The Industrial Revolution and England

In the society that existed before the Industrial Revolution, natural forces were significant designers. The separation of design from the process of producing the object started before the Industrial revolution, from the late medieval periods of early capitalist industrial organization which was based on crafts methods of production.

The growth of trade in the medieval period was crucial. In the Western European cities, large workshops developed to provide for the sophisticated taste of rich merchants. Many objects of the same type were made, though the process of production was the repetition of existing models by craft methods. Much work produced by these urban craftsmen was of high level of skill and artistry.

Britain in the eighteenth century experienced a rich period for pattern. Josiah Wedgwood’s supreme ornamental ware was influenced by the Neo-Classical style. The artistic success of his ornamental ware was colossal.

The context of his total achievement was due to the fact that the amount of production of useful ware delivered the human, technical and financial resources, without which the demanding production of ornamental ware would not have been possible.

The difference that the Industrial Revolution brought affected this results produced by craftsmen, since this introduction could manufacture and multiply the products with mass-production.  In a lot of ways, industrialization brought more choices, more things one could buy, and more money was generated.

The utmost improvements relating to the productive powers of labour, and skill required, was the effect of the division of labour, introduced in the industrial revolution. This provided for an increase in skill of the workmen and it enabled to save time. This could not have been possible without the invention of a great number of machines facilitating labour. This process resulted in a huge increase of quantity of work.

Furthermore, the Industrial Revolution did not only change the traditional craft production, but as the technological advancements took place, it formed many new industries that applied a mechanical process to production.

Gottfried Semper who was a German architect, described an aesthetic theory that accepted that industrialization was inevitable, and he confronted the complications of the relationship between art and the industry. When he visited the Great Exhibition of the Crystal Palace, he published a booklet in 1852 that was based on the impression he got of what he saw, and like many others he was critical. He acknowledged the divorce between art and the industry but argued that the legacy of the craft tradition before the industrial revolution, had to be swept away before there could be the creation of a new art that was based upon the use of machines. He said that a style was ‘an elevation to artistic significance of the concept of the basic idea’ rather than a collection of forms relating to the particular period. When his theory was recognized, it was applied to universal forms, and this was an irony to the theory itself, since the essential aspects of the reasoning behind it was that design has to cater for a specific need that gave rise to the design and social conditions in which they were produced.

In addition, transport was a crucial aspect in the Industrial Revolution. The creation of railway shows the evolution of design in relation to the new technology. During industrialization, society benefited from railways, and the spread of railways across every country was responsible for the transportation of both the products and the workers.

The Wylam Dilly which was built by Christopher Blackett is a scaled down beam engine on wheels, whose form directly reflects mechanical function.

In the 1870’s the first modern bicycle was created by John Kemp Starley. This creation was a combination of a chain of separate advances into one.  Very quickly, the product established itself with the public and later innovations such as the caliper brakes, variable gearing and air-cushioned tires further improved it, making it the first individual form of mass-transportation. The success of the ‘Safety Bicycle’ needed the finest collaboration of mechanical efficiency, lightness and durability, and these requirements had to be compatible with ease of manufacture. The seamless tubular steel which was introduced during mass-production in 1880s was a major feature in the creation of a strong, however lightweight frame.

John Kemp Starley's Rover 'safety' bicycle of 1888 established a basic format for cycle design that is still used world-wide

Due to the technological innovation that was occurring during the Industrial Revolution, a manifestation of this improvement was also shown in products catered for domestic use. It is here that the functionalist interpretation of form becomes more doubtful. In the nineteenth century, the proposition that a product created by a mechanical manufacturing process, should be both functional and appear simple, was something which was not accepted. Some of the new industrial processes gave a greater possibility of product decoration, and also needed decorative forms in order to manage to solve problems of processing.

Furthermore, in furniture design features of complexity are illustrated. Industrialization enabled quantity of production, and in the early stages of this introduction, an involvement in the adaptation of traditional forms and techniques was used. There was the need of concentrating on producing a limited range of product within an enlarged commercial structure.

The traditional ‘Windsor chair’ formed in Britain and the United States was widely adapted to quantity production. It was made up of separate parts, most of which could easily be turned on a simple wood lathe and the elemental simplicity of the form made it adaptable to the materials and technology. 

The difficulty whilst making the chair arose in the point of assembly, where drilling of sockets required a high degree of skill.  Lambert Hitchcock developed a high rate of production by buying in the structural elements from sub-contractors and concentrating his resources on the skills of assembly. His factory produced chairs at a rate of over fifty per day and it is estimated that during his lifetime over a million where manufactured.

Furthermore, one if the most known examples of nineteenth-century design, the bentwood furniture produced by Michael Thonet’s factories was in contrast, the result of the introduction of the new technology.

Thonet began experimenting in wood bending around 1830 and his system was revolutionary. Machined formed rods of wood, usually beech, were curved and bent under steam-pressure and screwed together, completely eradicating the need for jointing. The simplicity of both the process and the forms produced enabled chairs to be manufactured in huge quantities, at low prices, and Thonet soon had a world market. His models were copied and many remain in production by the same methods to the present day. The elegance and quality of Thonet’s designs are indisputable. 

In 1900 the firm employed 4000 workers who produced approximately six thousand items a day. This is a proportional collaboration reflecting the amount of handwork still needed in assembling frames and weaving the cane seats.

A major competitor was the Moravian firm of Jacob and Josef Kohn founded in 1867 which specialized in bentwood furniture decorated by means of milling, engraving and sculptural techniques and advertised as superior furniture in various styles. Thus even bentwood could be adapted to the decorative taste of the age. the adaptation of the new processes can also be seen in the furniture that that John Henry Belter produced. 

This Chair was inspired from the Neo-Rococo style. 

William Morris was a leading member of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was one of those who criticized the Industrial Revolution. He wanted individuality and craftsmanship, something that could not be obtained due to mass-production and he went back to hand-made products that required time and skill. His specialized pattern design were fabrics and wallpapers. He wanted to link art to the industry by relating the values found on fine arts to the product. His patterns were inspired from nature.

'

Trellis', 1862

(pencil and watercolour sketch for wallpaper design)

Morris made the first page design of the book called ‘The Nature of Gothic’ by John Ruskin. This is an example of how he was influenced by nature in his art. Design was made with passion, for him, those were the real craftsman.

According to his writings, the human well-being cannot be divorced from the well-being of the natural environment. For Morris, it is not a matter of humanity that impresses its mark on nature, but it is nature that impresses humanity. He was also against the division of labour, believing that liberation can be realized if there is a return to craftsmanship production. According to Morris: "everything made by man's hands has a form, which must be either beautiful or ugly; beautiful if it is in accord with Nature, and helps her; ugly if it is discordant with Nature, and thwarts her....". In this respect he did not have much good things to say in accordance to the modern civilization, which according to him it impoverished the human spirit. However hard Morris worked, his concept still failed. This is because he failed to cater products for everyone, since the products he developed coasted money that not every one could afford. 

Bibliography:

The Trumpeter Journal of Ecosophy. Inhaling All the forces of Nature . [online] Available at: http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/article/view/179/224 [Accessed at 29th October 2013]

William Morris- The Arts and Crafts Movement. William Morris. [online] Available at:  http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html [Accessed at  29th October 2013]

John Heskett. Industrial Revolution

The Design History Reader:  Grace lees-Maffei and Rebecca Houze