The Atlas of Furniture Design

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Fur n iture has a profound impact on our day-to-day lives without us realizing it. It becomes a reflection of the user. At times, it forms the defining character of the space it inhabits. After all, no home is complete without furniture. With tremendous advancement in design and technology , the escalation in the variety of products is overwhelming. Traditional design has evolved along with the change in fashion fads. The »Atlas of Furniture Design« is the product of over 20 years of research at theVitra Design Museum and was compiled by a team of more than 70 authors. It contains comprehensive essays on the socio-cultural and design-historical contexts of furniture design, over 550 detailed texts on pioneering objects, and numerous information graphics that provide new visual insights into the history of furniture design. Furthermore, the book contains a complete appendix that includes designer biographies, bibliographies, a glossary of producers and materials, as well as a keyword index. These features make this publication an encyclopedic reference guide and indispensable resource for collectors, scholars, and experts, and without a doubt a book to be treasured by design lovers all over the world. One often thinks about eye-catching designs from the perspective of a child. Design for Children is a comprehensive survey of children’s products and furniture design. It highlights over 450 creative examples that are bespoke for toddlers, babies, and kids. These include a vast selection of toys, furniture, tableware, textile, lights, and vehicles. The Atlas of Furniture Design is a treasure trove that offers not only definitive information about beloved staples of design history, but also new, fresh and often unexpected perspectives, all presented in a generous format that captures the breadth and depth of this important subject.« Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art

Contemporary furniture design, however, rests on the balance of aesthetic and functionality . Today, it becomes a challenging task for one to choose the furniture that would demonstrate his style and choice to the rest of the world! Subsequently, several books on furniture design have put forth their outlook on the industry. Authors (selection): Alberto Bassi, Jochen Eisenbrand, Fulvio Ferrari, Mateo Kries, Otakar Máčel, Jane Pavitt, Ingeborg de Roode, Catharine Rossi, Arthur Rüegg, Penny Sparke, Deyan Sudjic, Wolf Tegethoff, Carsten Thau und Kjeld Vindum, Gerald W. R. Ward among others. The book successfully keeps design young at heart while catering to a large segment of the furniture market. At the same time, it excites design-conscious parents who look forward to instilling creativity within their children right from a young age. It is also bound to remind one of the joys of childhood, with toys documented from over nearly a century ago. Knoll, founded by Hans Knoll and Florence Knoll, brought modern design from Europe to America. It later became one of the most prestigious high-end furniture brands. Hence, the history of the company forms the basis for the history of modern design. They can be credited for numerous iconic pieces of furniture. On the one hand, it produced tubular furniture by Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. Years later, Knoll also commissioned classics by Eero Saarinen, Frank Gehry, and Richard Meier. Ten of the must-read books for design enthusiasts are as follows. 1. Atlas of Furniture Design – Vitra Design MuseumThe Rise of Everyday Design delves deep into the Arts and Crafts Movement. It discusses the journey from its origins, its engagement with commercial mass production, and finally, its place in household products. Each chapter highlights the growing interest of users in design, and the subsequent growth of the market for furniture design. Furnitecture explored the meeting point between furniture and architecture. The book outlines the emerging trends of fusion, where designers envision furniture through an architectural style. The so-called micro-architecture is known to have transformative effects on modern interior design and dynamic spaces. The author, Anna Yudina, has experience curating design exhibitions that gave her the lens to write the book.

The atlas was published on 1 November 2019 and is available online at Vitra Design Museum and in selected book stores. Furniture Design – An Introduction to Development, Materials, and Manufacturing is an encyclopedic resource for students and furniture designers alike. It gives an insight into the vast industry of product and industrial design. The book covers all aspects of furniture design and responds to questions about functionality, materiality, sustainability, etc. Design plays a principal role in our lives, and so do the designers. Our surroundings have immeasurable instances of design within them. Some were right, yet many failed to deliver to the user. The book by designer Scott Berkun offers a new way to think about the world. He makes a compelling case for the importance of design. A chair is one of the most common pieces of furniture. At the same time, it is also one that comes in a whopping variety. 1000 Chairs, the book by Peter and Charlotte Fiell, gives the readers food for thought. They can see that the chair has undergone tremendous transitions with each era while its central function remains the same. Designers have translated their wildest dreams into the world of furniture. As the name suggests, the Atlas of furniture design is the most voluminous book ever written on the subject. It gives a thorough overview of the history with documentation of 1740 pieces by 546 designers. The furniture collection at the Vitra Design Museum forms the basis for the book. It holds over 7000 works by the most significant designers and manufacturers from the last two centuries. It showcases the early furniture from the period of the industrial revolution, followed by objects from the Art Nouveau and Classical Modernism era.Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum and co-editor of the publication, explains: »The Atlas paints a portrait of our entire collection while simultaneously providing an unprecedented overview of the history of modern furniture. The publication is set up to provide a new comprehensive outline for scholars of furniture design by considering the latest academic research, questioning extant knowledge, and giving top experts a platform to share their ideas. The book touches on a range of subjects spanning the beginnings of industrialization to digitalization, which is becoming increasingly influential in contemporary furniture design. Whether as a selection of iconic designs or as a history of styles, a chronicle of evolution or of revolution, a history of objects or of images, or a narrative of domestic habits or of individual designers, this book can be read in a vast range of ways. But the »Atlas of Furniture Design« can also be enjoyed by readers who prefer to dispense with complex theories and just want to concentrate on each single object.«