Review of Furnish: Furniture and Design for the 21st Century

“Oh my. There are enough gasp-inducing moments of surprise here to make this a compulsive page-turner. Furnish offers more than just furniture, instead presenting environments that startle, occasionally shock and frequently evoke laughter. It’s design freed of earnestness, reinventing even the most basic meanings associated with forms and functions.” — John Bailey, The Sunday Age M magazine, May 18, 2008

R Klanten et al eds. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899551761. Hardback. $95.

Architecture of Change

Kristin & Lukas Feireiss
Features recently built and realised work that makes a notable contribution to a liveable and sustainable future. Presenting over 40 impressive examples of pioneering international projects that are improving our environment in real ways, the publication is a relevant reference for both a professional and general audience. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552119. Hardback. $135.

Beachlife

Clara Lowther & Sarah Schultz
The best in architecture, interiors and product design that shows how the beach can be presented and utilised creatively. Includes structures such as beach clubs, hotels and holiday homes as well as furniture and products made for the seaside and original products by creatives who use the beach as a location for experimental art, temporary installations and events. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899553024. Hardback. $115.

Bright

Frame Publishers, eds
Bright presents a rich selection of innovative artchitecture and design projects that are setting the trends in the creative use of light. Featuring both stunning photography and detailed text information, the book is not only an up-to-date reference tool for professionals working in the fields of lighting design, architecture and art, but also sheds new light on the future of architecture and design. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899553017. Hardback. $135.

The Cooked Kitchen

EOOS, eds
EOOS, the internationally known design office, has redefined the kitchen with 40 new utensils. Their poetical analysis uses intuitive images, rituals and myths as a starting point for a design process that reimagines kitchen tools. Using wood cuts, paintings, photography and actual objects, EOOS have transformed the everyday objects. Springer Verlag. ISBN 9783211776414. Hardback. $70.

Detail Practice: Insulating Materials

M Pfundstein, et al
A comprehensive catalogue of insulating materials for use in construction. Notes on the individual types of insulating materials provide information on the raw materials they contain and typical attributes. Tables with physical values and indications regarding health and environmental safety enable the reader to compare different insulating materials. Birkhäuser Verlag. ISBN 9783764386542. Paperback. $80.

Etapes 12

etapes international eds
The latest issue of etapes magazine looks at Dutch studio Experimental Jetset’s design for the identity of a major new Paris art facility, the experimental typography of music magazine Stool Pigeon, ad-free Australian “wall magazine” Is/Not, Barcelona brothers Juan and Alejandro Mingarro and much more. Birkhäuser Verlag. ISBN 9782350171081. Paperback. $51.50.

Fragiles

R Klanten, et al, eds
Fragiles is an eclectic collection of unconventional contemporary work in porcelain, glass and ceramics. Today, these materials are increasingly being used in playful ways by both established and emerging design talents, who are inspired by Modernism, an ironic depiction of kitsch and an expanded repertoire of forms made possible by technological developments such as rapid prototyping. The spectrum and quality of these innovative projects shows a current generation of designers just how relevant and challenging working with these traditional fragile materials can be. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552089. Hardback. $115.

Fully Booked

R Klanten et al eds
A collection of current cover art and book design that strikes a crucial balance between sophisticated visual and content design on the one hand, and the demand for availability, legibility and durability on the other. In addition, the book presents a selection of artist books that push the boundaries of conventional book design. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552096. Hardback. $115.

Jaime Hayon Works

Jaime Hayon
Spanish designer and artist Jaime Hayon will be one of the most influential designers in the years to come, and this is the first monograph to present the full spectrum of his work. Ranging from clear and harmonious to playfully extravagant, all of the included examples of interiors, furniture, tableware and decorative ceramics attest to his inimitable grasp of form, style and colour. In addition to celebrated collaborations with clients such as Camper, Swarovski and Bisazza, Jaime Hayon Works contains previously unreleased personal sketches, illustrations and productions of new projects that will make its world premiere debut at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in April 2008. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552072. Hardback. $185.

Kengo Kuma Breathing Architecture

Volker Fischer & Ulrich Schneider eds
Kengo Kuma’s Teahouse is a masterly reinterpretation of a classical Japanese building type. Kuma’s innovative structure in flexible semi-transparent ‘breathing’ Tenara-Membrane is inflated by means of a pneumatic system to a blossom-like form that houses in the interior all the classical elements for Japanese tea ceremony. Birkhäuser Verlag. ISBN 9783764387877. Paperback. $43.50.

Lemon Poppy Seed

R Klanten et al eds
A new generation of talent is currently developing its own interdisciplinary and refreshingly off-key visual vocabulary. Lemon Poppy Seed is a compilation of work by young, international artists whose styles defy current trends and classifications and are all the more brilliant for doing so. The book is the perfect source for those who want to see the organic development of new artistic terrain before the mainstream attempts to erect shopping centres upon it. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552102. Paperback. $95.

Max Weiler 1910-2001

Matthias Boeckl
The cycle of paintings known as Four Walls marks a turning point in modern art history, bringing artistic analogies of natural creation into central focus. The uncommissioned works were created by Max Weiler between 1973 and 1977. Sized 2.56 x 6 meters, their dimensions can be compared to Monet’s Water Lilies exhibited in the Orangerie in Paris. Designed to be presented in a single room, they have rarely been on display simultaneously. The paintings were sold in the early ’80s; two of them were put on display in Vienna’s Law School, while the other two have been included in the collection of the Museum Moderner Kunst since 1992. This monograph reproduces the works as well as describing its genesis and context in art history at the turning point between historical modernism and contemporary art. Springer Verlag. ISBN 9783211490037. Hardback. $55.

New Approaches to Housing for the Second Half of Life

Andreas Huber, editor
For many today the second half of life is marked by a broad and varied range of activities that call for freedom of action, whether one has a disability or other limitation or not. This book looks at the different types of housing that will shape this ever longer and more important phase of our lives in accord with our wishes and needs. Birkhäuser Verlag. ISBN 9783764386351. Paperback. $70.

Shift

Joseph Grima & Karen Wong
The new building for the New Museum of Contemporary Art, which will open in December 2007, will house the first museum to be developed from the ground up in Lower Manhattan. The seven-story building, with a total floor area of 60,000 square feet, designed by the renowned architectural duo SANAA - Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. This book presents the design and building of the new museum in a series of interwoven stories, documents, and dialogues. The building expands the museum and its distinct role within the city and at the same time testifies to an important moment in the history, art, and life of the city. The photographs by Dean Kaufman emphasize the dynamics of the life of the building, whose unpredictability and disorder seem to be in conflict with minimalist form and order. This richly illustrated book, edited by Joseph Grima, Director of the Storefront for Art and Architecture, and Lisa Phillips, Director of the New Museum, will provide insight into SANAA’s process. Lars Müller Publishers. ISBN 9783037781401. Paperback. $70.

We Come at Night

Frank Lammer
A cunning group of street artists is appropriating public spaces with astonishing artistic interventions. We Come at Night introduces the work of thirteen street artists whose artistic interventions are not only aesthetically motivated but also function as razor-sharp social, political and ironic commentary on its surroundings. Featured artists include Akim One Machine, Blu, Brom, Dr. Innocent, JR, Kami & Sasu, Mare 139, Mr. Horse, Nina, Nixfitti, Os Gemeos, Zasd and Zevs. The book contains a DVD with a film documentary by Volker Sattel and Mario Mentrup about the Outsides project initiated by Red Bull. Die Gestalten Verlag. ISBN 9783899552164. Hardback. $80.

Werner Sobek: Light Works

Frank Heinlein & Maren Sostmann
Werner Sobek is one of the leading engineers and structural designers of our time, known for the capacity to design nearly dematerialised structures with perfect details, structures that are in true harmony with their form and function. This book presents a sample of his most important projects in the fields of design, materials, skins and structure. AVedition. ISBN 9783899860870. Hardback. $68.