Objects of Design

The Museum of Modern Art

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Edited by Paola Antonelli

Distributed Art Publishers (DAP)

Due/Published September 2003, 288 pages, cloth

ISBN 0870706969

With texts by Tina di Carlo, Bevin Cline, Christian Larsen, Luisa Lorch, Matilda McQuaid, Christopher Mount, Peter Reed and Terence Riley

Featuring the Minox Riga Camera, Filterjet Fan, Lexikon 80 Manual Typewriter, TCV 250 Video Display Terminal, TX 8-301 Television, Pocket Radio Model No. T3, GA 45 Pop Automatic Record Player, Boemic 2000 Microphone, Telephone Model No. F78, GK 100 Jellyfish Watch, Macintosh SE Home Computer, Smart Car, Ericofon Telephone, Tulip Armchair, Anywhere Lamp, Wall Clock Model No. 32/0389, Cubo Ashtrays, P40 Armchair, Sof-sof Chair, Shanghai Folding Clothes Stand, Tonietta Chair, Figure of Eight Chair, Outboard Propeller, Outside Firm Joint Callipers, Evaporating Dish, Cookie Cutting Wheel, Measuring Spoon and Scale, Victorinox Swiss Officers' Knife Champion No. 5012 and many, many other objects of design.

'Showcasing selected works from The Museum of Modern Art's superlative architecture and design collection, Objects of Design features a wide variety of industrial and domestic artifacts by great designers of the modern period, from early masters such as Hector Guimard, Frank Lloyd Wright and Josef Hoffmann to contemporary practitioners including Droog Design, Ettore Sottsas, Gaetano Pesce, Hella Jongerius and others. Some of the objects represent turn-of-the-century designs of the Vienna Secession, Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement; others are Bauhaus and de Stijl explorations; still others show Charles and Ray Eames and other American designers of the second half of the 20th century; representations of the Italian design revolutions; and contemporary manifestations of familiar genres using radical new materials and techniques of manufacture. The book's 360 color plates not only reveal the range of aesthetic viewpoints in design since the late 19th century but together trace the historical development of the Museum's celebrated design collection. In the introductory essay, Paola Antonelli, Curator, Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, explores the history of modern design as well as the story of the museum's collection and its influence on the history of modern and contemporary design itself. 350 color