Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) is widely considered among the most important sculptors and designers of his day. His definition of sculpture was a broad one, and he created not only sculptures, but also designed stage sets, luminaries, furniture and public spaces, effectively bridging the gap between fine arts and the applied arts.
The richly illustrated catalog features among others articles on Noguchi's interiors and furniture, his relationship to Brancusi, his affiliations with the New York art world, the artist's landscape designs, as well as Japanese and American influences in Noguchi's work.
Verner Panton (1926–1998), a Danish designer who resided in Switzerland, was much more than a great master of Sixties Design. While extravagant forms and the use of strong, bright colours are hallmarks of his work, it is evidently grounded in the elegant Functionalism of the 1950s.
And in spite of the creativity and joyful experimentation revealed in his oeuvre, he retained a systematic approach to design throughout his lifetime. His interest was not limited to the production of individual objects, but extended to the development of groups of works and to the design of entire spaces. For this reason, Verner Panton's unusually extensive and diverse work is rightly regarded today as a significant contribution to design history in the second half of the twentieth century.
The designer and architect Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) numbers among the most important and influential designers of the twentieth century. His tubular steel furnishings, including the legendary Wassily chair created by Breuer during his time at the Bauhaus, are the best known today. However, numerous pieces made out of aluminium or bent plywood are also regarded as classics of modern furniture design. During the 1930s, Breuer began a second and highly successful career in the USA as an architect. In addition to numerous private homes, prestigious projects such as the Whitney Museum in New York and the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris attracted international attention.
The retrospective organized by the Vitra Design Museum is devoted not only to Breuer's contributions to twentieth-century design, but also to his diverse architectural oeuvre, which has been largely forgotten during the past decades. The catalogue, which was edited by Alexander von Vegesack and Mathias Remmele, is the first publication to give appropriate consideration to both areas of Breuer's work. It contains essays by renowned experts on Breuer (Joachim Driller, Isabelle Hyman, Otakar Máčel and others) as well as personal statements by I.M. Pei and Robert F. Gatje, a previous associate of Marcel Breuer.
As a key figure in twentieth-century architecture, Le Corbusier had a major influence on the cultural life of his time. The publication “Le Corbusier – The Art of Architecture” presents an overview of his work, which included not only architectural projects, interior design and furniture but also paintings, textiles, sculptures, drawings and books. Essays of well-known Le Corbusier experts examine outstanding aspects in Le Corbusier’s work such as the relation of sculpture and architecture, his work as an interior designer, his fascination with new media and the technical object or his lifelong interest in the Orient.
A richly illustrated biography is showing the huge creative output of a career of more than 60 years. Based on the latest research results, and on a rich choice of previously unpublished material, this book is a comprehensive introduction to Le Corbusier’s work and influences, but also offers new discoveries for the many people already familiar with the work of the “Architect of the Century”.
With his exploration of technical thinking and the objects that arose from this pursuit, Jean Prouvé is one of the major figures in architecture and design of the 20th century. The publication is devoted to his technical and planning-oriented thinking. From the start – first as an ironmonger, then as an industrialist in the heyday of the ateliers in Maxéville, later with CIMT and as an engineering consultant – Jean Prouvé dedicatedly pursued the project of construction “by industry” – as he himself then put it in the title of his book Une architecture par l’industrie (Architecture by Industry).
The volume provides an overview of his technical ideas and concepts, his tools and the production structures he employed, his collaborative work with architects and engineers as well as characteristic projects of his: furniture, buildings and construction systems. Prouvé’s world is not only explored here by the forty-two authors of this volume but is also represented in Prouvé’s own texts and drawings for his lectures at CNAM, the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.
The miniaturisation and networking of computer processors as well as the digitalisation and wireless transmission of data are opening up fully new possibilities for domestic environments. Yet what consequences will this have on residential architecture?
Emerging architectural firms were invited to develop visionary answers to this question. Their extraordinary architectural visions are presented in detail for the first time in this publication. The essays are supplemented by an empirical section providing comprehensive, graphically attractive data on demographic and technical developments that are to shape our living environments in the near future.
“Joe Colombo – Inventing the Future” is the first comprehensive publication on the complete works of Joe Colombo, who died in 1971 at the peak of his career. Colombo was not only one of the most successful industrial designers of his day, having created numerous design classics for companies like Kartell, Zanotta, Stilnovo, O-Luce and Alessi.
He was also one of the most important visionaries of the 1960s. With his forward-looking interiors and living modules, he aimed to anticipate the “environment of the future”. With detailed essays by leading experts on Joe Colombo’s work as well as high-quality reproductions of Colombo’s hand-drawn sketches, floor plans, objects and interiors, this publication shows how Colombo implemented his far-reaching visions of the future in internationally successful, functional design products.
The oeuvre of the American designer couple Charles and Ray Eames is extraordinary in its range and diversity. Their groundbreaking furniture designs, which have remained current and relevant throughout the decades since their creation, play a central role in the Eameses' work. As the sole authorized manufacturer of Eames designs in Europe and the Middle East for the past fifty years, Vitra is commemorating the 100th birthday of Charles Eames with the publication of a book entitled The Furniture of Charles & Ray Eames.
In the introduction, this richly illustrated volume discusses prominent characteristics of the Eameses’ multi-faceted work. The primary focus of the book, however, is on furniture design. Grouped into categories based on materials such as plywood, plastic, wire and aluminium, all of the Eames designs produced by Vitra are presented in detail. Reproductions of vintage photographs and documents accompany explanatory texts which provide in-depth information on the historical background and distinctive structural features of the furniture designs. Contemporary photographs illustrate the aesthetic quality of these objects. The active preservation of Charles and Ray Eames’ legacy is the subject of a dialogue between Rolf Fehlbaum, the Chairman of Vitra, and Charles’ grandson Eames Demetrios, the present director of the Eames Office.
Project Vitra is a comprehensive publication on the history, present and future of Vitra. The copiously illustrated chapters with contributions by Alex Coles, Rolf Fehlbaum, Luis Fernández-Galiano, Deyan Sudjic and Alexander von Vegesack tell stories about the places, products and people connected with Vitra.
Project Vitra also features extensive unpublished material from the Vitra archives, relates the stories behind the furniture and designers and demonstrates the balancing act between cultural ambitions and commercial success. This overview is rounded off by a history of the firm and a comprehensive glossary.
Editors: Rolf Fehlbaum and Cornel Windlin, ca. 394 p., 992 illustrations, 795 in colours. Published by Birkhäuser, Tel. +41 (0)61 205 07 77 sales@birkhauser.ch
The year 2008 marks the 100th birthday of George Nelson (1908–1986), one of the most influential figures in American design during the second half of the twentieth century. Nelson, who earned an architectural degree from Yale, was not only a leading designer and notable architect, but also a prominent author, editor, lecturer, exhibition designer, and a passionate photographer.
The exhibition catalogue accompanies the first comprehensive retrospective of George Nelson's work. With eight essays by German and American design historians, the publication deals with all of the areas in Nelson's oeuvre, many of which are presented here for the first time. The catalogue also includes an illustrated list of works. The majority of illustrations, previously unpublished, come from the Nelson Estate in the Vitra Design Museum Archive.
The collection of the Vitra Design Museum comprises numerous objects and is one of the most significant of its kind. Grouped according to the main topics of technology, construction, reduction, organic design, decoration and furniture programs, the most important collection items spanning 150 years of furniture design are presented in great detail: chairs and armchairs, chaise longues and stools, tables and desks, landscaped interiors and shelves. Copies of the original documents and detailed texts reveal the special feature of each design. The book contains a comprehensive bibliography and biographies of the designers.
Why is a chair a social object? Is sitting a posture dictated by nature? Why do ergonomics often remain a mere catchword? How did the seated society come about? How has the nature of work changed and developed historically? And what findings has Vitra made in its analysis of these and many other questions on the subject of sitting? Growing a Chair provides answers to these and a host of further questions.
Many people may not know or be aware of the wealth of ideas, research, advances, deliberations and inexhaustible expertise that goes into each chair. Growing a Chair opens the door to this treasure-trove of knowledge about sitting. Based on careful, solid research, the book examines the office chair in its social, cultural and historical context. Growing a Chair has rich illustrations and an innovative design. In this work, Vitra thoroughly documents the seriousness of what many view superficially as an everyday object of use and provides an insight into the state of its own research and reflections on this matter in an attractive package.
Living under the Crescent Moon demonstrates the diversity of domestic lifestyles to be found from Morocco to Syria and the Arab Peninsula: from the nomadic tents of the Tuareg or Bedouins to Moroccan casbahs; from the grand courtyard houses in cities such as Marrakesh, Damascus or Cairo, to buildings by twentieth-century architects.
A series of essays and numerous evocative pictures by leading photographers detail functional and fascinating examples of residential architecture alongside solutions for daily tasks and everyday objects. Contributors of articles include Stefano Bianca, Sébastien Boulay, Mateo Kries, Annegret Nippa, Karin Pütt and Eugen Wirth, as well as photos by Deidi von Schaewen, Bruno Barbey, Thierry Mauger, Pascal & Maria Maréchaux.
In addition to its own book publications and books by the Vitra Design Museum, Vitra regularly publishes brochures. The 'Workspirit' brochure, which is produced in conjunction with the biannual office furniture fair Orgatec, offers insights into the conception and design of products for the Vitra office world. On the same occasion, the brochure 'Our Clients' introduces practical applications in the form of completed projects in commercial and public environments. Finally, 'Office Overview' rounds off the trio of brochures accompanying the Orgatec event with a comprehensive overview of the collection of Vitra office furniture.
Vitra Home Collection', an annual brochure that has received many awards since its inception in 2005, provides inspiration for the 'collage' concept of domestic living with exemplary illustrations. Special editions are portrayed in separate brochures, and the story of Vitra from its early beginnings is told in the publication 'This Is Vitra', whose format recalls a newspaper. The variety of brochures, folders and magazines thus produced are an important part of the design process promoted by Vitra in so many different areas.
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