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Female Avant Garde of Modernism
Eileen Gray

Today, Eileen Gray is a name that is commonly associated with the modernist movement of architecture. During her career, she remained mostly independent but designed in compliance with those of the modernist movements. Eileen was born in ireland in 1978 to parents who always encouraged her artistic side. Eileen’s arguably privileged background allowed her to pursue her passion and study art and design at the Slade School of Fine Art. Her interior design style is known to be both modern and stylish even today. Eileen’s contribution to architecture and interior design are considered to be some of the purest forms of residential design of the period. Eileen worked in art and design for many years leading up to her death and is most commonly known for E-1027 house and her famous modern furniture designs. Eileen’s work proves that she is a proper candidate for the female avant garde of modern design.

Modernism

The first style to dismiss ornament entirely, modernism is known as an important style of architecture and design, first introduced in the 20th century. This style is characterized as being modest with the use of raw materials, structural innovation, and elimination of ornament to define it’s design. It is common to find asymmetrical compositions, geometrics forms, flat roofs, and horizontal lines in modernist designs. The materials used are rational and often raw like concrete and steel and large windows are common. For designers and the modernist style, less is more which is why open plan interiors and neutral color palettes are most common.

Eileen’s Philosophical Influence on Modernism

Eileen is known to have blurred the lines of material and media when she experimented with art, craft, and construction. Although she designed mostly in compliance with the now known “5 Points of the New Architecture,” published by Le Corbusier years later, Eileen did not always agree with typical modernist theory. Her philosophy of architecture was to challenge the idea that a house should be designed for the eye rather than the people living in it. She believed in design for the people and that is what made her designs most impressive and rare.

Eileen’s Modernistic Career and Honors

Originally an artist and a furniture designer, architecture was not something Eileen was known for and she was greatly overlooked during her career. Her first major architecture project is known as House E.1027, located along the coast of France. When designing this house, Eileen greatly considered the way it would be occupied, unlike many other modern buildings in this time. This design creates a maximum amount of comfort in a small space with sleek modern lines and largely open spaces. With E.1027, and Eileen’s other architectural works, a great amount of time in the design process was spent focusing on the sensual experience of the space. In many of her designs, everything from the facade, the space planning, and the furniture design was custom. It was important for Eileen to suit the needs of the occupant in the space with her designs. Although Eileen didn’t design many buildings, each one that she did was carefully conceived in order to produce her desired effect. As a female designer at the time, Eileen’s work fell behind many of her male colleagues. Over the years, Eileen’s work has gained much recognition and has allowed her to be considered as one of the most influential modernist designers and is now known to be one of the best furniture designers and architects of the modernist movement in the 20th century.

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