Phaidon

The in-depth story of one of the world’s most innovative and influential design companiesIn the recent history of contemporary design and architecture, no company has had more influence than Vitra. From the 1950s to the present day, Vitra has worked with succeeding generations of designers – from Ray and Charles Eames to Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, to Ron Arad, Jasper Morrison, and Virgil Abloh. With its forward-thinking approach, Vitra has defined and shaped the way that we live and work.Written by Deyan Sudjic, Vitra: The Anatomy of a Design Company, tells the story of the three generations behind Vitra. Driven by a sense of cultural and social mission, Vitra has had a major influence on every aspect of contemporary design, from architecture to graphics, photography, product design, and the landscape.It has shaped our understanding of such major figures as Jean Prouvé and Verner Panton. It has encouraged designers at the start of their careers including Jasper Morrison and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. It has safeguarded the archives of such key figures as Luis Barragan and Alexander Girard, and built one of the world’s most important design museums.The book also features inserts written by design consultant and writer Karen Stein, as well as a photographic essay by acclaimed architectural photographer Iwan Baan.Spanning more than 450 pages and over 400 illustrations, this substantial volume covers Vitra’s working relationship with designers, the rich architectural heritage of the Vitra Campus, with buildings by Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron, and Alvaro Siza. It provides an essential account of contemporary design history, offers a unique insight into the role of design in business, and documents the nature of a design process that results in successful products.

Back in print, the spectacular visual biography of the life and work of Le Corbusier – one of the twentieth century’s most influential architects‘Le Corbusier arguably had more of an influence on the form of the modern world than any other architect… You couldn’t make a book like this about just any architect. Beyond the architecture, it reveals a great deal about the man himself’ – GuardianAlmost two decades since its first publication, the bestselling and classic monograph Le Corbusier Le Grand is finally available again. Documenting the life and work of one of the giants of twentieth-century architecture and design, the book presents an array of sketches, photographs, and correspondences, charting the vast and varied output of Le Corbusier, an artist who continues to fascinate those inside and outside the architectural world. The survey features an introductory essay by the esteemed architectural historian and Le Corbusier expert Jean-Louis Cohen, to whom this edition is dedicated, and chapter introductions by another leading Le Corbusier scholar, Tim Benton.