1950s housing

Style

• open plan
• fitted kitchens
• primary colours
• stacking furniture
• new materials - PVC, Formica, fibreglass, rubber, melamine, aluminium, vinyl, plastics
• abstract, geometric patterns
• animal prints 

Influences

• America - diners, jukeboxes, huge fridges
• the 1930s and modernism
• surrealism - for example, the famous Salvador Dali 'lips' sofa
• scientific research - the structure of DNA was discovered in 1953.   

The names

• Charles and Ray Eames - husband and wife team producing sleek, leather, plywood and plastic furniture
• Robin Day - furniture
• Lucienne Day - fabrics that were originally sold in Heal's
• Arne Jacobsen - furniture such as Egg, Swan and Ant chairs