Craftsman, Workers, Entrepreneurs and Designers: A Change in the Portuguese Furniture of the XX Century.

Abstract

During  the  sixties  and  the  seventies  of  the  XX  century  a  change  occur  in the  furniture  production  ,  in  Portugal.  A slow  process  was  taking  place  and industrialization replaced traditional production.

Part of the rural population  was  abandoning  agriculture  and  moving towards the big cities. This population needed to furnish their apartments, while the middle class and some intellectual elite were changing their life style. Private and public  institutions  understood  this  change  and  gave  their  contribution creating factories to produce modern furniture instead of old fashion furniture. Workshops and factories  needed  to  find  new  concepts.  Thus, craftsmen learned to work with machines. The owners of the factories made an effort to update   the   equipment   and   understood   the   need   to   contract   and work   with designers.  These designers  (who  by  the  time  had  not  realized  they had become the  designers  themselves),  worked  within  a  team  that  included  the owners, craftsmen and workers.