Catalog of the exhibition held at the the Vitra Design Museum July 10, 1995-Jan. 21, 1996, and then on tour in Europe, Israel, Japan and the U.S., 1996-2000. Includes numerous documents. Contains biographies of each designer, extensive bibliographic information, and a history of the Vitra Design Museum.

An exploration of the parallel development of product and graphic design from the 18th century to the 21st. The effects of mass production and consumption, man-made industrial materials and extended lines of communication are also discussed.

Iconic Designs is a beautifully designed and illustrated guide to fifty classic 'things' – designs that we find in the city, in our homes and offices, on page and screen, and in our everyday lives. In her introduction, Grace Lees-Maffei explores what makes a design 'iconic', and fifty essays by leading design and cultural critics tell the story of each iconic 'thing', its innovative and unique qualities, and its journey to classic status. Subjects range from the late 19th century to the present day, and include the Sydney Opera House, the Post-It Note, Coco Chanel's classic suit, the Sony WalkmanTM, Hello KittyTM, the typeface Helvetica, the Ford Model T, Harry Beck's diagrammatic map of the London Underground and the Apple iMac G3. This handsome volume provides a treasure trove of 'stories' that will shed new light on the iconic designs that we use without thinking, aspire to possess, love or hate (or love to hate) and which form part of the fabric of our everyday lives.

Mario Pricken hat mehr als 300 Produkte, Objekte und Ereignisse über deren gesamten Lebenszyklus hinweg sorgfältig analysiert, um in seinem neuen Buch erstmals jene Muster offenzulegen, die Dinge besonders wertvoll machen. Dabei hat er 80 Parameter identifiziert, die sich zum Beispiel in den Biografien wertvoller Autos, Uhren, Genussmittel, Designermöbel, Kunstwerke oder Dienstleistungen wiederfinden - etwa Elemente der Einzigartigkeit, der Verknappung, der Wirkung von Zeit oder inszenierter Übergaben. Zudem bietet das Buch einen umfassenden Fragenkatalog als Trigger für eigene Ideen, um Produkten jene Aura zu verleihen, die Begehren auslöst. "Die Aura des Wertvollen" ist gleichzeitig ein Innovationsbuch für kreative Vordenker aus Produktentwicklung, Marketing, Design, Events oder der Kunst sowie Lesestoff für diejenigen unter uns, die wertvolle Dinge schätzen und verstehen wollen, was diese Produkte zu etwas Besonderem macht. Es zielt auf Intuition und Verstand, ist zugleich inspirierend und unterhaltsam und bietet uns eine völlig neue Perspektive auf das Erschaffen, Vermarkten und den Erwerb besonders begehrter Produkte. Dieser Reisebegleiter durch die Welt wertvoller Produkte und Objekte - öffnet anhand von Beispielen aus Wirtschaft, Kunst und Religion sowie vielen Illustrationen den Blick für die grundlegenden Parameter, die unabhängig von Branchen, Produktgruppen, Zeiterscheinungen oder Kulturen Wert erzeugen und Produkte "glänzen" lassen. - lässt sich als Analysewerkzeug nutzen, um die "Wert-DNA" von Produkten einfach und schnell zu bestimmen. - lädt mit mehr als 300 Trigger-Fragen dazu ein, neue Ideen zu entwickeln, um Produkte mit Wert aufzuladen. - weist Profis mit dem 4D-Innovationsprozess einen klaren Weg zur praktischen Anwendung der Werteparameter.

Furniture is a unique witness to the transformations of private and public experience amidst the upheavals of the 20th century. How we work, rest and play are determined by the embodied encounter with furniture, defining and projecting a sense of identity and status, responding to and exemplifying contrasting social conditions, political and economic motivations, aesthetic predilections and debates. Assessing physical and archival evidence drawn from a spectrum of iconic and under-represented case studies, an international team of design historians collaborate in this volume to explore key methodological questions about how the production, consumption and mediation of furniture reveal shifting cultural habits and histories across diverse contexts amidst modernity. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources, this volume presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the period on the themes of Design and Motifs; Makers, Making, and Materials; Types and Uses; The Domestic Setting; The Public Setting; Exhibition and Display; Furniture and Architecture; Visual Representations; and Verbal Representations.

"Institute of History of Art, Architecture & Urbanism, Delft University of Technology--Faculty of Architecture"--P. facing t.p.

The focus of this book is on functional seating, and the key argument presented is that functional seating needs to assist the person using it for the performance of seated tasks, enhance rather than detract from the person's posture and health, and it needs to provide aesthetic features that do not limit task or health. The book spans the period 3000BC to 2000AD and presents largely Western seating. This book is unique in its approach to seating because it draws together evidence that relates to seating that facilitates health and task while also addressing aesthetic factors. This evidence creates an understanding of how seats may be designed to not only promote bodily health but also allow functional optimisation of sitting and seating. This book is important to furniture and industrial designers, interior decorators, architects, those teaching seat design, health professionals attending and educating those who relax or work in the seated position, furniture historians, and members of the general public interested in the history of seating.

The Stedelijk Museum opened its doors in 1895, the same year as the first Venice Biennale. It was a "quiet, civilized museum for the Amsterdam bourgeoisie in a time when there was nothing as troublesome as modern art." Initially, the museum exhibited the legacy of the eccentric Sophia Augusta de Bruyn, Douairire Lopez Suasso: a heterogeneous collection of antiques, coins, jewels, timepieces, silver knickknacks, and other curiosa. Period rooms, from canal houses that had been demolished when Raadhuisstraat was driven through, helped create a presentable whole. The museum's renowned furniture collection was not begun until 1934, but since then it has grown to include more than 1000 objects from circa 1850 to the present, with an accent on the twentieth century. Chairs, settees, tables, folding screens, cabinets, and even complete interiors are included. This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the Stedelijk Museum's furniture collecting activities from 1934 to 2000. It charts the museum's rich collection, which includes work by H.P. Berlage, K.P.C de Bazel, Piet Kramer, Gerrit T. Rietveld, Martin Visser, Piet Hein Eek and Marcel Wanders, as well as international furniture classics designed by Michael Thonet, Charlotte Perriand, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Joe Colombo, Arne Jacobsen, Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck and Ron Arad. Besides a complete overview of the furniture collection, this annotated catalogue includes an introduction to the history of the collection and its exhibition activities. In addition, the volume explores various themes, such as international and Dutch icons, and contrasts and evolutions, in greater depth in a number of short essays.

A counterhistory and new historiography of design. In Design by Accident, Alexandra Midal declares the autonomy of design, in and on its own terms. This meticulously researched work proposes not only a counterhistory but a new historiography of design, shedding light on overlooked historical landmarks and figures while reevaluating the legacies of design's established luminaries from the nineteenth century to the present. Midal rejects both linear narratives of progress and the long-held perception of design as a footnote to the histories of fine art and architecture. By weaving critical analysis of the canon of design history and theory together, with special attention to the writings of designers themselves, she draws out the nuances and radical potentials of the discipline—from William Morris's ambivalence toward industry, to Catharine Beecher's proto-feminist household appliances, to the Bauhaus's Expressionist origins, and the influence of Herbert Marcuse on Joe Colombo.