Ancient Modern: A New Concept in Home Design: During the endless hours, I sit in my antique store, I hear the same thing over and over again: “I’m looking for a cherry piece to match my cherry furniture on my cherry floor in my cherry house.” As accommodating as I try to be, my mind is screaming – live a little!”
I appreciate it’s not my place to tell you how to design your house, so I will merely introduce you to a relatively recent concept in home design. It has been given the title Ancient Modern. It is simply the combination of Antique and Modern design within the same space.
The immediate assumption is that one must live in a contemporary house to implement this style. Not true. Europe is full of 17th & 18th Century houses filled with modern design. It is the incorporation of the opposite that makes the effect so dynamic. The whole principle is that the age and style of the exterior of a building should not be an indication of the aesthetic within it.
Often I find myself in a recently decorated house and am asked to sit down while the host prepares dinner. I walk into the dining room and peer into a dimly lit room with heavily fauxed walls. I squint a little more and see a perfect glossy hardwood floor with a rug that matches the wall color. After 8 or 9 minutes, I am finally able to distinguish a dining chair that also matches. Now, where’s the table?
The Ancient Modern style reverses the scenario, taking us to a place where space becomes a light, balanced coexistence between the old and the new elements. Now the focal point becomes the furniture, art, and accessories. When remodeling, it is rarely necessary to go as far as the “white box” ideal. Instead, work with the existing raw materials in a positive way but without predetermining the final design aesthetic. Generally, the idea is to simplify the space without removing any interesting architectural features, maintaining historical correctness while creating the canvas for your personal expression. Examples of this may be bare bricked walls flanked by perfect flat white walls, or distressed painted wood floors against stainless steel fittings.
With the creation of a light, balanced space, you are now free to experiment with your design. Firstly, it is important to know the distinction between Ancient and Modern. The general rule, although it may not be an academic endeavor, is the beginning of the Machine Age in roughly 1910. Prior to this date are many periods of different antique styles depending on the period and provenance – for example Rococo, Empire, Jacobean and Neo-Classical. After the introduction of machinery, the manufacture of furniture became significantly easier, creating mass production with new materials. These influences significantly changed the look of the contemporary home, but it was not until the mid-century that modern furniture fully matured. I would like to take this opportunity to point out to people who try to sell me “Ancient” furniture made in the “Modern” period that these pieces fall into neither category; please look in the Yellow Pages under “we buy used furniture.”
It is interesting and equally important to understand the history of furniture design and how the ancient form has influenced the modern. For example, Mies van der Rohe’s influence for the Barcelona chair was a Roman magistrate’s chair, and how many modern designs are visible in the straight lines of 19th Century Shaker furniture or even Mission? These modern designers took the templates of ancient furniture and moved them to the next level in line with cultural and manufacturing developments. Please note that these designs are “influenced by” and not “reproductions of.” There is a large difference.
Maintaining the Ancient Modern theme, we must deal with the obvious, beginning with the ancient. Whether you are aware of it or not, you already love antiques. Almost every piece of furniture you possess is a reproduction of an antique. If it is an old piece of furniture, it is a revival of a specific antique style. If it is a true antique, congratulations – you are already ahead of the game. The deciding factor in your choice of antique furniture should be as simple as walking around antique stores until you see a piece which you are drawn to and fall in love with. I feel I must mention function (although I hate function), but I guess everything – including furniture – needs to have a specific purpose.
Antique furniture comes in many forms, and although most antiques will work in the correct place, the most effective styles are those which give the greatest contrast to the light, sleek modern designs. A Sheraton sideboard, as lovely as it is, does not give the same degree of impact when flanked by a pair of Marcel Breuer’s “Wassily” chairs as it does when flanked by a dark oak, Gothic-style court cupboard. The deep colors and rich patina of antique furniture cause the eye to be thrown between the opposing textures of the room, bringing attention to every piece rather than blending all pieces to create a singular space. In this context, Ancient is not limited to fine antique furniture, but also incorporates that old painted chair with the damaged arm and worn seat, which you own simply because you love the shape or it has some sentimental value. Placed in the correct spot, the chair can create the desired effect.
It is endlessly baffling to me that in a world so rich in history and one which reads so many home design magazines — many of which feature antique furniture — many people still possess no antiques. I will never suggest a home should be filled with antiques, but the character of an antique cannot be replicated and gives that much-needed link with the past. In any design aesthetic, to be unique is very important and antiques are the easiest way to achieve that. If I have a beautiful 19th Century French bombé chest in my store, no matter how much you plead, I cannot get you a second. Every antique you purchase, regardless of its provenance, is now unique to you and should be a reflection of your personal style and character.
With inspiring new concepts, designers like Mies van der Rohe, Charles Eames and Arne Jacobsen, along with architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry and John Pawson, set the standard and defined the word “modern”. Their progressive designs broke the mold of 20th Century design and gained a following among modern thinkers. They were able to use new, previously unavailable, materials such as aluminum, tubular steel, and bent plywood, creating a new canvas to work upon and an obvious division between ancient and modern. These designs led to the Modernist Movement of the 1930s and brought about numerous new radical designs. Modern furniture continues in production, alongside the mainstream, with design companies like Giorgetti, Riva, Gamma, Planum, and Decca, which are all available at Bograd’s. The original signature designs are highly collectible and fetch remarkably high prices, but like all good things, reproductions are readily available. As with the Ancient, Modern also translates into lighting, fittings, art, and textiles and any space can be accessorized within the Ancient Modern theme. You can even include ethnic artifacts, which in a traditional setting, fail to attract attention or look out of place.
With a brief explanation of the Ancient and Modern concepts, we can now look at how the two vastly different styles can be incorporated within one environment. When decorating, people generally focus on one theme without considering the dramatic effect created when two periods are mixed. This merging of styles is based on the principle of juxtaposition and connection. Without going into great lengths, it is about creating the opposite, while maintaining your own vision. Try this: close your eyes and clear your mind. Picture a white dining room with wooden plank floors. Hanging from the center of the room is a 19th Century bronze and crystal chandelier. Below is an English 18th Century oak dining table. Around the table are eight white and chrome Arne Jacobsen chairs. Behind the table is a Chinese red lacquer buffet. Above the buffet hangs a large, unframed abstract oil on canvas. Flanking the buffet are two Alexander Roux Gothic armchairs (5’ tall). In one corner stands a Noguchi modern floor lamp and in the other an English Georgian corner cabinet. On the table is a set of Georg Jensen flatware around Staffordshire plates centered with a large Murano glass vase. Behind you is a large gilt-framed mirror above the fireplace. Sitting at the table are Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe … maybe I’m going too far, but hopefully you have an image in your mind which is far more interesting than a matching dining room set from Pottery Barn.
Interior design is all about self-expression. Hopefully, I have given you an insight into a new and easily achievable aesthetic, which allows you to show off your love of design and your personal individuality. The idea is not to match, but to place each piece in a location where the beauty of the item is showcased against an opposing backdrop rather than lost in a blender of color. If you are looking for a way to break from the mainstream without wearing your partner’s clothes in public, this may be a good place to start. Let your house be a place that reflects you, your own love of design, and your unique character, not your neighbors’ or parents’.
Originally published in ASPIRE Magazine
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