What is Western Design?
December, 2007 Western Design has not been recorded with standard parameters that make it “text” book. It is a design genre without hard and fast boundaries.
Western Design has not been recorded with standard parameters that make it “text” book. It is a design genre without hard and fast boundaries.
Western in the best sense of a definition represents the style of the West. Widely interpreted, that means that it is free spirited, usually utilizing organic forms and natural materials. Western style was borne out of necessity. Furnishings were created to fulfill a need as were fashions. We see into today’s designs the roots of the design genre and the power with which the elements have stood against time.
Materials for furniture that were readily available to the first Westerners continue to be important in the genre: pine, juniper, leather, steel, antler and stone. Plains Indian Designs are also catalysts for western design. Buckskin, hides, beadwork and fur were as essential then as they are now to western fashion. At a time when few possessions could be carried in wagons, horseback or on foot, the pioneers of the West made do with what they could find. They built their own furniture and made their own clothing from materials that were readily available in the region.
Western design is unique in that it is eclectic, many times created from found or recycled materials. It is a genre that supports artists who step outside of the box mixing new materials, testing limits with others.
Western design is a genre that welcomes the outdoors in and embraces the lifestyle of the West.
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