1952 Better Rooms Contest

In 1952, New Orleans architects Mark Lowery, Lemuel McCoy and James Lamantia submitted designs to the annual Chicago Tribune "Better Rooms Competition." They were not the only architects to do so: Eero Saarinen was also one of 1,100 competitors that year. Each participant was required to submit drawings showing the furnishing, arrangement, and decoration related to one of seven designated room types.

In January 1952, Edward Barry announced the competition:

"Do not hesitate to enter The Tribune's $24,050 Sixth Annual Better Rooms competition merely because you feel the idea you want to submit may be considered extreme. Bold and original interior treatments, if they are practical, will be welcomed. The history of this influential contest proves that the various juries which have chosen the winners have always been hospitable to the new.

"One successful entrant used different floor levels to mark off the separate areas of a living-dining room. Several have specified centrally located fireplace walls. One winner of a major prize constructed an excellent multipurpose room in the unused half of a two-car garage. The need for providing television viewing facilities has resulted in some room treatments which at first glance seemed bizarre, but which on further study revealed themselves as logical and beautiful."

Ultimately, the Chicago Tribune awarded $24,050 in prizes after jurors Meyric R. Rogers, Richard Kostka, Paul R. MacAlister, Rod Cook and Boyd Hill reached consensus. Over 43 winners from 12 states and one foreign country won the 52 available prizes.

Image above: Detail from Mark Lowery, Lemuel McCoy, and James Lamantia's A-4 Bedroom for Single Occupancy-Juvenile 115 design for the Chicago Tribune's 6th Annual Better Rooms Competition, 1952. Mixed media on illustration board. James Lamantia Office Records, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

ON DISPLAY in the Southeastern Architectural Archive's new exhibition.

The Two-Bit Chair Design

In November 1880, New York's Adams and Bishop Company advertised a 25-cent Eastlake Chair Design in The Ladies' Floral Cabinet and Pictorial Home Companion. Named after British architect and designer Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906), chairs such as this were very popular in late nineteenth-century Britain and the United States. Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details (U.K., 1868; U.S., 1872)* disseminated his style to a wide audience.

Adams & Bishop of New York published patterns for DIY household items, including the chair shown above. For 15-25 cents, interested parties could purchase these individual designs; for $6.75, folks could purchase the entire 8-volume collection, containing approximately 1,000 different patterns.

Come and see the new CHAIRS exhibition in the Southeastern Architectural Archive.....

Image above from The Ladies' Floral Cabinet and Pictorial Home Companion (November 1880), p. vi. Paid advertisement for Adams & Bishop's "Latest Designs." Adams & Bishop, 46 Beekman Street, New York. The Garden Library of the New Orleans Town Gardeners, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

*Tulane's Special Collections Division retains a copy of the 1883 Boston edition.

Exhibit Highlights Aesthetic & Technological Changes

CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design

"A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier.

That is why Chippendale is famous."

--Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Tulane University’s Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) has launched a new exhibition.

CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design illustrates the profound aesthetic, cultural, societal and technological changes that have impacted modern chair design. Highlights include seating furniture by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), James Lamantia (1923-), and Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978).

It has been said that few objects embody modern design as eloquently as the chair. The SEAA exhibition provides an expansive array of chairs and other seating forms dating from 1835 to 1960, from British architect/designer A.W.N. Pugin’s delicate etchings of Gothic-inspired seating to the New Orleans Curtis & Davis firm’s high modern sacristy furniture.

Architects first began designing furniture for their buildings in the seventeenth century. The Scottish-born architect Robert Adam (1728-1792) expanded his practice to devise furnishings and other household objects befitting his interiors. Similarly, American architect Samuel McIntire (1757-1811) designed neoclassical residences along with the case furniture and chairs to match.

Massachusetts furniture makers such as John Ainsworth Dunn and the Heywood Brothers shifted production from artisanship to factory assembly. The New Orleans World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition (1884-1885) revealed a growing assortment of manufactured American and European furniture: Charles Fitch Company’s rosewood and mahogany bureaus & tables, Heywood Brothers’ rattan & reed chairs, Friedrich Wenzel’s Texas Longhorn chairs, and Thonet’s Austrian bentwood seating. New Orleans architect Thomas Sully (1855-1939) decorated both home and office with such accoutrements.

There were also those who resisted the industrialization of household fitments. Arts and Crafts Movement architects such as A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852) and Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886) championed the harmonious inclusion of handmade furniture into their structures. Harry L. Moses (c. 1877-c. 1935), a New Orleans designer, advertised himself locally as both an interior decorator and maker of fancy carved chairs. In the early twentieth century, Charles Milo Williams (1867-1954) created whimsical sketches of furniture adorned with intricate Moorish architectural embellishments.

The reconciliation of mechanization and fine craftsmanship occurred in the late 1920s. Architects associated with the Bauhaus created some of the twentieth century’s most significant chair designs. Such furniture impacted New Orleans architects in the years following World War II, as renowned architect-designers Charles Eames (1907-1978) and Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) garnered public acclaim, and as Knoll International expanded the American market for high quality “designer” furniture. Mark Lowery, Lemuel McCoy and James Lamantia’s entries for the Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition (1952) attest to these changing sensibilities.

Has designing a new kind of chair been modernity’s ultimate test of architectural genius? Visit CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design and decide for yourself.

Co-curated by Keli Rylance and Kevin Williams, CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design opens 9 November 2009 in the Southeastern Architectural Archive and runs through 10 November 2010. The SEAA is located at 6801 Freret Street/300 Jones Hall, on Tulane University’s campus. Hours are 9-12 and 1-5 Mondays-Fridays. Admission is free.

CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design

The Southeastern Architectural Archive has been installing its new exhibition, co-curated by Keli Rylance and Kevin Williams.

CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design illustrates the profound aesthetic, cultural, societal and technological changes that have impacted modern chair design. Highlights include seating furniture by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), James Lamantia (1923-), and Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978).

The exhibition features the following works:

Inventory of Works

Baird, Henry W. (†1959)

Check Desk and Settee. 1918. Ink on paper.

Baird, Henry W. (†1959)

Office Design. Undated. Pencil on paper.

Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978)[Nathaniel “Buster” Curtis, Jr. 1917-1998] [Arthur Q. Davis, 1920-]

Sanctuary Stacking Chair, Sedilla, and Prie-Dieu for St. Francis Cabrini Church, New Orleans. 1961.Pencil on paper

Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978) [Nathaniel “Buster” Curtis, Jr. 1917-1998] [Arthur Q. Davis, 1920-]

Seating for Sacristy Furniture, St. Francis Cabrini Church, New Orleans. c. 1961. Ink on paper.

De Buys, Rathbone (1874-1960)

Interior, The Tudor Theatre, New Orleans, c. 1915. Photograph.

Eames, Charles (1907-1978)

Plastic Chairs, 1960-1961. Color Samples, Catalogs and Price Lists, Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan.

Freret & Wolf (active 1946-1980) [Douglass V. Freret, 1903-1973] [Albert Wolf, 1914-2004]

Offices for Montagnet Associates. Location unidentified. 1952. Pencil, ink, and colored pencil on tracing paper.

Knoll, Florence (1917-); Bellman, Hans (1911-1990); Saarinen, Eero (1910-1961); Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig (1886-1969)

Chairs. Undated Catalogs, Knoll Associates, Inc.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Furniture Showroom. Undated. Ink and watercolor on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Project. Undated. Ink on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Project. Undated. Ink and gouache on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Chaise Lounge for Interiors Magazine Competition. Undated. Ink and ink wash on illustration board.

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

Kitchen 152-AB for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition. 1952. Mixed media on illustration board.

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

Kitchen 152-B for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition, 1952. Mixed media on illustration board

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

A-4 Bedroom for Single Occupancy-Juvenile 115 for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition, 1952. Mixed media on illustration board

Mellor, Meigs & Howe (active 1916-1928) [Walter Mellor, 1880-1940] [Arthur Ingersoll Meigs, 1889-1956] [George Howe, 1886-1955]

A Spanish Chair for Mrs. Newbold’s Dressing Table, 1925. Photogravure. An American Country House, the property of Arthur E. Newbold, Jr., Esq., Laverlock, PA. New York: The Architectural Book Publishing Company, Inc., 1925. Courtesy Rare Books, Special Collections Division

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig (1886-1969)

Barcelona Chair. First designed 1929. Chromed Steel, Leather and Urethane Foam. Knoll International, 745 Fifth Avenue, NewYork. Courtesy Dean Lance Query

Moses, Harry L. (c. 1875-c.1933)

A Spanish Chair for F.E. Lee. Undated. Graphite on tracing paper.

Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812-1852)

Chairs. 1835. Etching. Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15^th Century. London: Ackermann, 1835. Courtesy Rare Books, Special Collections Division

Roach, Philip (active 1949-1969)

“Imperial” Chair Profiles, client not given. Undated. Pencil and colored pencil on paper; Pencil on paper.

Sully & Toledano (active 1888-1892) [Thomas Sully 1855-1939] [Albert Toledano 1859-1923]

Pew for J.L. Harris Memorial Chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans. c. 1889. Ink on linen.

Unknown Designer

Bentply Chair 1294-S16 with Urea Finish, Brass Ferrules & Rubber Cushion Guides. 1966. Thonet Industries, Inc., Park Avenue, New York. Private collection.

Unknown Designer

Fiberglass Chair Model 6000-8 with Chrome Legs, 1960s. Krueger Metal Products, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Private Collection

Unknown Designer

CH. 28 Chair. 1967. Catalog and Leather Sample. Zographos, Madison Avenue, New York.

Unknown Maker

Walnut Side Chair from the Masonic Temple, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Product supplied by George Smith Co., 1925. Private collection

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Plaster Models of Stone Benches. Undated.

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Photographs of Sample Marble Benches. Undated.

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Suggestion for Stone Seats for Audubon Park, New Orleans. 1920. Ink on linen.

Williams, Charles Milo (1867-1954)

Drawings of Chairs and Tables. 1903. Pen and ink.

William C. Williams & Brother (active 1884-c. 1890s)

Entrance Hall. Undated. Watercolor on paper.

William C. Williams & Brother (active 1884-c. 1890s)

Entrance Hall. Undated. Watercolor on paper.

Other catalogs/furniture announcements:

Auction Announcement 1861

Unreserved catalogue sale of very elegant household furniture from the best Paris makers, rich silver ware, ... by N. Vignie, auctioneer. Monday, April 22d and the following day ... no. 104 Bourbon street ... at the residence of A. Ledoux,Esq., leaving for Europe ... New Orleans, 1861. Courtesy The Louisiana Research Collection, Gift of Mrs. Alford Guna

Catalog No. 11, c. 1911

Southern Seating Company, New Orleans.

School Furniture Catalog 100S, c. 1919

Distributed by W.T. Moore & Co., New Orleans for Heywood-Wakefield. Wakefield, Massachusetts.

General Catalog of Equipment, 1926

Albert Pick and Company, Chicago, Illinois.

Church Furniture Catalog No. 51, 1952

Riecke Cabinet Works, New Orleans.

Unknown Maker

Theatre Seating Ends, c. 1900 From the St. Charles Theatre, St. Charles Avenue. Painted Cast Iron and Wood.

Sanitary Opera Chairs for Church Auditorium & Theatre Catalog, c. 1911

Southern Seating Company, New Orleans.

Theatre Seating Catalog, No. 99E, c. 1920s

Distributed by W.T. Moore & Co., New Orleans for Heywood-Wakefield. Wakefield, Massachusetts.

& In the Garden Library. . .

Roccheggiani, Lorenzo

Invenzioni diversi di mobile ed utensili sacri e profane per usi comuni della vita. Milan, 1811.

Wiedorn, William (1896-1988)

Hidden Garden. Undated. Graphite and Ink on Paper. William S. Wiedorn Collection, SEAA

Unknown Makers

Garden Seats illustrated in Gertrude Jekyll’s Garden Ornament. London, 1918.

Style of Adam, Robert (1728-1792)

Chair illustrated in Minga Pope Duryea’s Gardens in and about Town. New York, c. 1923.

Faux Bois

As illustrated in Edward Sprague Rand, Jr.’s Garden Flowers: How to Cultivate Them. A Treatise on the Culture of Hardy Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Annuals, Herbaceous and Bedding Plants. Boston, 1866.

Image above: Detail, 1957 EMECO Catalog. Courtesy EMECO.

Ray & Charles Eames

Eames Demetrios, the grandson of Ray (1912-88) and Charles Eames (1907-78), has recently made historic footage and photographs of his grandparents' work available to the public. His short presentation includes a clip from the earliest Charles Eames film (1939), shot at Cranbrook Institute and featuring legendary Finnish ceramist Majlis Grotell (1899-1973).

The Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress retains extensive holdings related to Ray and Charles Eames, more than 750,000 items dating from roughly 1940 to 1978. Ten years ago, the LC partnered with the Vitra Design Museum to organize an exhibition of the Eameses' considerable oeuvre. The online manifestation of this exhibit is still available to the public here.

Eames Demetrios curates the online Design, Architecture and Sustainability FilmFest (DASFilmFest.com). Currently screening is Ross Lovegrove's Bamboo Bicycle (2009), but the archive includes footage of St. Mary's Church in Helena, Arkansas (1935) and the Meyer House in St. Louis, Missouri (1936). Check out the Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G-Minor in the brick!

Image above: Clip from The Design Genius of Charles & Ray Eames (Eames Demetrios on TED Posted July 2009) at: http://www.ted.com/talks/the_design_genius_of_charles_and_ray_eames.html