Post War Period

Post War Furniture High modernism governed industrial design in the 1930s and 1960s. Machine art signified abstract designing with industrialized materials, such as steel and chrome. Organic design was used for eco-friendly designs with an emphasis on wood and natural materials. During the Great Depression, designers were challenged to create designs that would stimulate consumer demand. World War II affected material and former developments with the rationing of materials, such as steel, aluminum, and copper, for war efforts that forced designers to substitute nonessential materials in designs.

Some designers worked in wartime efforts. Charles and Ray Eames designed leg sprints and stretchers from molded laminated wood. The experiences and technology of the wartime efforts were transferred to furniture design. Eames developed the LCW chair with a mass produced design from inexpensive molded plywood. The purpose for designers was to produce quality of life enhancing products for any budget to stimulate consumer demand for new products. By doing experiments with molded laminated wood, Eames created low cost furniture designs that included molded shaped wooden chairs of various designs.

Machine art had a greater influence on Eames' designs as rations started to ease after the war. Their designs started including chairs with various metal designs in the frames and legs of the chairs. Some of the designs included molded hard plastic for the seat and back of the chairs that were mounted in metal frames. With the machine art of springs, Eames created chairs with soft cushions that had springs under the cushions for comfort.

This created a series of designs with different moldings of various metals for chair and ottoman designs. By doing experiments with different materials, Eames designed the ESU-400 cabinet that was made from stained birch plywood, painted Masonite, and zinc-plated steel. The cabinet contains rectangular compartments that create four tiers of shelving. The design is made with low cost materials that give quality of life enhancements. Their designs also started to include leather upholstery and fiberglass as low cost materials.

George Nelson created clocks and lamps from various low cost materials of wire, plastic, and glass. He used organic designs to create clock designs made of wood. Machine art design was used to create various shapes of clocks from wire and various other materials, such as plastics. Some of the clocks used wire design to hold balls made of plastic in a circular design while some used other metals for other various shapes of metal clocks. Machine art design also influenced his designs in glass ball lamps.