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Archives at NYSID: an overview: Furniture Design

An introduction to the unique archival collections at NYSID.

Art furniture         Antique reproductions        Human dimensions         Construction drawings          Organic shapes         Small design-business model

 

PROJECT IDEAS:   

  • Comparison of historic chair design/construction with a contemporary design referencing it 
  • Overview of a furniture movement using items from the archives, such as the Memphis Movement

Dennis Miller Associates

    

Founded in 1985 by architect Dennis Miller, Dennis Miller Associates quickly became an important player in the world of high end design "studio" furniture. Both commissioning pieces and acting as an agent of sorts for makers, DMA has collaborated with a wide range of artists over the years, a selection of which are listed below. The company has also reproduced iconic furniture from designers such as Morris Lapidus and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

This is a newly acquired collection for our archives and so has yet to be fully processed and added to our catalog, but there is rich material to study for students of furniture design such as original sketches and drawings, correspondence between artists, workshops and DMA, press and marketing materials.

Morris Lapidus        Clodagh        David Rockwell        Wendell Castle      Ercole   Antoine Proulx    Matthew Hoey--Corian Lounge   Jiun Ho   Korq   Vladimir Kagan

  • Analyze material use and construction techniques and how they have changed over the decades 
  • Compare how different furniture designs relate to the human body

 

Yale Burge Collection

    

Yale R. Burge (1917-1972) was a leading 20th century interior designer and founded both Yale R. Burge Interiors, a firm based in New York City, and Yale R. Burge Antiques, which was an indispensable resource of 18th and 19th Century French and English furniture and accessories for some the nation’s top designers from 1955 to 2013. It was not uncommon for interior designers of Burge’s time to be antique dealers as well. 

In 1960 Angelo Donghia, who had recently graduated from Parsons School of Design, joined the firm. Burge was so impressed with Donghia’s work that in 1966, Burge made him partner and the firm’s name was changed to Burge-Donghia, Inc. The firm designed residences throughout the country, but it is perhaps best remembered for commercial projects such as the world headquarters for PepsiCo, Warner Bros., and the Metropolitan Opera Club at Lincoln Center.

Burge's archives at NYSID include drawings and renderings from his interior design projects, catalogs, drawings and photo documentation of reproduction furniture, press for his business, and awards.