In 1938, Vienna lost its best and most creative minds. This rupture was manifested in all of the arts and sciences and its mark is felt to this day – not least in the field of furniture design. With inexhaustible creativity the Jewish furniture designers who were forced to flee Vienna continued to work while in exile. They taught at the best universities and spread their ideas and vision throughout the entire world. Their creations became classics of twentieth-century furniture design, the epitome of mid-century modern style. This book honors the memory of the exiled designers with a thorough overview of their work. It details their life stories and their visionary designs, which remain as relevant and contemporary as ever, and brings to light new aspects of the history of Viennese furniture design.

"Designing One Nation explores how East and West Germans negotiated their country's postwar division at the juncture of economic and cultural politics. It is especially concerned with historical interconnections between the two Germanies in industrial design, economic structures, corporate ethos, trade, economic foreign policy and consumer culture, all of which are subsumed under the term "economic culture." It shows that post-war reconstruction, as envisioned and realized by a network of politicians, entrepreneurs, and cultural brokers, did more than to modernize the respective parts of Germany. Rather, through the national re-inscription of their material culture, here explored in the realm of interior design and furniture production, the two German states pursued an unprecedented effort to regain economic stability and political influence in post-war Europe's order. Significantly, what started as a Cold War competition for ideological superiority quickly turned into a shared, politically legitimizing quest for an untainted post-fascist modernity. Following products from the drawing board into the homes of ordinary Germans, this book thus offers unique insights into how converging visions of German industrial modernity created shared expectations about economic progress and living standards. The resulting economic culture linked the two Germanies together and acted internationally in a pan-German interest"--

Taking full advantage of the ressurgence in popularity of retro-fifties design, this highly praised book lets the reader rediscover the wonders of boomerang-shaped coffee tables, the funky curvaciousness of biomorphic furniture, the industrial sleekness of cool metals, unusual angles, and other design delights. Photos.

During the period before World War I, the German Werkbund tried to forge new theories of architecture and design in the light of the technological and economic developments of modernity. This work explores the ideology and aesthetic positions in the debates among those who comprised the Werkbund.

The book showcases more than 100 independent magazines from 30 countries¦around the globe with stunning spreads and layouts. Edited by passionate magazine¦connoisseurs, it features exclusive interviews with international experts and¦at the same time illustrates the diverse topics that are fundamental to magazine¦publishing such as the golden rules of advertising, the secret to success, finding¦out who your readers are and how to go about making each issue.¦We Make Magazines includes a magazine directory on over 700 of the most cutting-¦edge independent magazines worldwide and is presented in a visually driven¦format with cover images, spreads as well as websites. Ten guest magazines at¦the vanguard of independent magazine publishing are also highlighted with indepth¦interviews with the editors and founders. These include BabyBabyBaby¦(Mexico), Good (US), idN (Hong Kong) Karen (UK), Kasino A4 (Finland), Las Mas Bella¦(Spain), Liebling (Germany), Nuke (France), Sang Bleu (Switzerland) and Volume¦(Netherlands).¦

From the Werkbund to the Bauhaus to Braun, from furniture to automobiles to consumer appliances, twentieth-century industrial design is closely associated with Germany. In this pathbreaking study, Paul Betts brings to light the crucial role that design played in building a progressive West German industrial culture atop the charred remains of the past. The Authority of Everyday Objects details how the postwar period gave rise to a new design culture comprising a sprawling network of diverse interest groups—including the state and industry, architects and designers, consumer groups and museums, as well as publicists and women's organizations—who all identified industrial design as a vital means of economic recovery, social reform, and even moral regeneration. These cultural battles took on heightened importance precisely because the stakes were nothing less than the very shape and significance of West German domestic modernity. Betts tells the rich and far-reaching story of how and why commodity aesthetics became a focal point for fashioning a certain West German cultural identity. This book is situated at the very crossroads of German industry and aesthetics, Cold War politics and international modernism, institutional life and visual culture.

Wallpaper* City Guides are a ruthlessly-researched, design-conscious guide, for the discerning traveller who wants to come away with a true taste of the best a city has to offer.