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Show Electric lighting among most valuable inventions of 1800s Lighting revolution By CHARLVNE Michael VARKONYI SCHAUB Knight Ridder Newnpaperi Whether you choose to believe the new millennium begins in 2000 or 2001, one thing is certain: 1999 was a landmark year for evaluating the good, the bad and the strange of the past 100 years. In keeping with the retro theme, we asked 12 experts in design, architecture, home renovation and gardening to name the most significant people, events or inventions in their fields. Their answers may surprise you. The pros pointed to icons such as the late J.I. Rodale, founder of Rodale Press in Emmaus, Pa., and Billy Baldwin, the New York designer noted for his clean, simple design. Inventions ranged from electric lighting to the recliner. Others we interviewed preferred to be more abstract, mentioning good design for the masses or a return to homes with a heart. Here are their answers: Mario Buatta, the New York City decorator nicknamed the "Prince of Chintz," pointed to the ubiquitous glass skyscrapers modeled on Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building in New York. "Glass buildings and mirrored buildings disappear into the background," Buatta said. "If they are located in a green area, it makes the area appear even greener. If they are in a highly built up section of New York City or Houston or Miami, they intensify the surroundings. Who wants to see still another cement building or another brick building?" Buatta also mentioned his favorite design personality Billy Baldwin, the Baltimore native who forged his reputation in New York. "He did what Elsie De Wolfe said was great design simplicity, suitability and proportion," Buatta said. "Billy's work was luxury and it was simple. Everything was exactly where you wanted it to be. There was no froufrou in his rooms." Payne, Los Angeles interior designer and host of HGTVs "Designing for the Sexes," sees electric lighting as the greatest influence on interior , design. "In the late 1800s, there were electric lights, but they were unbelievably primitive," Payne said. "Advances in lighting have changed the way people live. Correct lighting has allowed us to function efficiently at night and to create moods. We can work with the equivalent of office lighting or soft romantic lighting. We can highlight art or sculpture." Britt Beemer, senior retail and chairman of analyst America's Research Group in Charleston, S.C., considers the recliner a' great contribution because it gave us a comfortable way to watch television. These days manufacturers have created motion a whole new category furniture that includes everything from reclining chairs to reclining sofas. "Someday someone should write a doctoral dissertation on whether TV would be as successful without the recliner" Beemer with so much personal space that everyone was standing alone. This is the greatest tragedy of this century. As we leave this century, there is a dawning of the understanding that this can't continue." Larry Laslo, New York City decorator, furniture and product designer, lauds design for the masses and the versatility of fabric blends as the most significant contributions. "We now have good design for from the masses on every level Michael Graves (at Target) to Barbara Barry (at Baker Furniture)," Laslo said. "We also have the most incredible innovations in fabrics. Fabrics used to be all cotton, all silk, all wool Now they're not all anything. We even have chenille that you can use ' outdoors. They are incredible." Paul James of Tulsa, Okla., host of HGTVs "Gardening By the Yard," known as the "Gardener Guy" gives credit to the Rodale family, who promoted organic .gardening when no one thought it was cool. The late Robert Rodale and J.I. Rodale of Rodale Press wood at right angles to each other, may become the plywood of the future.) James M. Stephens, professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida and state extension vegetable specialist in charge of educational programs for home gardeners, said hybrid vegetables may hot taste as good as the heirloom varieties, but they have made it easier for the home gardener to be successful. There has been tremendous advancement in the creation of new hybrid vegetables that have higher yields, more uniformity .and more resistance to disease," Stephens said. There is also greater availability of seeds and plants to gardeners." Nancilee Wydra, Vero Beach, Fla., author and founder of the Feng Shui Institute, is more abstract in her analysis, citing the "New Urbanism," which creates neighborhoods with sidewalks and front porches, as a turning point in home design. There is also a restructuring of homes inside so that the home again has a heart," Wydra said. "We have surrounded ourselves said. t Gene Joyner, extension agent for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Cooperative Extension Service, sees CDs that simulate how a garden will grow as a tool that has saved home gardeners from d. making costly mistakes. "CDs have allowed novice gardeners to learn more plant information," Joyner said. "They teach not only the names and types of plants but how to use them in garden design. They can put together a landscape on the computer that is functional and that won't be overgrown in a few years and have to be started over." in u - ' 'i ' i nt Vila's take on wood original host of This Old House" and star and producer of "Bob Vila's Home Again " sees engineered wood products as a boon to home remodeling. "The engineered wood products that have been developed in the last decade like oriented strand board and have been real cool," Vila said. (Some people speculate that OSB, panels made by bonding layers of Bob Vila, The Prcvcrtisl J-- 2 Punch. The remarkable power of newspaper advertising. ItV immediate, credible and indisputable. Direct Mail has a different kind of power. It' personalized and involving. It knows what you're like as well as what you It It- - i (6 like, Effective, each in its own way, their power increases when used in tandem. After all, i bard right hook .wouldn't be ss$ effective without a quick left jab, now, would it? New Homes from $139,900 (Km Say It &l yjJord toll free .L64gATE i ' rr i r 1 'trfrffrutfi; I I I l i it lif In I I ri Print increased people's awareness of natural gardening and farming techniques," James said. "I have been an organic gardening purist for nearly 25 years, and I owe it all to the Rodales. I took a lot of flack over the years, but now I can look back and say, 1 told you so.'." ' Computers speed work Michael Wolk, Miami designer of interiors, furniture and lighting commends the computer as a r for designers. the In past, if I had a concept, I would have had to take a lot of time to render it in different conditions," he said. "Now, with the power and the speed of the computer, in the same morning I can look at 60 different versions of that concept. It brings a lot more choices to the table in a much shorter time frame. Both in interior design and furniture design." Carole Talbott, originator of the Visual Coordination concept, a system that uses existing furnishings to create a more pleasing decor, said the greatest advancement is people's newfound courage to assert their personal tastes. time-save- |