer the Pop Design than this era, because I prefer more bright colours and fun designs.

Bibliography:

2009 Memphis http://www.design-technology.org/memphis1.htm 

2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hector_Guimard_(Mus%C3%A9e_des_BeauxArts_de_Lyon)_(5469543414).jpg

Hector 2013 http://www.contemporist.com/3

All searched on the 14th of December 2013