Murphy's bed

eMurphy's bed is an ingenious design when you are designing for small spaces. It was patented in 1916 by William Murphy. It was designed for small spaces. This design was becoming more necessary since more people were moving to cities and living in small apartments. It is a very easy design to use. The thick bars indicate where to pull and what to fold down. It also helps with multi-use for a space. You could have the space function as a living room during the day and then fold out the bed and have it be a bedroom at night. The matress is hidden away in a closet or cabinet. You open the doors and pull the matress down. A support bar flips down at the bottom to provide support. This reveals the subtractive part of the design. There is a hole where the bed used to be. The matress is fastened at each corner by a bolt. There is no room for a box spring matress, so the matress lies on a wire mesh. It is made out of steel bars and then the material for the matress, and wood for the cabinet it sits in. This design I would consider to be more vernacular than high design. It was designed more for function. Over the years Murphy's bed has evolved to include mirrors, lights, and pictures. The cabinets on the side can be used for storage and are usually symmetrical. Murphy's bed is a very practical design and over the years it has been adopted into our culture. It's Multi- function design makes it stilll relevant today and it continues to change as out need for it stays the same.

Contrast: Model for east building Mobile
IN contrast to Murphy's bed this seems to be solely for decoration. It has a flow and a beauty ot it that Murphy's bed does not. It also seems organic. They are made out of different materials and are diaplyed in different ways. The mobile hangs down from the cielng whereas Murphy's bed is attached to the wall. They are also found in different places. The mobile woulld be found in a muesem. Murphy's bed would most likely be found in a samll apartment. There is more of a use for the bed that the mobile, which makes it more functionable.

Comparison: Waterbed
Both of these beds serve the same purpose; something to sleep on. But further than that I feel that they were both designed out of function and not beauty. They take on the same shape and are amde out of similar materials. They have both been adopted by the culture and can be found in every day homes.