The art of things : product design since 1945
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The art of things : product design since 1945
Abbeville Press Publishers, c2014
First edition
- : hardback
- Uniform Title
-
Art du design
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
"First published in France in 2013 by Citadelle & Mazenod, 8, rue Gaston de Saint-Paul, 75116 Paris."
Includes bibliographical references and index
Contents of Works
- Old Continent and New World: The Emergence of Design / Dominique Forest
- The United States / Penny Sparke
- Scandinavia / Ásdís Ólafsdóttir
- Germany and Switzerland / Jeremy Aynsley
- Italy / Anty Pansera
- Great Britain / Penny Sparke
- France / Dominique Forest
- Japan / Penny Sparke
- Belgium and the Netherlands / Mienke Simon Thomas
- The Landscape of Design Today / Constance Rubini
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The most ambitious survey of its subject ever published, The Art of Things is a monument, and a key, to the objects that surround us. For most of human history, the form of a useful object was determined by its maker, usually a single artisan working within a long cultural tradition. However, the Industrial Revolution saw the development of a curious new profession, that of the designer, whose job it was to decide the appearance and even the functional aspects of goods--whether typewriters or tableware--that would be manufactured by others or, increasingly, by machines. When the so-called consumer society emerged in full force after World War II, designers took center stage; some, like Charles and Ray Eames, became celebrities and icons of the new lifestyles they were helping to create. Within the burgeoning design community, national tendencies emerged: The Germans and the Swiss, heirs to the Bauhaus, favored a modernist aesthetic in which form followed function, and the Scandinavians pioneered a warmer type of functionalism with their distinctive wooden furniture. The U.S. pursued a double strategy, in which home furnishings influenced by European modernism coexisted with frankly exuberant cars and kitchen appliances.
Meanwhile, the Japanese consumer electronics companies took an early lead in the branch of industrial design that is perhaps most influential today--and is perhaps best represented by the image of Steve Jobs holding aloft an iPhone before an adoring crowd. This splendid hardcover, slipcased volume, itself a striking object, narrates the history of modern design in each of the major industrialized nations in turn. Its engaging text, written by leading historians of design, is accompanied by more than 650 vibrant color plates, illustrating both iconic designs and lesser-known but still influential creations. The most ambitious survey of its subject ever published, The Art of Things is a monument, and a key, to the objects that surround us.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents from The Art of Things Introduction - Dominique Forest Old Continent and New World: The Emergence of Design - Dominique Forest The United States - Penny Sparke Scandinavia - Asdis Olafsdottir Germany and Switzerland - Jeremy Aynsley Italy - Anty Pansera Great Britain - Penny Sparke France - Dominique Forest Japan - Penny Sparke Belgium and the Netherlands - Mienke Simon Thomas The Landscape of Design Today - Constance Rubini Notes Selected Bibliography Index of Names Photography Credits Author Biographies Acknowledgments
by "Nielsen BookData"