What Is the Difference Between Modern and Contemporary Furniture?
The use of contemporary furniture in home decor design is a trend that will remain classic and will evolve with the times. This kind of decor use relates closely to modernist design but what is the difference between the two?
What is modern furniture?
In general modern furniture refers to furniture designed in the later part of the 20th century. The term modern highly relates to post war American furniture designed in the 1950's and 1960's, you should however notice that this is another cycle of the modernist movement that featured in the 1800's. Modernist furniture has very specific design styles and requirements. Modern furniture focuses on function and simplicity. This kind of furniture is often referred to as mod to distinguish it from the more contemporary styles.
What is contemporary furniture?
Contemporary pieces are often described by the words modern and current. Though urban and innovative would be a better description. Contemporary design focuses on a new style of design that is totally different from the old style, yet it keeps some elements of the old intact. Old style furniture was designed with the accent on ornate pieces rather than functionality whereas in contemporary the focus shifts to functional and sleek design.
Contemporary furniture do not follow a specific design trend but rather combines past trends in a way that is accepted by modernized furniture fanatics. Contemporary design uses a whole new type of construction materials that can be anything from PVC to plastic or Vinyl.
What is the difference between contemporary and modern furniture?
The design era. Modernist furniture comes mostly from the 1950's and 1960's where contemporary designs stems from after the 1970's. Ten years sounds like a small difference but in the world of design it is a big one.
While modernist reflects a certain design genre contemporary furniture can also be a group of pieces that comes from the same design era.
Modernist design has very set rules whereas with contemporary design anything goes.
Contemporary literally refers to the here and now. The best way to distinguish between a modern and contemporary piece is to check the materials used. Contemporary furniture will show some or total use of materials that was not available in the modernist era.
Modernist furniture is created around specific design concepts. Where on the other hand contemporary design uses design concepts from all of the eras and combines it to create a stylish, functional masterpiece.
Conclusion
Modernist and contemporary designs relate very closely to one another, but the main difference lies in the design rules and the era from which the designs originate. When you try to distinguish between modernist and contemporary furniture, focus on the design and materials used, you will see signs of other design eras that does not fit with the modernist concept in contemporary pieces.
