I had to laugh at myself when I saw this Greek key on the floor of the Tampa International Airport. I kept wanting to find a repeating pattern, but there is none! It's completely irregular.
I was in New York City and saw this place setting at the Jonathan Adler store, on Madison Avenue.
As a graphic designer, I'm attracted to the key of this Tory Burch storefront, which is simply his initial repeated. It's a design solution reminiscent of the great English designer, David Hicks.
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| Photo by Van Chaplin | Southern Living |
Here I've recreated tile work I noticed at the entrance to a store in Sarasota, Florida. It could easily be from Pompeii.
And this is a detail of a Pompeian fresco.
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Hello Mark:
ReplyDeleteIt is, indeed, the repetition of the pattern which makes for the effect of the Greek key motif. And however widely interpreted and presented, that is, in our view, an essentail element of any design which employs that particular symbol or idea. Where that is not so, as in the case of the tiled floor of the Tampa Airport, confusion reigns and the result is visually unpleasing and unsettling.
Hello, Jane and Lance - This would not be the first or last time that confusion reigns at an airport!
ReplyDeleteHello Mark, The Greek key motif, probably the most widely recognized design. Agree with Jane and Lance, the airport design, very unsettling but most interesting.
ReplyDeleteHi, Gina - I never tire of this design and all its possibilities! I'm enjoying what your guest students are doing this month.
ReplyDeleteI love Greek Key! But the corners have to be resolved.
ReplyDeleteI think you would appreciate the fretwork design used for framing Chinese wallpaper featured in my current post on a Garden Room I designed in Texas.
The Garden Room with its lattice and fretwork is wonderful, and I've always appreciated the relationship between the Chinese fret and the Greek Key. I've also had the opportunity to look through the Rizzoli book in which you're featured (it's carried in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's bookstore) — congratulations!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. The Greek Key is a fine example of a design which has endured for centuries, perhaps because of its appealing simplicity.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rosemary - And another great thing about the Greek key is that it's open to so many variable designs.
ReplyDeleteI love the 'key' motif on the airport floor. It hits you as Greek, but there's really nothing Greek about it! It's like reranarigng hte ltteers fo wrods adn clalnig ti Enlisgh
ReplyDeleteYse!
ReplyDeleteBecause the Greek key has such a clean, pure, elegant look, it seems suited to things like porcelain, tile floors, and fresh, clean linens. I dislike gimmicky design and change for the sake of change, so I am forever drawn to the Greek key. It is logical and comforting in a world in disarray.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm still not ready to wear a toga.
Hi, Terry - Of course I agree with your sentiment - the Greek key makes everything look crisp and tailored!
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