By Cindi Strauss

For centuries, architects have played a significant role in the decorative arts through their designs for interiors and objects for the buildings they have constructed. In the modern period, much has been written about architects and their importance to design history, whether acting as the creator of a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) or as an innovator of objects divorced from specific environments. Regardless, the problem-solving skills necessary for architecture can be successfully translated to the design arts, with architects often trying their hands at furniture, resulting in sculptural and functional pieces that can transcend expectations or societal norms. As the British architect Amanda Levete recently remarked, “You’re much freer designing furniture than a building. You don’t have to worry about public safety issues, or keeping the rain out. It doesn’t demand a huge team, and lots of meetings. As an architect, you spend years developing a greater understanding of materials and structure, and of working on different scales. Funneling all of that down to a smaller scale in furniture exposes years of thought, and is exhilarating.”¹

William Morris, the celebrated nineteenth-century British architect and designer, argued for the importance of the architect’s role in the decorative arts by stating that architects have a responsibility to create “a building with all the appliances fit for carrying on a dignified and happy life.”² While this concept was not new—architects such as William Kent, Robert Adam, Daniel Marot, and Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, to name a few, had been designing objects for their buildings’ interiors since the eighteenth century—Morris codified the importance of such objects to the design field as well as their social implications. By improving the domestic environment, Morris believed that architects (and designers) could play a significant role in uplifting society. This concept would remain a touchstone for architects, especially through the mid-twentieth century.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries can be seen as the first modern heyday of architect-designers, as architects were given artistic freedom by wealthy clients to develop residential, public, and commercial buildings and interiors that reflected the progressive taste of their time. Therefore, the aesthetics of architecture and objects were closely linked as architects searched for and often designed sympathetic furnishings for their buildings. This was especially true for European progressive architects active in the pre–World War II era. Many of their designs were architectonic; all were functional. Some were exceedingly rare, while others were made in significant numbers. Whether envisioned by British Arts and Crafts practitioners such as Morris, the Viennese architects of the Secession and Wiener Werkstätte such as Josef Hoffmann, the Bauhaus master Marcel Breuer, or the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, to name but a few, their avant-garde designs embodied or predicted the significant stylistic traits of their time, making them important signifiers within the evolution of modern and contemporary design history.

The rise of specialized, industrial manufacturers during this period to build architects’ designs spawned industries that became vital partners to architect-designers for technical innovation and material development. In return, manufacturers and retailers highlighted the role of architects as designers, commissioning them to design products and using their names in advertisements, a marketing practice that continues today.

The role of the architect as arbiter of aesthetic, material, technological, and formal shifts in object design transformed the architecture profession beyond its traditional boundaries. In addition to participating in lectures, reviews, and treatises, as well as occasionally teaching, architects now had an alternative career pathway through design. This was especially true in the post–World War II era as the rebound in prosperity instigated an overwhelming need for new housing and furnishings and as architects became prime design resources for object manufacturers wanting to meet this demand.

After a fallow period that began in the 1960s, when progressive design became more utopian and less function-focused in nature, the late 1970s saw a renewed interest on the part of manufacturers to work with celebrated architects to create objects. The development of designs occurred simultaneously with the advent of Postmodernism and led to a renaissance in both private clients and commercial firms commissioning architects to design objects. Many of the objects during this period had a theoretical basis, while others addressed issues of urbanism in addition to aesthetics. These pieces received acclaim primarily through their adoption by the design cognoscenti and the architectural community; however, the majority of them never reached a broad audience. Metalwork, glassware, and porcelain services for the table by manufacturers such as Alessi and Swid Powell were the exception, achieving both commercial and critical success.

As old and new concerns about materials, production, and their impact on sustainability have come to the fore in the twenty-first century, design is, once again, blazing a pathway forward. Emphasis has shifted away from explorations of form and aesthetics toward a renewed focus on function, usage, and experience. Architects have been some of the first arts professionals to tackle these issues head-on, so it is no surprise that they have turned this lens increasingly on object design.

Due to their role in design history and their wealth of information relating to aesthetic styles, manufacturing techniques, function, and material culture, architect-designed objects have become of great interest to museums and collectors worldwide. Indeed, museums have increasingly highlighted these aspects of their collections, seeking rare and distinctive examples to add to their holdings. At the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the treasures of the American Institute of Architects, Houston Design Collection ably demonstrate architects’ place in design history—a place that is both essential and revelatory.

Notes

1. Amanda Levete, as quoted in Alice Rawsthorn, “Furniture Designed by Architects: Pricey, Impractical and Very Desirable,” The New York Times, February 29, 2008; https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/arts/29iht-DESIGN03.html (accessed November 30, 2023).
2. William Morris, “The Lesser Arts of Life” Lecture, 1882; https://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1882/life1.htm (accessed November 30, 2023).