Tomorrow Style

Functionalism is essentially an approach to architecture and design rather than a style, and is concerned with addressing practical problems as logically and efficiently as possible. The origins of Functionalism can be found in the theories of the first-century BC Roman architect Vitruvius, which themselves were based on the Hellenistic tradition.

The Classical of functional approach to architecture has since been revived many times: during the Renaissance in the 15-th and 16-th centuries, in the 18 century by Neo-Classical architects and in the 19th century by luminaries such as Gottfried Semper and Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. In the last half of the 19th century, design reformers in Britain such as A.W.N.Pugin and William Morris also advocated a functional approach to desugn, which led to the manufacture of illuminant products.

But it was American architect Louis Sullivan who coined the expression “form follows function” in 1896 and who is therefore commonly credited with formulating 20th-century Functionalism. During the early half of the 20th century, however, Modern Movement designers allied Functionalism with Rationalism and looked for universal design solutions rather than national ones. The teaching at the Staatliches Bauhaus in Dessau was founded on this quest and designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier and J.J.P. Oud experimented with industrial materials such as tubular metal, steel and glass so as to create functional furniture and buildings.

I suppose Table Chair is great idea because sometimes you need an extra chair and sometimes you need a table that’s truth. These modern chairs can be either or depending on your needs. By simply pushing the two chairs together they transform into a table. Each chair has a notch to slide in one another. Now unused seating has some other place to go. When you’ve got visitors and need an extra chair or two you simply pull them apart. Tada, you got two chairs! This needs to show up at IKEA stat!

The Table Chair, by Joel Hesselgren, uses a notched, slot together design for the transformation into 1980s executive lounge coffee table, a simple and clever idea. The only problem we can see (apart from the chairs looking so damn uncomfortable) is that the slotted backs would cause the chairs to flex horribly. For occasional use only.