A flat for each family. Relations between the standards of large-panel construction of the 1970s and furniture design in this period as well as the “blocks of flats” interior style on the example of the documentation of IID studied exhibition made in the

Abstract

Katarzyna Rzehak, Mieszkanie dla każdej rodziny. Związki pomiędzy normatywami budownictwa wielkopłytowego lat 70. a projektowaniem mebli w tym okresie i stylem wnętrz „mieszkań w blokach” na przykładzie dokumentacji pokazu studialnego IWP na radomskim Osiedlu Ustronie [A flat for each family. Relations between the standards of large-panel construction of the 1970s and furniture design in this period as well as the “blocks of flats” interior style on the example of the documentation of IID studied exhibition made in the Ustronie housing estate in Radom], edited by W. Bryl-Roman, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo” vol. XLIII: Projektowanie w latach 70. [Designing in the 1970s], Poznań 2017, pp. 127-144, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271.
The aim of the article is to indicate relations between the character and norms of large-panel system building of 1970s and the furniture design of that period, as well as the interior design of “flats in blocks”, based on the documentation of a case study presentation organized by the Institute of Industrial Design at the Ustronie Estate in Radom in 1971. The whole presentation, its complementarity, its attempts of satisfying various needs of families and finding spatial-furniture solutions for twelve “family” variants, shows, on the one hand, the pragmatism of researchers and designers from the Institute of Industrial Design and, on the other hand, their highly “humanistic” approach to the subject matter. Decisions concerning interior design, spatial layouts or used furniture clearly reflect the spirit of functionalism, an attempt of rationalization and subordination of furniture layouts to the spacial layout of the flat, with the greatest possible utilization of the available space and accumulation of functions. However, on the other hand, stylistic unification and the fact that the presentation had a very narrow range of products at its disposal give the egalitarian and mass production impression, which is a stigma of the centrally-governed economy. The discussion covered by the article is based on unpublished source materials coming from the archives of the Institute of Industrial Design.