Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
Barbera 'Lovelock' Cast Solid Bronze Coat Stand Hat Stand
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Designed by Daniel Barbera, the 'Lovelock' is made from a sandcast solid bronze base that is hand finished to a smooth mirror polish, with the option of a satin or blackened bronze. ...
Metal, Bronze
$389 / item
Black Metal Shoe Racks by Cuero Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Black Metal Shoe Racks by Cuero Design Dimensions: D 31,3 x W 71 x H 40 cm. Materials: Metal. Cuero Design We make furniture that we want to have in our own homes. Everything has to...
Metal
Post Modern L'albero Dei Cappelli Coat Rack by Ugo Nespolo for Origlia Pragma
By Ugo Nespolo
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"L'albero dei cappelli" the "hat tree" is a sculpture more than a simple home object, in fact since the early seventies Ugo Nespolo has been working with the concept of "bringing art...
Iron
Ikea Vintage Pop Frän Black Metal Coat Hanger Retro With Shelf 1980s Postmodern
By IKEA
Located in London, GB
A 1980s postmodern coat and hat hanger with very graphic black linear look making it almost a cartoon looking piece. It would be great for lots of hal...
Metal
Four Italian Brass Coat Hook Model SE 314, designed By Ettore Sottsass, 80s
Located in Roma, IT
I offer for sale the truly convincing result between Functionality, essential when talking about Design, and Decoration. The architect and designer who created the "theorem" for the ...
Brass
Functional Sculpture 'Praying Mantis' by Salvino Marsura, Italy, 1950s
Located in Antwerp, BE
Functional sculpture by Italian artist Salvino Marsura, crafted in the 1950s. Hand-forged from steel and finished with vibrant powder pigments, the piece embodies Marsura’s deep resp...
Steel
Pavo Grande and Pavolino Wall Hanging Rack by Frau Caze
Located in Geneve, CH
Pavo Grande and Pavolino Wall Hanging Rack by Frau Caze Dimensions: D 2 x W 74 x H 80 cm. Materials: Natual ash. Available in different dimensions. Please contact us. When a househ...
Ash
$378 / item
Brass Seven Coat Rack by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Brass seven coat rack by OxDenmarq Dimensions: D 19 x W 18 x H 25.5 cm Materials: Brass OX DENMARQ is a Danish design brand aspiring to make beautiful handmade furniture, access...
Brass
Barbera 'Lovelock' Cast Solid Bronze Coat Stand Hat Stand, in Stock to Ship
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
The 'Lovelock' coat stand is a stunning piece of art that combines elegance and utility. It was created by Daniel Barbera, a renowned designer who specializes in sandcasting techniqu...
Metal, Bronze
1970s "Cactus" Coat Rack by Mario Pasquinelli for Pallavisini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The "Cactus" coat rack was designed by Mario Pasquinelli and produced by Pallavisini Italia during the 1970s. Four intersecting curved arches rise from the central column and spread ...
Wood
$378 / item
Brass Seven Coat Rack by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Brass Seven Coat Rack by OxDenmarq Dimensions: D 19 x W 18 x H 25.5 cm Materials: Brass OX DENMARQ is a Danish design brand aspiring to make beautiful handmade furniture, accessorie...
Brass
$377 / item
Brass Seven Coat Rack by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Brass Seven Coat Rack by OxDenmarq Dimensions: D 19 x W 18 x H 25.5 cm Materials: Brass OX DENMARQ is a Danish design brand aspiring to make beautiful handmade furniture, access...
Brass
$1,949 / item
Lonna Coat Rack, Large by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Lonna coat rack, large by Made By Choice Dimensions: 100 x 39 x 170 cm ( rack length 85 cm, shoe shelf) Materials: oak Also available: custom color, s...
Oak
$1,512 / item
Trasiego Coat Rack by Sebastián Ángeles
Located in Geneve, CH
Trasiego coat rack by Arturo Verástegui Dimensions: D 30 x W 30 x H 110 cm Materials: oak wood. Natural White oak coat rack. Sebastián Angeles is an Industrial Designer origi...
Oak
$531 / item
Brass Brick Coat Rack by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Brass Brick Coat Rack by OxDenmarq Dimensions: D 8 x W 49.5 x H 13 cm Materials: Brass OX DENMARQ is a Danish design brand aspiring to make beautiful handmade furniture, accesso...
Brass
$189 / item
Track Coat Rack 60 by Applicata
Located in Geneve, CH
Track Coat Rack 60 by Applicata Dimensions: D 5 x W 60 x H 3.7 cm Materials: Oak. Available in 60 or 90 cm. Track is designed by Anders Nørgaard, with a fascination for the simple ...
Oak
$1,689 / item
Lonna Coat Rack, Small by Made By Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Lonna coat rack, small by Made By Choice Dimensions: 20 x 170 cm Materials: Oak Also available: Custom color, medium & large Lonna furniture series was originally introduced ...
Ash
$4,418 / item
Levanzo Wardrobe Valet by Arcahorn
Located in Geneve, CH
Levanzo Wardrobe Valet by Arcahorn Dimensions: D 30 x W 46 x H 142 cm Materials: Horn, leather, stainless steel, wood. Wardrobe valet. Structure in wood with lacquered black gloss f...
Stainless Steel
$4,607 / item
Trasiego Coat Rack II by Sebastián Ángeles
Located in Geneve, CH
Trasiego coat rack II by Arturo Verástegui Dimensions: D 60 x W 27 x H 148 cm Materials: oak wood. Coat rack made of burnt and tainted oak wood. Sebastián Angeles is an Indus...
Oak
Italian Modern Natural and Green Wood Coat Stand with Umbrella Container, 1980s
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian post modern natural and green wood coat stand with umbrella container, 1980s. Coat stand with umbrella stand with self-supporting structure, with double umbrella container on both sides. Entirely in solid wood with a natural finish, equipped with three arms of different lengths, with containers in the lower part with aluminum trays inside...
Wood
Post Modern Chromed Tree Styled Coat Hat Rack 1970's
By Sidse Werner
Located in Cincinnati, OH
A very well crafted heavy chromed unique tree styled coat hat rack or use as an art object. Three mulit level tree limbs sprout out the main post with step down round base and a nice...
Steel, Chrome
Mid-Century Brutalist Coffee Table by Silas Seandel, 1974
Located in Queens, NY
American mid-century Brutalist (1974) 'Tortured' ribbon steel coffee table with a rectangular clear glass table top. (signed, SILAS SEANDEL, '74)
Metal, Bronze
$5,529 / item
Giglio Coat Stand by Arcahorn
Located in Geneve, CH
Giglio Coat Stand by Arcahorn Dimensions: D 30 x W 30 x H 185 cm Materials: Horn, brass. Coat stand. Structure in wood with lacquered ivory gloss finish and horn inlays. Base and ho...
Brass
37″ Pas de Urbino for Zerodisegno Wall Mounted Coat Rack
By Zerodisegno
Located in Pasadena, TX
Zerodisegno Zerodisegno was formed in the 1980s in Italy by Carlo Poggio. The company produces unique and limited edition pieces of design and furniture. Zerodisegno uses a collabora...
Chrome
$1,298 / item
Clothes Airer by MOB
Located in Geneve, CH
Clothes Airer by MOB Limited editions of 5 + 1 prototype Designer: Martines-Barat Lafore Architectes (France) Dimensions: H 98 x W 120 cm Material: ...
Steel
23″H Pas de Urbino Zerodisegno Wall Mounted Swivel Coat Rack with wood
By Zerodisegno
Located in Pasadena, TX
Zerodisegno Zerodisegno was formed in the 1980s in Italy by Carlo Poggio. The company produces unique and limited edition pieces of design and furniture. Zerodisegno uses a collabora...
Chrome
$283 / set
Set of 2 Towel Hooks by Henry Wilson
By Henry Wilson
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2 Towel Hooks by Henry Wilson Dimensions: W 2 x D 5 x H 9 cm Materials: Brass, Aluminium The Towel Hook is sand cast and hand finished. They are man...
Aluminum, Brass
Grey Plastic and White Metal 4788 Clothes-Stand by Ferrieri for Kartell, 1980s
By Anna Castelli Ferrieri, Kartell
Located in Varese, Lombardia
This coat-stand is made up by 3 main parts: a dark grey plastic base, one plastic ballast to be filled with sand or water and one white metal grid. Some plastic hooks...
Metal
23″H Pas de Urbino Zerodisegno Black Wall Mounted Swivel Coat Rack with wood
By Zerodisegno
Located in Pasadena, TX
Zerodisegno Zerodisegno was formed in the 1980s in Italy by Carlo Poggio. The company produces unique and limited edition pieces of design and furniture. Zerodisegno uses a collabora...
Chrome
23″ Pas de Urbino Zerodisegno Wall Mounted Coat Rack with wood balls
By Zerodisegno
Located in Pasadena, TX
Zerodisegno Zerodisegno was formed in the 1980s in Italy by Carlo Poggio. The company produces unique and limited edition pieces of design and furniture. Zerodisegno uses a collabora...
Chrome
Postmodern Black Varnished Metal and Plastic Valet Stand, Italy
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1980s. It features a black varnished metal, plastic and rubber frame. It is definitely in the 80s style. This valet stand is a vintage piece, therefore it might show...
Metal
Matching pair metal and lucite Tie / Scarf rotating stands / Store Display
Located in Buffalo, NY
Matching pair gun metal and lucite Tie / Scarf rotating stands / Store Display ,Salvaged from department store located in downtown Buffalo NY, Great for bedroom,, dressing room , bat...
Metal
$1,394 / item
Lonna Coat Rack, Medium by Made by Choice
Located in Geneve, CH
Lonna coat rack, medium by Made by Choice Dimensions: 75 x 41 x 170 cm Materials: Oak Also Available: Custom Color, Small & Large Lonna furniture series was originally introd...
Oak
$259 / item
Track Coat Rack 90 by Applicata
Located in Geneve, CH
Track Coat Rack 90 by Applicata Dimensions: D 5 x W 90 x H 3.7 cm Materials: Oak. Available in 60 or 90 cm. Track is designed by Anders Nørgaard, with a fascination for the simple ...
Oak
$6,309 / item
New Gotica Personality Rack by Alina Rotzinger
Located in Geneve, CH
New Gotica Personality Rack by Alina Rotzinger Materials: Tropical wood and heat painted bronze bar. Dimensions: H 180 x W 140 x D 40 cm. Composed by Alina Rotzinger as design d...
Bronze
$224 / item
Blue Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Blue Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design Dimensions: D 35 x W 68 x H 13 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal. Available in black, white, sea green, pigeon blue, or dusty peach. Please contact...
Metal
Set of 2 Aluminum Towel Hooks by Henry Wilson
By Henry Wilson
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2 Aluminum Towel Hooks by Henry Wilson Dimensions: W 2 x D 5 x H 9 cm Materials: Aluminum The Towel Hook is sand cast and hand finished. They are manufactured in small batche...
Aluminum
$9,097 / item
Obelisk 01 Clothing Stand by Sing Chan
Located in Geneve, CH
Obelisk 01 clothing stand by Sing Chan Dimensions: D 36 x H 190 cm Materials: Stainless steel, electroplating. Greek civilization and art were greatly influenced by ancient Egyptia...
Stainless Steel
$2,066 / item
Flower Rack by Jean-Baptiste Van den Heede
Located in Geneve, CH
Flower Rack by Jean-Baptiste Van den Heede Dimensions: W 69 x D 9 x H 12 cm Materials: Cherry, Maple, Aluminum. Also available: Other sizes can be made ...
Aluminum
$1,512 / item
Trasiego Coat Rack by Sebastián Ángeles
Located in Geneve, CH
Trasiego coat rack by Arturo Verástegui Dimensions: D 30 x W 30 x H 110 cm Materials: oak wood. Natural White oak coat rack. Sebastián Angeles is an Industrial Designer origi...
Oak
$567 / item
Gren Coat Stand by OxDenmarq
Located in Geneve, CH
Gren coat stand by OxDenmarq Dimensions: H 172 cm Materials: Steel, leather, teak wood OX DENMARQ is a Danish design brand aspiring to make beautiful handmade furniture, accesso...
Steel
Set of 2 Oak Hoop Racks by Jeanette Holdgaard
Located in Geneve, CH
Set of 2 oak hoop rack by Jeanette Holdgaard Materials: Oak, metal. Dimensions: D 5.5 x W 60 x H 11.5 cm Available in oak and black oak. Jeanette Holdgaard is a talented Danish...
Metal
$224 / item
Dusty Peach Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Dusty Peach Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design Dimensions: D 35 x W 68 x H 13 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal. Available in black, white, sea green, pigeon blue, or dusty peach. Please ...
Metal
$224 / item
Green Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design
Located in Geneve, CH
Green Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design Dimensions: D 35 x W 68 x H 13 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal. Available in black, white, sea green, pigeon blue, or dusty peach. Please contac...
Metal
$224 / item
White Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design
Located in Geneve, CH
White Pina Hat Shelf by OK Design Dimensions: D 35 x W 68 x H 13 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal. Available in black, white, sea green, pigeon blue, or dusty peach. Please contac...
Metal