What is Contemporary design

Definition of Contemporary

The dictionary defines contemporary as (1) living or occurring at the same time, or (2) belonging to or occurring in the present. Simply put, contemporary at its core refers to things “of the moment.”

How is Contemporary Design Different from Modern Design?

It’s interesting to note that many people use the words “modern” and “contemporary” interchangeably when referring to design; however, this is not quite accurate. Modern design generally refers to design of the mid-1900s. Characteristics such as natural materials, expansive neutrals with pops of color, and clean, low lines are all part of modern décor.

Contemporary, however, refers to décor that is much more current. Even designs that were contemporary in the 2000s may no longer be considered contemporary but rather vintage. In five or ten years from now, contemporary design will likely have a different look and feel than contemporary design today. Where modern design has a specific look and feel, contemporary design is ever-changing, due in part to the availability of (new) materials and pieces.

How does Contemporary Design Relate to Other Styles?

Because contemporary design is always evolving, it easily relates to other styles no matter what they are. A space of almost any given style can have contemporary elements due to the very nature of contemporariness – that is, as a space’s design changes to accommodate the shifting preferences, tastes, and needs of the people who live there, that evolution inherently creates a contemporary space.

Contemporary + Modern – Contemporary spaces can still (and often do) incorporate modern elements and pieces. To make these spaces truly contemporary, however, the modern pieces (e.g., low sofa, shag rug) are mixed with other non-modern elements (e.g., concrete floor, graffiti-type wall mural).

Contemporary + Traditional – Traditional furnishings take on a contemporary look and feel when they are combined with lighter elements. For example, blonde wood, an ombre rug, and a light grey color bring a decidedly contemporary vibe to this traditional-inspired sofa seating with its curves and tufting.

Contemporary + Eclectic – Eclectic styles seem inherently to incorporate doses of contemporary design, simply because their mix-and-not-match attitude is embraced in the world of contemporary décor. Combine a vintage mid-century sofa with an Ikea coffee table and a Moroccan rug for an example of this concept. And singular pieces can be both eclectic and contemporary simultaneously, like this freshened up retro rocker.

Contemporary + Rustic – A wood-heavy design can be brought into a contemporary design realm with a few strategic inclusions, such as plenty of clean straight lines (which juxtapose, and show off, the wood grain beautifully) and cozy layers in neutral colors.

What Are Contemporary Design Elements

Of course, the dynamic nature of contemporary design makes this section time-locked. But, today, we’ll do our best to showcase what types of design elements are contemporary touches.

Neutral, masculine color palette – Feminine elements don’t tend to take root in contemporary design; rather, the overall effect is more muted, mature, and masculine. This is particularly true of the color palette.

Sleek, clean lines – Contemporary design is grounded; nothing here feels over-the-top.Super decorative items are omitted in favor of simplicity and cleanliness in contemporary forms. This includes low, simple sofas.

Colorful and/or oversized art – Softer art may be mixed in to a contemporary art gallery wall, but what creates a contemporary feel is the inclusion of oversized, often colorful, pieces or a geometric wallpaper backdrop that READS as oversized art.

Clever storage solutions – Contemporary design is all about smart, hidden, and/or unexpected storage solutions. This includes architectural storage solutions, such as behind or inside of walls, as well as furniture-based storage, such as the drawers camouflaged in the sculptural elements on these side tables. So pretty and functional!

Tailored, or nonexistent, skirts – A simple, clean aesthetic when it comes to fabrics bespeaks contemporary design – keep the ruffles and excess fabric at bay. This tailored black bed frame wrap is a completely contemporary touch.

Color blocking – Color that makes a space look and feel fresh, new, and inviting is generally part of a contemporary scheme. Color blocking is a common way to carry this out via a contemporary space’s accents, such as painting the ends of a rustic wooden table with white blocks of color.

Black and reflective accents – Chrome or nickel finishes, glass and mirrors, ebony wood and other materials – these are accents that typically feel right at home in contemporary design. A glass coffee table, for example, is a perfect complement to a low-slung, simple black sofa in a contemporary space. A monochromatic black kitchen with variations of shine is also uber-contemporary.

Cozy, comfortable layers – Residing somewhere between the minimalism that’s found in modern interiors and the often-excessive elements of traditional, cottage, and other styles, is contemporary layering. The focus of this layering is generally to incorporate friendliness and spontaneity into a space with ho-hum tendencies.

Patterns – Classic and geometric pattern plays an important role in contemporary design today. This colorful low seat and ottoman set, for example, incorporates a subtle contemporary vibe with its diagonal striped weave.

A work-in-progress – As you know by now, contemporary design is ever-evolving. It shifts subtly over time, but it is never “finished,” never static. This is a key component of what contemporary design is.

What Contemporary Design Is Not

Before we set out to quantify certain design elements that are not innately contemporary, there’s a caveat: Each of these discussion points can actually be part of contemporary design. While this seems like an oxy moron, it actually makes sense because of the ever-evolving scope of contemporary design. So, the points below may or may not appear in contemporary spaces, and their presence or absence does not in and of itself qualify the space’s contemporary-ness.

It’s not…bright pops of color. Whereas modern design thrives on neutral expanses with pops of bold color, contemporary design uses this less. Tones and shades of similar hues are more likely to be found in contemporary design, such as the brown and grey neutrals of this dining area – large wooden table with brown leather chairs.

It’s not…feminine. Sleek, it definitely is. Casual and inviting, sure. Even light and airy at times. But contemporary design draws the line when it comes to feminine design elements. It’s more substantive and grounded than that, as a rule.

It’s not…inherently minimalistic. While contemporary interiors thrive on a foundation of clean lines, contemporary design itself does not require minimalism. For example, the organic basket weave around this hanging chair, makes for warm, textural, and interesting contemporary décor.

It’s not…static.As you are aware by now, contemporary design is anything but static. Although it’s quite comfortable in its own skin (if you have contemporary tastes, you like what you like right now, regardless of reference to past design), universal contemporary design is ever-evolving, sometimes slowly and sometimes not.

It’s not…over the top. Contemporary interiors prefer to not call attention to any one past design era; rather. In fact, these interiors prefer to show themselves in calm and collected maturity of presentness, with nothing glaringly reminiscent or futuristic.

History of Contempory design

There is some confusion about Modern vs. Contemporary as idioms of design.  Strictly speaking, the words can have the same meaning, depending on the context but when referring to architecture and design, they can take on other connotations.

Modernism really refers to a period of design that began with the Arts & Crafts Movement of 1875 and evolved through several eras until it ended with Post-Modernism of the early 1980’s.

Contemporary means, “of the same period, or at the present time” and is, by definition always evolving and changing rather than being fixed to a specific set of aesthetic characteristics or values.  What is contemporary today will be history in the future, but modernism refers to the minimal functionalism of the 20th Century.

Modernist Design movements occurred sequentially over the 20th Century.  Each was a reaction to or a rejection of the aesthetic, political and lifestyle characteristics that preceded it.  Here is a brief outline of some of the important and better-known design movements of Modernism.

Arts & Crafts  1875-1915   The Arts & Crafts movement began in Britain as a reaction to the de-humanizing effects of the late 19th century industrialization.  The movement embraced craftsmanship and the integrity of simple functional forms and evolved through the American experience of the Mission period and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School.

Art Nouveau   1880-1910   Sensuous, organic forms, whiplash lines and exaggerated embellishments inspired by nature characterized this movement with influence from the art of Japan.
This new ornamentalism, the first popular style of the 20th Century, reached its height in the U.S with the amazing glass work of Louis Tiffany.

Wiener Werkstatte   1903-1933    The Vienna Workshop consisted of one hundred artisans producing hand-made metal craft in a “reductive style” of early minimal modernism.  Its evolution to florid, organic elements suggested the origins of what would soon follow in the Art Deco Movement.

De Stijl   1917-1928    De Stijl, Dutch for “The Style”, straight-lined and bold geometric forms formed a mostly theoretical approach to design by architects and artists who were focused on the creation of a universal style in architecture design and the graphic arts.

Bauhaus School   1919-1933    Was at core of the modern movement and the  fundamentalist design and social ethic of ”form follows function.”  The Bauhaus ideology embraced the notion of straight-forward, honest, functional design and was an extension of the principals of Arts & Crafts, except that it advocated manufacturing for the masses through the use of machine fabrication.  The Bauhaus represented the critical connection between the decorative arts and industrial design and projected its pathos into what would become the origins of the modern, glass-walled skyscraper.  Walter Gropius, founder of the school, went on to teach architecture at Harvard.  Mies van der Rohe, regarded by most as the father of modern architecture, was a product of the Bauhaus and perhaps the most important architect of the modern era, worked in New York and finally in Chicago.

The International Style   The 1950’s and 60’s rejected the deco eclectic aesthetic for the straight lines, solid geometry and crisp edges.  International style was represented by flat roofs and a “straight forwardness” approach to unconscious style, characterized by egalitarian, pluralist ideals.

Late Modernism   1960’s-1983    A period of “fast track” ubiquitous modern sameness of mega buildings of minimal style and impersonal office tower architecture.  It was fueled by the money of corporate America driven by an obsession with speed and overbuilding scale at the expense of design quality.   It was the product of “super-sized” architectural firms like Skidmore, Owens & Merrill and Johnson Burgee, who needed to keep the design machines fueled with billions of dollars of construction projects. The attempts to reconcile scale, speed and boredom evolved into a vernacular of exaggerated and articulated “sculpturalism” of  the “skin & bones.”  The failure of Late Modernism is typified by the supermarket atmosphere of consumption of the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Post-Modernism   1977-1990’s    Reacting to sameness, the absence of individualism, humanism and the sense of uniqueness of place, Post-Modernism emerged as a hybrid of Modernism and historical reference.  Reintroducing Ornamentalism, color and often-exaggerated traditional architectural elements, the architects of the late 70’s and early 80’s evolved a more textural, interesting and humanistic style.  Michael Graves, Robert AM Stern, Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi lead a host of other talented designers broke from the machine aesthetic  to embrace a style of eclectic historic reference and modern scale.  It was a liberating experience for the mid-century modernists universally trained as Miesian disciples.

Contemporary Design   2000-Now    Liberated from the constraints of the modern dogma of functionalism and the machine esthetic, today’s contemporary designers reach for new insight from Tech to Tuscan.  Contemporary design comes from a spirit of individualism and international influences, from Kenzo to Gehry.  Contemporary is eclectic, modern, traditional, expressional, urban, environmental, sculptural, cultural and global.  It crosses the traditional boundaries of time and space.  It is very much a valid hybrid drawn from the “super-abundant” available information and influences of “The World Village.”