Phaidon Design Classics (3 Volume Set) (Pts. 1, 2 & 3) [Hardcover]

Editors of Phaidon Press (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2006

A 'design classic' is an industrially manufactured object with timeless aesthetic value. It serves as a standard of its kind and, despite the year in which it was designed, is still up to date. The collection presented in these three volumes has been put together by a group of experts following the above criteria. The objects are presented chronologically, beginning with an elegant pair of Chinese bonsai scissors from the early 1800s, still in production today, and ending with Jasper Morrison's recent 'brunch set', which is destined to become a 'classic'. Glancing through the volumes, the reader will gain an understanding not only of the history of design, but a history of taste and culture. The book is an extraordinary journey through the objects that have shaped our society, from the first attempts to combine function and beauty in the nineteenth century, through the machine aesthetics of the thirties, the advent of plastic and other new materials in the fifties and sixties, up to the 'classics'-to-be of the last ten years. The book includes not only classic objects created by great and internationally renowned designers, such as Breuer, Le Corbusier, Dreyfuss, Eames, Yanagi and Castiglioni, to name but a few, but also anonymously designed pieces, such as the clothes peg, the deck chair, the corkscrew and the chopstick, which, in spite of lacking a specific designer, have achieved such perfection in design and functionality that they have eliminated the possibility of improvement. From the paperclip, to the Alvar Aalto Savoy vase, to the Jaguar E Type, all of the objects featured in the book fill our desks, cupboards, kitchens, purses, dreams and pockets. Each product is presented on two, four or six pages and accompanied by a text, written by one of over fifty experts in the field of design. The texts provide a historical context, with key information about the development of the design, and an explanation as to why that particular design is important and groundbreaking. The texts also uncover curious anecdotes about the design, and the process involved in creating it. In many cases the products are described with details that have not been published before, informing the reader about materials and process, in addition to providing rich insights into each designer's oeuvre. The contributors have each been invited to write in accordance with their area of specialty and passion. Not only writers, but designers, retailers, critics, curators, architects, historians, and professors, each of international renown, combine to bring a unique perspective on design that is highly detailed and refreshing. Through the informative texts and dazzling quantity of images including sketches, patent drawings, posters, comics and so on, we learn that the safety pin was patented in 1849 and that the famous Thonet chair N. 14, designed in 1859, never went out of production. We realize how clever the zip fastener is and how beautiful the Concorde. While this collection will be groundbreaking in terms of its range of products and periods, it is also the first of its kind with regards to presenting accurate information. With Alan Fletcher's beautiful design, this is a unique collection that unites factual information with rarely seen images. "999 Design Classics" is a honed and laboriously-selected list of products, most of which are still in production. The objects contained within truly encapsulate what design is and what design will be for decades to come. The following categories of product are featured in the book: Aeroplanes, Ashtrays, Bottle Openers, Bath accessories, Benches, Bicycles, Bins, Boats, Bottles, Bowls, Boxes, Briefcases, Buses, Cabs, Cars, Calculators, Calendars, Cameras, Candleholders, Caravan, Chairs (armchairs, folding chair, lounge chairs, office chairs, sofas, stools), Clocks, Clothes Stands, Cocktail Shakers, Computers, Containers, Crayons, Cruets, Desks, Door Handles, Drill Bits, Egg Cups, Fans, Flasks, Flatware, Games , Glassware, Gliders, Helicopters, Ice Buckets, Knives, Letter Openers, Lighting, Lighters, Lunchboxes, Mailboxes, Motorcycles, Office Systems, Paperclips, Pens, Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Pins, Pitchers, Post-it Notes, Pots Pans, Radios, Record Players. The book further includes: Rulers, Safety Pins, Salt Pepper Shakers, Scales, Scissors, Sewing machines, Shavers, Shelves, Sports equipment, Staplers, Storage, Switches, Tables, Table services, Telephones, Televisions, Tools, Torches, Toys, Tractors, Trains, Typewriters, Utensils, Vacuum cleaners, Vases, Walkmans, Watches, Whistles, and the Zipper.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'possibly the ultimate coffee-table book' Spoon, March 2006 'a mine of information about those little everyday things we never think about - impressive in its scale and ambition - as a reference book Phaidon Design Classics is invaluable and will not need replacing as nearly as soon as that 'timeless' iPod.' Icon, May 2006 'tells the story of design evolution around the world from the late 1600s to the present' The Daily Telegraph, April 2006 '3,300 pages covering anything and everything from watches to whistles, trains to televisions, zippy flying machines to zip-up flys. ... an impressive overview of the history of design in popular culture and a fundamental grounding in good taste ... stuffed full of anecdote and little known facts about how both everyday and esoteric classics were conceived. There are iconic pieces by designers you've probably heard of - Le Corbusier, Eames, Starck - and anonymous bits of genius like the clothes peg, deck chair and chopstick from people whose names were either never known or have disappeared into the black holes of history. Even by its own impossibly high standards, possibly the best book Phaidon has published to date.' Arena, May 2006 'an intriguing journey not only through the history of design, but also through a history of taste and culture.' Design Week, May, 2006 '999 of the best-designed things ever ... What the Oxford dictionary is to words, this is to man-made objects. ... You won't want to put it down' The Guardian, April 2006 'a singular, interesting and solid collection. ... a brilliant collection of the curious, obvious, obscure, simple .. concise and informative texts ... Each item in itself is well handled ... nothing seems out of place ... I defy anybody not to just lose themselves in what will undoubtedly be a kid-in-a-candystore moment for most. ... a fantastic source point of reference ... leaves little untouched ... brillantly researched and authoritative text alongside beautiful photography, original drawings, patents and prototypes. ... you're not going to get a better sourcebook elsewhere.' Grafik, May 2006

Product Details

• Hardcover: 3300 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (April 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714843997
• ISBN-13: 978-0714843995
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 21.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, Despite the "Carrying Case" June 25, 2006

By James M. Laffey

Format:Hardcover

On the next rainy day, make yourself a nice cup of tea, curl up and savor every page of this magnificent design compendium. It's endlessly enlightening to learn the backstories of so many of the ubiquitous everyday objects we now take for granted, from paperclips to Mies seating to Fiestawear. This clearly deserved 5 stars but the carrying case was so annoying and poorly designed (picture prying the books out with a screwdriver!) that I subtracted a star. In a collection of this scope and stature, such ineffective packaging is unforgiveable.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, if flawed December 17, 2006

By Sean Brocklebank

Format:Hardcover

(To get one thing out of the way: yes the packaging is unwieldly, but not so bad as some reviewers make it out to be. If you use a pair of bolt cutters or a hedge clipper to cut the cross-bars, then the whole thing comes apart painlessly)

These books are excellent, but suffer from two flaws. The first is that there are too few very old items. Only the first dozen items are drawn from man's long history before the mid-ninteenth century, none of these are before the seventeenth century, and nowhere to be seen are such icons as the katana, the ordinary pin, the wheel, or the telescope. Perhaps I have misunderstood the scope of the books by listing these items, but considering the dubious nature of some of the later inclusions, I think they would have been justified.

Which brings me to the second flaw: the large number of questionable entries. This problem gets particularly bad in the last volume which deals with the most recent designs, and to some measure it's unavoidable when trying to sift out any sort of 'recent classic'. But there are also more systematic troubles; as one reviewer already pointed out, something like 200 of the entries are dedicated to sofas, chairs, and stools. Surely this is excessive. One gets the feeling that they had set themselves a target nuber of entries, and were determined to collect that number no matter what. Perhaps 999 was too many.

Still, in spite of the set's coverage not living up to my ideal (who could agree perfectly on such a thing anyway?), and in spite of the oft-mentioned awkward packaging, this is an outstanding triad of books. In its pages you will glean the fascinating history of a huge number of familiar objects along with wonderful illustrations (photos, patents, and adverts). A random few that I enjoyed include: the Slinky, Kiwi shoe polish, the Disco ball, and the ice cream scoop. The style is brief and informative, which is good for browsing. These books have me noticing the beauty and functionality of the most mundane objects in my life, wondering about how they were designed. Lastly, the binding of these books is absolutely gorgeous, and the Design Classics look great on a shelf.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for content; 0 stars for shipping February 6, 2007

By Samuel D. Duncan

Format:Hardcover

Beautiful books and production value, but the plastic carrying case--being especially vulnerable--didn't survive two shipping attempts. On both occasions, the books arrived with their carrying case shattered and the books damaged. You might do better getting these some other way. You'll take your chances if you decide to have them shipped via Amazon (or any other online shipper). Beware.