[rollei_list] Re: Another question about recent Rollei TLRs
- From: Kirk Thompson <thompsonkirk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Rollei List <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 22:49:46 -0800
Thank you, Carlos the first illustration is PERFECT because it is exactly the
same in its formal aspects as the gorgeous 'F&H' logo engraved on the top cover
of my Old Standard lens cap.
(I think what you're calling 'art nouveau,' however, is what I referred to as
'art deco.' Alphonse Mucha and the designs of the old Metro entrances are
classic art nouveau, the more flowery and florid style that thrived at the turn
of the [previous] century; whereas the spare & formal style of the first
illustration is a classic example of of the art deco style of the 1920s.)
At any rate, the classic Rolleis, exhibiting what Prochnow called the
'engineers' design,' strike me as the best of all examples of the Bauhaus ideal
of Form matching and mating with Function.
This is at the heart of my attachment to Rolleis. If I just wanted to take
sharp square pictures, I'd use a Mamiya 6. But nothing looks/feels/functions
like a Rollei with its vintage lenses.
Thx again,
Kirk
> Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2012 01:05:13 -0300
> Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Another question about recent Rollei TLRs
> From: cmfreaza@xxxxxxxxx
> To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> 2012/1/1 Kirk Thompson <thompsonkirk@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> > ...
> > Here I am, wandering off my own topic, but: Having just mentioned Rolleis
> > and Modernism, I wonder if thre's any source that discusses Rollei aesthetic
> > development?? I recently read the whole Philips book, and he surveys all
> > sources re: the engineering, but says nothing about their gorgeously
> > evolving external form. IMO the Old Standard is a masterpiece of art deco
> > design (even more so than the embellished and 'officially' Art Deco
> > Rolleicord); and the Automat is my favorite example of
> > before-and-after-the-war industrial Modernism. Any references about this?
> > In English or French – my German is just too rusty?
>
> The Rolleiflex Standard front panel design was the Rollei TLR
> (Rolleiflex and Rolleicord) aesthetic seal from 1932 up to today, it
> gave to the camera a timeless style with the curved lines for two of
> the four front panel sides, this design has an Art Nouveau pattern
> clearly. The Rolleiflex Standard was a very significant improvement
> regarding the Original model from several points of view, Reinhold
> Heidecke was the main designer for this camera but I don't know if he
> also had to do with the aesthetic design, at least he approved it.
> The Standard film transport mechanism has two big gears that recall
> the clock gears in the photograph as you someway suggested in your
> post. The Automat ( a major improvement for the camera mechanics) up
> to the currents FX/FW/FT keep the Standard front panel design, the
> 1937 Automat adopted the Modernism for the plate name and script and
> simplified the aesthetic design for the viewfinder hood, this
> simplified style for the hood was kept up to today. Claus Prochnow
> writes in the Report I that "... In the thirties, the designers had
> laid the groundwork for the unmistakable exterior of the Rolleiflex,
> which I would like to call the "engineers design". It used design
> elements, such as the rounded corners above and below the lenses, very
> sparingly. The resulting shape was timeles..."
> I quote two URLs with Art Nouveau patterns where you can identify the
> Rollei TLR front panel design without doubts:
> http://www.marcels-kid-crafts.com/images/artnouveau2.jpg
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eliseev_mag1.jpg
>
> Carlos
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