Best Design Books

Book Review: Best Years of Arts and Architecture 1945-49

December 17, 2016

Book Review: Best Years of Arts and Architecture 1945-49 – From the end of World War II until the mid-1960s, exciting things were happening in American architecture. Emerging talents were focusing on innovative projects that integrated at once modern design and low-cost materials. The trend was most notably embodied in the famous Case Study House Program, a blueprint for modern habitation championed by the era’s leading American journal, Arts & Architecture. See also: Book Review: GUCCI New Book – Blind For Love The complete facsimile of the ambitious and groundbreaking Arts & Architecture was published by TASCHEN in 2008 as a limited edition. This new curation—directed and produced by Benedikt Taschen—brings together all the covers and the highlights from the first five years of the legendary magazine, with a special focus on the Case Study House Program and its luminary pioneers including Neutra, Schindler, Saarinen, Ellwood, Lautner, Eames, and Koenig. A celebration of the first brave years of a politically, socially and culturally engaged publication, this special selection is also a testimony to one of the most unique and influential events in the history of American architecture. David F Travers is the former editor and publisher of Arts & Architecture,…

The essential guide: Design of the 20th Century by Taschen Books

June 6, 2014

Charlotte&Peter Fiell have written numerous Taschen books,including1000 Chairs, Design of the 20th Century, Industrial Design A–Z,Scandinavian Design, Designing the 21st Century, Graphic Design for the 21st Century,1000 Lights and Contemporary Graphic Design. They also edited Taschen’s Decorative Art series and the 12-volume domus 1928-1999. From Art Noveau to minimalism and everything in between Design of the 20th Century (published by Taschen) shows clearly that the previous century was marked by momentous changes in the field of design. Aesthetics entered into everyday life with often staggering results. Our homes and workplaces turned into veritable galleries of style and innovation. From furniture to graphics, it`s all here – the work of artists who have shaped and recreated the modern world with a dizzying variety of materials. From the organic to the geometric, from Art Deco, through to Pop and High-Tech, this book contains all the great names – Harry Bertoia, De Stijl, Dieter Rams, Philippe Starck, Charles and Ray Eames, to name only a very few. This essential book is a comprehensive journey through the shapes and colors, forms and functions of design history in the 20th century. An A-Z of designers and design schools, which builds into a complete picture of contemporary living. Lavishly illustrated, this is design in the fullest sense. “This is…

The Story of Eames Furniture

January 10, 2013

Charles and Ray Eames, two American legendary designers, who have worked in several art areas, from architecture to furniture and from fine art to film industry, have now their story printed in a unique 2-volume, 800-page book, with more than 2,500 images. Marilyn Neuhart together with her husband John Neuhart tell The Story of Eames Furniture — to paraphrase Charles Eames himself — of how Eames furniture got to be the way it is. Both have worked at the Eames Office in various capacities since the 1950s. They have looked after the house of Charles and Ray Eames since the designers’ deaths and have supervised the Eames Archive. More familiar with the material and protagonists than almost any other, Marilyn Neuhart has spent the last 15 years compiling the stories, images, and recollections featured in this book. The Story of Eames Furniture is the benchmark reference on the subject. It is a biography — not of an individual person, but of arguably the most influential and important furniture brand of our time. Brimming with images and insightful text, this unique book is the benchmark reference on what is arguably the most influential and important furniture brand of our time. It reveals…