Dear Snoops,
George Nelson’s 1957 book “PROBLEMS OF DESIGN” – that's where we’ll begin today, with his idea of SUBSCAPES. A.K.A. the underworld of furniture, i.e. BENEATH THE TABLETOP. This is a very compelling space and serves as a nice counterpart to our ode to REARRANGING (i.e. the “surfacescape”).
In “Problems…”, George (a tippity top tier industrial designer) presents INCREDIBLE insights such as:
“WHEN A ROOM IS FULL,
EMPTINESS MAY SHOW UP IN THE LIVES OF ITS OCCUPANTS.” (AMEN!)
“… the expansion of wealth and free time has done two things to today’s house: it has increased the number and kinds of possessions to the point where traditional storage devices are overwhelmed [… and then #2 is dull]”
Bold words from a maker of STUFF. Here he is, with a selection of said stuff:
ASIDE:
Does anyone else see this?
BACK TO THE BOOK!
The book, which is totally superior, was borrowed from the Los Angeles Public Library (* you know there’s a sign there that reads “A HOLE IS TO DIG, A BOOK IS TO LOOK AT” and we’re obsessed). In it, there is a compelling little essay on “SUBSCAPES” - which was a favorite essay of paper-lamp-master-and-so-much-more, the super-brain ISAMU NOGUCHI (just to give the essay some added authority).
We highly approve of this essay.
We must learn, FOR SCALE begs, to appreciate “THE LOWEST ZONE IN THE ROOM” (as he puts it). WE BEG YOU.
And, in fact, we’re feeling like there is renewed attention to the LEG in this day and age, thankfully moving beyond “tapered wood” (which dominated this recent Scandi takeover), the dreaded HAIRPIN (as above), or what Nelson describes as “fat little nubbins”.
However, we credit/blame the LEGLESS to this transition into PRO-LEG LEG DIVERSITY in furniture.
This probably has a lot to do with how EXHAUSTING the following sofas have become, because of their viral popularity:
The TOGO
The CAMALEONDA
(And we know people who HAVE BOTH!)
N.Y.C. SUBSCAPES OUTING OPPORTUNITY:
In terms of LEGS THAT DO MATTER, if you are in NEW YORK CITY, we recommend an exhibition on SUBSCAPES at the Noguchi Museum (i.e. an exhibition on how much Noguchi got off on furniture legs) that runs until September. His famous coffee table is, for example, displayed on a tall, tall plinth. But here it is instead, in décor context:
CO-CONSPIRATORS
IN THE FURNITURE LEG COVER-UP:
AGAIN, ACCORDING TO THE ENLIGHTENED GEORGE NELSON, here is a definitive list in those complicit in IGNORING the critical role of the subscape:
Furniture builders, who hide legs whenever possible, or through over-stuffed, over-coiled cushions squeeze legs into aforementioned “fat little nubbins”
Photographers, whose cameras are always min. 4 1/2 feet off the ground at all times
Critics (NOT US THOUGH!) who are “generally barred from the zone by their extreme physical laziness” (tho we are LAZY!)
Furniture users – this is where it gets interesting – who are either:
Standing, ergo looking each other at eye level
Lying down, ergo ceiling-gazing
Sitting, and busying themselves with “paper, television or a glass”
We can only assume that the LEG will be totally and utterly forgotten upon mass adoption of that AR *pple headset – the greatest assault on décor since the fluorescent tube lights. Décor is reduced to DESKTOP WALLPAPER.
NOTES ON A COMING SUBSCAPE RENAISSANCE
We shan’t be presenting a hierarchy of legs (RIP Tina Turner), especially not in the décor world. That’s for you to come up with yourselves, but we will say this:
The annihilation of The Leg (re: Togo; Camaleonda as above) is an attempted denial of subculture – the “mass” of furniture, as the Mass of society, is far more susceptible to fraying without the levity of a subscape/subculture (HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!)
The over-simplification of The Leg (re: the spindly skinny kind in particular) is an attempt to bind the subscape into the realm of the “elegant”. A little elegance is fine, but all-spindly results in Royal Palace-level mega-formality. Some of the subscape should be robust or even wacky
Here is some “NEW” that suggests the avant-garde of interiors obsessives is finding delight in an energized underworld. From the April 2023 W*rld of Interi*rs, this is the exceptionally eclectic apartment of DAVID HASKELL, and the wonderfully fulfilling experience you might have crawling around it on all fours:
And the best of the best exciting new designers are also really into BELOW THE WAIST stuff. HERE ARE SOME NEW GREATS, to show that within the last 10 minutes, there has been attention paid to THE BASE:
N.B. That Bottom Right chair there is set to be launched at a little party in Los Angeles on 24 June, from 4-7pm at 1701 FREMONT AVE 91030. SEE YOU THERE!
There is truly a MASSIVE HISTORY of exceptional legs in Stuff, of course. So, we shan’t really give a survey. But here are some CATEGORIES TO EXPLORE. Key word some – because it’s nearly Infinity options here.
Slim and metal
A great way to start out, not at all experimental but nonetheless better than just four f*cking dumb pegs again and again forever
Transparent
You can refer back to our “KINK” issue for the reasons why this is conducive to quite an erotic interior, but is this not enough evidence, really?:
Functional
For those that feel like the underworld of furniture is really an untapped resource for The Storage Of Things, but also don’t want just “Things With Shelves” (which we’ve avoided discussing here)
Bonus: actually in-ground sh*t:
This is a Montessori School in Delft in the 1960s. Kids get all the good stuff, don’t they!
Unti next time, LOVE AND GOOD LUCK!
curious about how the subscape paradigm might fit into a non-western context, where people may be more prone to low-to-the-ground or outright on the floor seating and the like