Jochen Eisenbrand

In 2019, the Vitra Design Museum will publish the Atlas of Furniture Design, the definitive, encyclopedic overview of the history of modern furniture design. Featuring over 1700 objects by more than 500 designers and 121 manufacturers, it includes approximately 2800 images ranging from detailed object photographs to historical images documenting interiors, patents, brochures, and related works of art and architecture. The basis for the Atlas of Furniture Design is the collection held by the Vitra Design Museum, one of the largest of its kind with more than 7000 works. The book presents selected pieces by the most important designers of the last 230 years and documents key periods in design history, including early nineteenth-century industrial furniture in bentwood and metal, Art Nouveau and Secessionist pieces and works by protagonists of classical modernism and postwar design, as well as postmodern and contemporary pieces. The Atlas of Furniture Design employed a team of more than 70 experts and features over 550 detailed texts about key objects. In-depth essays provide sociocultural and design-historical context to four historical epochs of furniture design and the pieces highlighted here, enriched by a detailed annex containing designer biographies, glossaries, and elaborate information graphics. The Atlas of Furniture Design is an indispensable resource for collectors, scholars and experts, as well as a beautifully designed object that speaks to design enthusiasts.

An encyclopedic exploration of all facets of the fashion show, from its beginnings around 1900 to the present day An encyclopedic exploration of all facets of the fashion show, from its beginnings around 1900 to the present day Fashion shows are special moments in the fashion industry – simultaneously ritualistic and dreamlike, both commercial and poetic. Their images spread across the globe in real time, shaping our cultural memory. Stage design, performance, clothing, light, and sound come together to form a temporary Gesamtkunstwerk – a comprehensive artwork. The exhibition »Catwalk« offers a look behind-the-scenes and explores the fascinating evolution of the fashion show: from its modest beginnings in couturiers’ salons around 1900 to the spectacular presentations of the twenty-first century; from haute couture to prêt-à-porter; from the era of supermodels to the celebration of diversity; from classic catwalk photography to the virtual fashion show. The exhibition catalog is conceived as an encyclopedic A to Z and sheds light on the fashion show phenomenon and its history in all its facets, from backstage to front row, from model to performance, from pose to vogueing. In text contributions and interviews, the book gives numerous experts and protagonists from the fashion world a chance to have their say. Illustrations range from archival materials and fashion show ephemera to backstage and catwalk photography.

A history of the nightclub from the 1960s to the present day. Nightclubs and discothèques are hotbeds of contemporary culture. Throughout the 20th century, they have been centres of the avant-garde that question the established codes of social life and experiment with different realities, merging interior and furniture design, graphics and art with sound, light, fashion and special effects to create a modern Gesamtkunstwerk. Night Fever: A Design History of Club Culture examines the history of the nightclub, with examples ranging from Italian nightclubs of the 1960s that were created by members of the Radical Design group to the legendary Studio 54 in New York, Philippe Starck’s Les Bains Douches in Paris and the more recent Double Club in London, conceived by German artist Carsten Höller for the Prada Foundation. Featuring films and vintage photographs, posters and fashion, Night Fever takes the reader on a fascinating journey through a world of glamour, subculture and the search for the night that never ends.

George Nelson (1908–1986) is one of the most important American designers of the second half of the 20th century. century. His work as chief designer for the American furniture manufacturer Herman Miller has gone down in American cultural history. It is far less well known, however, that George Nelson, as an exhibition manager and designer on behalf of the American government, conceived product presentations, thematic exhibitions, trade fair appearances – presented the American lifestyle in short from 1957 to 1972. This sensationally illustrated monograph now presents the unknown side of Nelson's work in detail for the first time. The author has processed the Nelson Estate for this. He follows the designer to his early travels, sums up the formative influences and the rise to become a coveted designer. He also shows the industrially manufactured innovations that revolutionized exhibition furniture, and then describes in detail the exhibitions that Nelson realized in Sao Paulo or Moscow on behalf of the United States Information Agency. Eisenbrand's book is a treasure trove for those interested in design – and at the same time a case study of how innovative design was used in the Cold War as an instrument of US policy. Text in German.