Living rooms are focused on relaxing or entertaining and typically are centered around one piece of furniture: the coffee table. While people want to reflect their individuality and style in their décor, they often need comfortable and functional furniture in their living rooms. Styles are wide and varied, so there are many options from which to choose; often, people opt for the hip and retro look of the Modern furniture.
The Noguchi table dates from the art deco twenties to the pop-art seventies, and the term retro typically denotes the innovative forms of the forties through the sixties. The best-known retro furniture can be seen in the forties, fifties, and sixties and no matter the decade one will always recognize the retro style. Identifiably, retro is about the form: clean lines, organic shapes, and modular capabilities. Post World War II materials advancements resulted in fiberglass and synthetic lacquered pieces.
Retro coffee tables were often designed because families were adopting a more casual atmosphere into their homes. After the war, the interior landscape became more relaxed and people were looking for furniture that was different from their parents’ generation, furniture that utilized new forms and new materials. Designers often used different materials like plastic, steel, and plywood in their designs. The materials allowed for different and unique new forms, allowing for mass production and durability.
The ubiquitous Isamo Eileen gray table, designed in the forties, is comprised of a “free form” glass top supported by two identically sculpted pieces of wood pinned together at an angle to form the base is a well-known retro coffee table. Another is by Harvey Probber, called the Nuclear Table, and it is a good example of the casual lifestyle that families desired to incorporate into their homes. This table offers a variety of forms with its two half circle shapes that can be place together to form a circle, can be lined up to give an ‘S’ shape, or can be stacked on top of each other to give height. The well-known Tulip Table by Eero Saarinen is another innovative retro design. The signature table is defined by its pedestal base which eliminated the “clutter” of multiple legs.
In today’s contemporary furniture one can see inspiration from the classic retro style’s of yesterday. For instance, Paul Frankl’s Big Foot coffee table from the 1940’s, with its amorphic shape, is reminiscent of Zaha Hadid’s futuristic designs. Whoever the owner, a retro coffee table, with its innovative forms and materials, can offer a sleek and elegant, yet fun way to liven up one’s living room.