Icons of Design: The 20th Century - Softcover

The Coca Cola bottle, Zippo lighter, Minox Camera, Lego building blocks, Barbie, Harley Davidson, Apple Macintosh, and Philips Compact Disc are considered everyday objects, but they are also noted for their extraordinary design. ICONS OF DESIGN: The 20th Century introduces more than 80 exceptional objects that symbolize something greater than their mere form or function. The creatively smooth, seductive and simple designs that captured our fascination have become icons of our industrial culture. From 1900 until the beginning of the new millennium, this volume surveys an internationally diverse spectrum of design objects: from a unique piece such as Raymond Loewys streamlined pencil sharpener to mass produced items such as the classic Italian espresso maker Moka Express, the VW Beetle, or Ron Arads Bookworm shelf. What unites these diverse cult objects is the impact they have had on the history of twentieth-century design and culture. In ICONS OF DESIGN, the designs vary from houseware items like the Tupperware container to transportation and industrial designs. These industrial icons include the Underwood Typewriter No. 5, the Ford Model T, the Mercedes Silver Arrow, the Hindenburg Zeppelin, the DC-3 Dakota, the Citron 2CV, the Vespa Motor Scooter, and the Greyhound Scenicruiser. The greatest names and accomplishments in design during the past 100 years are featured in ICONS OF DESIGN. Among the designers included are Alvar Aalto, Ron Arad, Peter Behrens, Marcel Beuer, Achille Castiglioni, Charles Eames, Henry Ford, Frog Design, Eileen Gray, Harley Davidson, Josef Hoffmann, Arne Jacobsen, Raymond Loewy, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Ferdinand Porsche, Dieter Rams, Gerrit Rietveld, Richard Sapper, Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck, Earl Tupper, and Wilhelm Wagenfeld. ICONS OF DESIGN is the latest edition in Prestels series Icons of the 20th Century. Focusing on design, it complements the volumes already available on art, architecture, photography and fashion. Concise and authoritative texts by leading experts in the field are matched with sumptuous photography, historical documentation and biographies of the designers. A select bibliography and an index round out the book, making it an informative and entertaining source for anybody interested in design. Specialists, collectors and enthusiast alike will find this volume a necessary fixture to their design library.

Not all of our everyday objects simply remind us of the mundane tasks for which they were designed. A select fewmasterpieces of design that capture our fascinationhave become icons of our industrial culture. Icons of Design: The 20th Century introduces more than 80 exceptional objects that symbolize something greater that their mere form or function.