BIEDERMEIER, ACANTO’s favourite style

BIEDERMEIER STYLE CURIOSITIES:

Originally from Austria and Germany during the years 1815 and 1848; It emerges with simplicity compared to the opulence of the Empire style and the Neoclassical. It comes along with a new social class: the bourgeoisie, responsible for creating a great demand for housing, furniture and decorative objects, according to their lifestyle and their attitude to cultivate themselves privately in the domestic life; This caused some furniture to take on new roles, for example the occasional table, instead of an isolated centerpiece, became the family table, around which the chairs were set for evening activities.

“It comes along with a new social class: the bourgeoisie, responsible for creating a great demand for housing, furniture and decorative objects, according to their lifestyle and their attitude to cultivate themselves privately in the domestic life”

All this new lifestyle was reflected in the Biedermeier furniture, in origin, simple and functional and elegant lines, where the use of walnut veneer predominates painted in olive colour.

This style re-emerged successfully at the beginning of the 20th century and, over time, the Biedermeier style was idealized: The straight lines became curved and serpentine, emphasizing the geometric shapes; Simple surfaces became more and more adorned beyond the natural materials; The humanist form became more fantastic; And the textures became experimental. However, the original focus on lightness, practical and individuality characterized a revival of the Biedermeier style during the mid-sixties.

THE WAY WE ARE INSPIRED BY THE BIEDERMEIER STYLE:

Many of the Acanto designs have been inspired by the Bierdermeier Style. We have been passionate about simplicity and elegance, but also of the quality, and from the beginning we believed that this style conveyed to our furniture all these qualities. Functionality and design together with flawless finished. This style has in many occasions something very hypnotic, although its forms are simples, the point of seeing so clearly the wood grains, its changes, movements or depth… it is fascinating. It is like if each piece of furniture were a painting prepared to be discovered.

“We have been passionate about simplicity and elegance, but also of the quality, and from the beginning we believed that this style conveyed to our furniture all these qualities. Functionality and design together with flawless finished.”

This style allowed us to always create unique and exclusive pieces.

Anything else…

Something very distinctive of this style in some occasions is the great contrast created between the veneers of walnut, cherry or birch and the details in ebonized wood. In Acanto Acanthus we have adapted this distinctive using the olive veneer (instead of birch), cherry  or walnut and we have changed the details of the ebonized wood by wood dyed in black.

In this post we show you some of our pieces, designed by Vicente Cardells (designer and founder of ACANTO), and some images, in which he annotated and drew, and in which he could be inspired for his creative process.