How an industrial style was born?
The industrial style, or industrial if we leave it to its American origins, was born in New York in the 1950s. In the post-war period, there was a need to find new low-cost housing and therefore the re-use of shabby spaces began: factories, offices, business centers, etc. And here on the east coast of the United States a new style is born that is still one of the main styles in modern homes today. The trend took a few years to reach Europe, landing in very alternative cities such as London and Berlin in the 1980s. A symbol of the world-famous industrial style is the famous Factory, Andy Warhol’s studio during the years of the affirmation of his “his of him” pop art. Industrial style, like vintage, tends to be tied to a lifestyle. To furnish a house in this style, you need to spend a lot of time looking for unique and particular pieces.
Industrial design
An industrial environment is an open space in which, given the absence of internal partitions, the load-bearing structure is exposed: it is often made up of reinforced concrete pillars, or, even more frequently, of cast iron balusters.
The rooms are usually very high and often double height, with the presence of mezzanines, which are accessed via iron stairs and in which we find study areas, offices, and sleeping areas. If we are on the top floor of a building, the roof ceiling will have exposed beams, in wood or steel, the systems will be clearly visible
The floors are made with an industrial resin or polished concrete, so as not to have joints and to give a further sensation of continuity. The perimeter walls are left rough, with light plasters in shades of white, cream, dove gray or with salvaged exposed bricks: a true industrial space almost always has a wall with rough bricks or finished with a coat of paint. The windows are very large, precisely to give brightness and air to the rooms: the aluminum frames often have a quadrangular scan with alternating fixed and opening parts. Ferrous metals are clearly the most popular but, to avoid making cold environments, wood and copper are also very suitable. The industrial style coexists with any other decoration, and this is precisely one of its main advantages. If you have a marble fireplace in a living room it won’t clash with exposed brick, metal coffee table and industrial lamps. On the contrary, this anachronistic touch will achieve a very special effect in the living room, bringing a sense of warmth and welcome. Color and light
Before discovering in detail which furnishing accessories to choose to transform your rooms, we want to deepen the discussion of color and light, two essential elements for harmonizing the whole house.
In the industrial style, gray is king. The furnishings, as well as the fabrics and bed linen must take advantage of all the shades of this color. The color palette, however, is also enriched with sober shades such as beige, white and black that blend perfectly with the dominant gray.
The thing that dictates the industrial style most is the exposed skeleton of the infrastructure of the house. This means large spaces, bricks, pipes and exposed beams, very high ceilings, rough walls. Based on the type of home you have, think about these structural choices if you need to do some work and want your home in an industrial style. In addition to these structural features, there are essential elements that will help you furnish in an industrial style:
Floors – when you think about the floors of an industrial house they are usually made of concrete, industrial resins or wood left unfinished. No tiles, marble or terracotta.
STYLE TIP: This style often uses interior windows to separate the spaces of an open floor plan. These are always in the original industrial window style, i.e. with a black metal grille outlining squares.
Metal – The lights are almost always raw and made of metal, like the chairs, tables and many objects.
Colors – Colors in this style tend to be on shades of gray or natural colors. We rarely see colorful industrial spaces.
Copper – copper is another material that is often seen in industrial homes in furnishing, especially in the kitchen. Copper is somewhat reminiscent of the houses of the past and gives a touch of rough chic to the environment
Watches and signs – unfortunately it has now become a real treasure hunt to find the old signs and original factory watches. If you have the patience to comb through shops, markets and perhaps websites on the internet, it is worth looking for the metal signs that were once typical of factories.
