Consider the magnificent 17th century English walnut chair on page 23 of the Design book. It is basically a box - opened up with legs and stretchers ornately carved with S scrolls and C scrolls. Structurally it is engineered to carry its weight on four square legs which are braced with stretchers.

Compare the 18th century English mahogany Queen Anne chair on page 25. This chair had no stretchers. It carries the weight through a change of form and shape in the structure of the leg itself, a concept derived from the shape of a goat leg, or "cabriole" leg. By rethinking the design and eliminating unnecessary elements the 18th century chair simplifies the structure while making the chair stronger, easier to manufacture, more affordable and usable, as well as creating a new style in furniture.

The Mueller-Brockman lithograph, "der Film", is a stunning example of design art that embodies the modern concept of design as developed in the Bauhaus. (See pages 46-49 in the book "What is Design?"). The Albers, "Homage to the Square", (page 63) is a painting which uses these same concepts to project very different ideas. Then why is one "design" and the other "fine art"? This depends on what the artist has intended. "der Film" is an advertisement intended to sell something quite specific, i.e.. the concept of film through the manipulation of the graphic media. The Albers painting uses the same design principles of proportion, space and form to suggest philosophical or emotional values without being specific, and allowing the viewer to project his/her own feelings into the work. This does not mean that both cannot be beautiful in their own spheres. The beauty is in the design and the whole composition which fuses the content and the form into one meaningful statement. This is the same as "apples and oranges".

"der Film is limited in its message of communication. The Albers work has unlimited meanings (communications) both for the artist and for multiple viewers.

Did Albers as a teacher in the Bauhaus envision the possibility that when he, with others, developed those design principles into the curriculum (which then became the basis of modern design), that modern paintings based on those same principles, would soon be hanging on museum walls? I suspect that he knew that the laws of proportion and classical concepts of form would be the same for any art that communicated ideas successfully no matter what the content.

NATURE, SYMBOLISM AND ABSTRACTION

Nature became a major theme in art and design when the role of the Church began to give way to a broader secular view of the world under the classical influence of the Renaissance. Rejecting the classical format, however, artists and philosophers began to believe that God was inherent in nature and that Gothic architecture, based on natural forms, represented the true Christian religion. The medieval and Gothic Revivals were the basis of the return to nature in the arts and the handcrafts.  Continuing into the 19 th century, a full-blown cult of nature blossomed in the Arts and Crafts Movements and Art Nouveau.

These ideas were manifested in Graphic Design and in Architecture

Graphic design

Inspired by the handcrafts of the Middle Ages, Morris rejected the machine. Using natural dyes, handmade papers and materials, he printed his books and wallpapers on hand presses. “Chrysanthemum” is a repeat pattern designed on a grid; the flowers and leaves are a stylized imitation of nature, meticulously rendered from the close observation of the actual flowers, leaves and stems, and how they grow, yet with an exuberance and devotion to the life forms. Morris has internalized the spirit of growth as though it might grow on a trellis in your garden.

By the time that the English Arts and Crafts Movement, founded by William Morris, had evolved into Art Nouveau, the concept of Nature had turned to an emphasis on the source of natural growth itself –represented by the root, the stem and bud – symbolic of the life force of nature. (not the leaves and flowers). Van de Velde’s poster, an advertisement for Orange Juice, gets to the essence of the concept of growth, expressed in abstract form by energetic curvilinear lines flowing from tightly knit roots - a representation for both pouring orange juice and the upward thrust of the growing plant.

Architecture

On approaching the house site one is confronted with a vision of raw nature, cantilevered concrete terraces out cropping from a rocky cliff over a waterfall descending into a pool. – a technological tour–de-force in a dwelling composed of man made materials melded with nature.  Natural colors and materials used inside and outside, Wright brings natural stone and brick inside - and broad windows bring nature, trees and sky inside – to materialize the concept of  living in nature as a real life literal experience.

Like Wright, Le Corbusier uses modern materials, steel and concrete, to express a union with nature, yet in a symbolic way. To reach the Church one must make a pilgrimage, climb a hill, circle around and search for the door.  Inside is a cave-like atmosphere, lit by small randomly placed windows. Mysterious and irregular shapes and walls simulate the organic contours of natural forms- dim lights and sounds inside reflect an underground grotto.  A metaphor for the actual experience of being in natural surroundings, and as a retreat for contemplation and reflection, the Church at Ronchamp is an inspired example of organic architecture.