Types of modern furniture

Furniture is difficult to classify, despite the relatively small number of types of products. (Listing of different types of household furniture will contain only 50-60 items). The complexity of the classification is due to the fact that there are common models that are difficult to attribute to a particular group. For example, a table-cabinet for a kitchen is a case with a capacity, but at the same time rationed by the dimensions of the working plane, that is, as a table, we include it in the “kitchen furniture” group. If we classify furniture according to the purpose of the rooms, then there should be groups for dining rooms, bedrooms, living rooms, etc. This has been done for many years, but the purpose of the rooms, as we noted at the beginning of the brochure, was mixed, products that moved from room to room appeared under different conditions of acquisition; group boundaries became uncertain.

By the beginning of the modern stage in the development of furniture, we approached with a stable classification of furniture according to the principle of sets - indivisible sets of furniture, designed to equip one room with a specific purpose. The range was very poor, included only the most necessary (and even then not all) products. Only 10-12 years ago we did not produce secretaries, furniture for schoolchildren, kitchen cabinets.

The architectural features of the products in different sets of destination did not repeat, therefore, the combined furnishing of the rooms of a modern apartment, corresponding to the conditions of their use, led to a violation of unity in the artistic appearance of the rooms. The desk of the room headset could be in the bedroom, and the bookcase in the dining room. The set principle of product acquisition turned out to be outdated and does not meet the needs of the time.

Designers proposed a new principle for the acquisition of furniture products - sets. Under the set means a large group of products, including all the main types of products to the destination, solved in a single artistic manner. It was assumed that the buyer will be presented with various variants of trade sets, selected from one set, or any products from the set, completed by the buyers themselves at their discretion and needs.

Implementing kits in design, manufacturing and trading practices is a more perfect way to meet market requirements. Families living in different apartments have the opportunity to choose and buy exactly what they need, without the coercion that is necessarily present in the headset.

In parallel with the acquisition of furniture sets, another new method of furnishing has emerged and developed: functional groups. It turned out that in the conditions of zonal furnishing of the room it is not necessary to observe the exact coincidence in the design, in the artistic appearance of the products used in different zones. It has been experimentally proven that the furniture of the dining area may differ from the furniture of the recreation area or the working area. For children's furniture, it is necessary that it be different from an adult in its colorful, cheerful and slightly toy-like appearance. Thus, a completely new type of kit entered life, which in the old assortment corresponded only to the living room troika.

New ideas in the field of acquisition immediately affected the development of furniture architecture. In recent years, the range of furniture for recreation has increased several times, but this is still not enough. Began to develop the design of series of products, the production of functional groups of furniture, new techniques of product design. It is now considered unnecessary to use the same fabric for the upholstery of the chairs and the Sofa - more beautiful and more correct if the functional groups of products in the same room differ in the color of the upholstery. With great attention, designers decide the shape of lounge chairs. Passed the stage of fitting the chair. He is often given a completely individual form, not repeated in other products. The chair became, as it were, a sculptural element in the complete set of room products, bringing diversity to the look, the interior. This is facilitated only by the armchair, the right to move freely around the room (other products are usually installed in more specific places).

Architectural and compositional ideas and their development affect the range of furniture, its structure. Here is what was written on this topic in 1924: “... old models have little relevance to the new conditions of life: it is necessary to create a new art, and interesting searches are outlined in this area. In the home environment of modern mankind, items that are not amenable to artistic processing are foreseen as needed: telephone, typewriter, piano or gramophone, plugs, switches, sewing machine, central heating batteries, hot and cold water taps, vacuum cleaner, fire signal, diagrams, reference books and professional supplies. Such a situation cannot be handled in the style of Catherine’s or Alexandrovsky’s ... ”. The author made a mistake in assessing the artistic potential of the home appliance industry, but he very correctly noted that enriching everyday life with appliances poses new challenges in the field of furniture art. By the way, already in 1924, cabinets with columns and pilasters were criticized as belonging to a “cheap philistine apartment” 2.

The modern assortment of household furniture is expanding, it is impossible to imagine the era without stands for radio and television sets, telephones, storages for records or tape recordings, tapes, etc. Creating only specialized products and including them in furniture leads to a gradual clogging of the apartment, therefore in recent years years of special development received a group of combined products, previously unknown. The central product of a set of furniture for an apartment of mass type has become a combined cabinet containing in various combinations a compartment for dishes, books, table linen, a receiver, decorative items.

In recent years, many models of combined cabinets of various types, with different combinations of compartments, have been created. These cabinets blurred the familiar boundaries between cabinets for a specific purpose and complicated the issue of terminology - there are no special names for new combination cabinets. Combined cabinets with a crockery compartment are often called sideboards, but this is perfect incorrectly, as a sideboard is a cupboard only for dishes up to 1100 mm high, on the top plane of which serving items are prepared before serving.

Furnishing of rooms with the use of large combined cabinets made it possible to solve the main tasks - compactness and storage capacity. It can be argued that the new type of cabinets * will not be out of use for a long time.

To date, several fundamentally different structural types of combined cabinets have been developed.

The earliest type of meoel, which appeared in Europe in the 1920s-1930s, is sectional. At the heart of the assembly of this furniture.

the finished volume element is a section. The cabinet is formed by installing the sections on top of one another and drawing them along the front. Perhaps a gradual increase in the size of the cabinet, the permutation of the sections, and hence the change in the appearance of the assembled products. With all the advantages listed above, sectional furniture has one serious drawback, which reduces its cost-effectiveness - when assembling a product from sections, double walls arise, therefore the consumption of materials and, consequently, the cost of 1 m3 of useful capacity increase.

Sectional furniture is widespread throughout the world. There are many systems of dimensions that underlie the dimensions of the sections. Some of them provide large sections, forming, for example, the body of a wardrobe. In this case, the cabinet can no longer be called sectional, it is single-case, but if it is included in the product group, then its body is also a section.

Of all the many options for sectional furniture, bookcases were the most stable in the range. Books that appear in the house, do not disappear, do not fight and do not wear out. Their number increases and requires new containers. The increase in the volume of cabinets with the help of sections today is most convenient. It is not by chance that the most popular type of new bookcase in the 1920s was the sectional cabinet, known as the Swedish one.

Sectional furniture provides some advantages in the technological process. In the design of the cabinet, elements of a relatively small format are used, and the sections obtained from them are smaller than single-body products, which facilitates the processes of assembly, storage, transportation. These advantages were used in the construction of the recently-used buffet without a niche (also mistakenly called a sideboard) and the “classic” buffet. They consist of upper and lower cabinets. By the principle of formation, these cupboards are similar to sectional ones. In the "classic" cupboard between the upper and lower cabinets establish an intermediate element that forms a niche.

However, this sectional furniture appeared in the assortment only in the late 50s. Often referred to as sectional single-cabinet cabinets of the same height with flat side surfaces, easily composed into walls. It was possible not to argue because of their name, but such cabinets have little in common with the sections, do not give the consumer the advantages of genuine sectional furniture, although they are listed as sections.

Fig. 1. Furniture set for teens; cabinets of universal prefabricated type (VKPTIM)

Shelving is similar to sectional furniture. It is also assembled from sections, but they are not installed directly on top of one another, but are hung one above the other on supporting structures — racks. In addition to the volumetric sections in the shelf furniture it is possible to use flat elements - shelves.

Three basic types of racks are used in the racks: installed between the floor and the ceiling, reinforced with the upper end in the wall and free-standing on the floor (in this case, the racks can be moved without disassembling).

Compositional and decorative capabilities of shelving furniture are much greater than those of sectional ones. Shelving furniture creates the impression of transparency, airiness due to the use of open shelves and therefore less obstructs the wall. Shelving is convenient to use as a room dividers into zones. In the shelf furniture is easier to regroup items. When using the entire height of the room, the racks are mounted more conveniently and reliably up to the ceiling than the sectional furniture.

A significant advantage of mounting sections on racks compared to installing sections on top of one another is to save space. Sections are hung at intervals of height, so open shelves are formed above each one of them. Only side vertical walls remain dual.

The most rational constructive type of combined furniture is universal folding furniture or, more precisely, universal assembled furniture assembled directly at the place of consumption almost entirely from flat panel elements (with the exception of drawers and auxiliary parts). Versatile folding furniture does not have double walls. Its production is reduced to the release of individual parts that do not require assembly until transportation to the apartment. It is easy to imagine how comfortable this type of furniture is, requiring a minimum of storage space, carried in compact packages.

Indisputable and architectural advantages of versatile prefab furniture. Retaining the main advantages of sectional furniture, the combined cabinets of a universal type, devoid of such an annoying element of the facade, as double the width of the edge of the body panels, have a more slender, light look. Getting acquainted in a store with an illustrated prospect of universal-prefabricated furniture, a buyer can choose the composition he needs with a specific set of wardrobe compartments, with the necessary dimensions. ”Universal-prefabricated furniture is now most convenient for the consumer according to the richness of choice of cabinet options .

The listed three types of the combined furniture recently entered its range and are the youngest part of it, which characterizes new, recently arisen features of the mass-type dwelling furnishings. In the sectional, shelving and universal-prefabricated furniture concentrated and received the specific architectural embodiment of the specific requirements of the new apartment.

Corpus classical composition, not designed to lock with each other, have not lost their meaning. Products of this type are called free-standing, although this name cannot be considered accurate - after all, a sectional cabinet or a rack is separate from something.

The architectural solution of products of non-block type is based on giving them an independent artistic value, a developed, decoratively enriched silhouette; the proportional division of facades within one set can be solved differently, without necessarily coinciding the levels of different elements, in contrast to the block layout of cabinets. Products of the classical type require a larger area for furniture and a greater length of the walls, so we cannot consider them as the cabinets of the future. They remain in the assortment of furniture as belonging to the old housing stock or apartments with a spacious layout and furniture, which does not have a big impact on the main direction in the architecture of the interior. In the future, the dwelling of the mass type will turn the combined furniture from a wall product into a product replacing the wall.

For the modern range of household furniture is characterized by the development of a group of transformable (modified) products. They cannot be considered a product of our time. Transformed and some products of the classic range. It is significant that now the number of products designed with regard to their frequent modification has increased. The reason for the development of transformable furniture products is the rationalization of the mass-type dwelling furnishings, due to economic, psychological and functional factors. For clarity, consider the furnishing of a modern one-room apartment.

Fig. 2. Transformable products: a - toilet with variable height; b - 17th century armchair (England)

The apartment is primarily a place to sleep, which means that it should have a piece of furniture designed to sleep a person. This product has always been a bed. As soon as we put it in a one-room apartment, the room turns into a bedroom. But this contradicts the idea of ​​a bedroom that has developed in a person as a quiet, intimate room, not suitable for receiving guests and bustling daytime use, and you cannot avoid this in a one-room apartment. Obviously, you need to apply in the furnishing of such a product, which, using at night as a bed, at another time of day can be used in a different guise, both decent and comfortable. This explains the occurrence of sofa beds and similar products.

Fig. 3. Furniture set for one-room apartment “Shodnya-1” (KB MMSK-1)

Fig. 4. Set of furniture for a one-room apartment (Central Design Bureau, Riga)

A sliding dining table is so necessary that it makes no sense to prove it; It is convenient and necessary in any apartment. And what about the table for games, crafts, reading? Set separately? But in one small room two tables closely. Therefore, now there are models of tables, transformed not only by the size of the table top, but also by its height above the floor. If we consider that a small family in a separate apartment uses the kitchen as a daily dining room, it is not necessary to put a dining table in the room. In the room, people’s leisure can be served by a low table, which can be turned into a dining room if necessary.

Fig. 5. The combined transformable product that performs the functions of a chest of drawers, a secretary and a toilet cabinet (VKTIM)

It is possible that by virtue of habit, not everyone will agree with this option of furniture, but it will not make it worse. Ten years ago, no one imagined the headboard below 1 m above the floor. But she still became lower.

In our country, probably there is not a single family without students; many people work at home on a book. So, you need a piece of furniture designed for this work - a desk. Another table in the room? Area conditions do not always allow. Historical memories came to the rescue. At one time, the secretary’s common accessory was a closet with a folding or sliding board on which to write. This technique was the basis for the design of a modern product that has received widespread recognition. It began, one might say, a second life in the past of a lordly, and today completely democratic product, almost obligatory not only in a one-room apartment.

The modern range of furniture is developing as never before. На выставках и в литературе мы постоянно встречаем все новые и новые виды изделий с различными схемами трансформации, и все они существенно улучшают наши взаимоотношения с квартирой и вещами, ее наполняющими. Очень удобны табурет, раскладывающийся в стремянку, туалетный стол с подъемным зеркалом (не все любят постоянно видеть зеркало в комнате), откидные или задвигающиеся кровати в детской комнате и множество других вещей, входящих в обиход.

Many new things have appeared in the architecture of upholstered furniture, mainly due to the development of the material base of production. The modern chemical industry has given furniture makers new materials, replacing bulky spring sets and other traditional methods that ensure the softness of products. Dimensions of soft elements are smaller. This entailed a change in proportions in the direction of greater grace, ease. Elastic materials, easily lined in the form of a frame or molded according to a predetermined configuration, necessitated the creation of completely new lines of chairs, sofas, soft and semi-soft chairs. The designers now have the opportunity not only to improve the shape of the chair, arranged according to the traditional scheme, but also to create fundamentally new models,which were completely unrealistic for outdated carpentry design and technology.

Despite the noticeable enrichment of the range of upholstered furniture with models of the new pattern, we have not yet provided consumers with chairs for the functional purpose associated with various uses of the chair in everyday life. The range of furniture has few work chairs, lounge chairs and chairs with a variable inclination of the seat and backrest.

Comfortable and would find their consumer sets of chairs and footstools; high-back seats for elderly, sedentary people; armchairs with a shelf in the elbow for an ashtray or a cup of tea - such a chair does not bind a person to a table and makes it possible to retire comfortably.

The main trend in the development of a modern range of household items, including furniture, is the creation of products not only new in form, but also new in function or combination of functions. This tendency is caused by the ever-growing variety of leisure activities, the development of everyday culture and the culture of things. People tend to have more and more convenient things for all occasions, and the industry should feel this need and respond to it with new types of products.

In recent years, the demand for coffee tables, which 10-12 years ago was not released, has increased. The elementary compositional scheme of such a table is a board with legs. For several years, this scheme has received an interesting and very reasonable development. At first, an additional shelf under the tabletop appeared, then retractable auxiliary half-covers and drawers were added. Some models have a sliding device according to the scheme of a large dining table, in others the tabletop is decorated under a chessboard. At the last exhibition of furniture in the jubilee exposition of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements, small tables with built-in bars and mobile tables on wheels were shown. Thus, a coffee table that gathers around itself, like any other table, people for general pastime, is able to serve various forms of such pastime, it becomes more useful and comfortable in everyday life.If you think about the development of a group of coffee (not only coffee) tables and take into account that their architectural forms may differ from those of the main furniture of the set, then it is easy to imagine how many different models can enter the modern range of furniture.

Fig. 6. Set of collapsible children's furniture "Nukri" (Georgian branch VNIITE)

Against the background of the development of the range of upholstered furniture, dining and coffee tables, chairs, the lag in the group of desks becomes especially noticeable. Now the range of desks is much poorer compared to the pre-revolutionary, although the number of people who squeak has become dozens, if not hundreds of times more than in semi-literate Tsarist Russia. There are so few desks for the types of models that it is even difficult to analyze them. The secretary is still only a folding tabletop, and not everyone likes a temporary, not stable workplace, especially if there is an opportunity to take the table to a permanent place.

The range of children's furniture, a very responsible group of furniture, has increased. For children, it is necessary to do comfortably (they have their own characteristics of addition), entertaining (almost at the level of a toy), smartly and easy to operate. The best modern models of children's furniture meet these requirements. But some questions remain unresolved. Designers fail to convince industry and commerce workers to organize the production of bunk beds. At the exhibitions, almost half of adult visitors and all children spoke for them, for whom a bed with a ladder is primarily an interesting game, gymnastics. Abroad bunk beds have become widespread. This is caused not by the closeness of the room - it is simply more rational not to take up much space under the beds for the most energetic and mobile family members and to free up more space for games.

The expansion of the range in recent years has given people a lot of useful and beautiful furniture products. True, not all the furniture was successful, for example, a three-legged stool, which was introduced almost everywhere, turned out to be valky, unstable. The stool should still stand on four legs, and it is quite possible to give it a beautiful modern look.

In the kitchen furniture group, our industry has done a lot in terms of its diversity and appearance. Now the assortment of furniture contains a large number of individual products of kitchen furniture, sets, which are especially appreciated by the consumer.

There is a gradual improvement in our understanding of what furniture should be in the kitchen. Undoubtedly, the buffet with the niche is obsolete. He can not ensure the normal operation of the hostess, since a desk is needed nearby, and this takes up a lot of space. It is more correct to apply a narrow high cabinet for large household items, and to provide the main area for the equipment of the workplace between the sink and the stove. The opposite wall of the kitchen can be used under the dining table, or under the auxiliary cupboard of shallow depth.

Appear furniture sets with new content. Fundamentally very interesting, for example, a set of folding country furniture. Details of all its products are stacked for transportation in two large boxes, and after assembling the products, the boxes become cabinets. The entire headset can be transported on the roof of a passenger car.

Fig. 7. Kitchen stool (VKTIM)

Fig. 8. Set of furniture for the kitchen-dining room (VKTIM)

Fig. 9. Set of folding country furniture (Georgian branch VNIITE)

Fig. 10. Set of bedroom furniture (VKPTIM)

The principle of furniture set has not become obsolete. In some cases, the furnishings need exactly the headsets like classic ones - dining, sleeping, office, and new ones - for children, adolescents, country houses, kitchens. Headsets for a one-room apartment are almost absent in the range of furniture, so the furnishing of one-room apartments should be selected individually or supplemented the headsets of living rooms with furniture for storing clothes. Headsets of light-duty tourist-type furniture are obviously necessary, especially since light metals and synthetic materials are increasingly entering the industry.

The furniture industry of the USSR over the past decade has gone far ahead. The gap between housing construction and furniture production has been reduced; The range has been significantly updated, approaching the world level in terms of the quality of the design and artistic development of the models.

The development of the art of modern furniture in the country is in full accordance with the whole course of development of modern architecture, the motto of which is all for a person.