A comprehensive view of the life, work, and ideas of one of the creative giants of modern American design Arriving in the United States in 1914, Viennese-born Paul T. Frankl (1886-1958) brought with him an outsider's fresh perspective and an enthusiasm for forging a uniquely American design aesthetic. In the years between the two world wars he, more than any other designer, helped shape the distinctive look of American modernism. This authoritative book draws on an extensive collection of unpublished documents and family papers and photographs to provide the first full account of Frankl's life and ideas. The book also explores the history of modern American design and the extent of Frankl's influence on its trajectory. In the early 1920s, Frankl opened a New York City shop that became an epicenter of American modernism. Over the next decades, his work encompassed everything from individual pieces of furniture and decorative accessories to entire interiors, and his style continuously evolved, from early "Skyscraper" furniture to relaxed and casual designs favored by the Hollywood elite in the 1930s to manufactured pieces for the mass market in the 1950s. The book charts the impact of Frankl's ideas on merchants and consumers, on his fellow designers, and on the changing look of American homes and workplaces. With close to 170 illustrations, Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design is an essential reference on 20th-century design.

This new volume addresses the lasting contribution made by Central European émigré designers to twentieth-century American design and architecture. The contributors examine how oppositional stances in debates concerning consumption and modernism's social agendas taken by designers such as Felix Augenfeld, Joseph Binder, Josef Frank, Paul T. Frankl, Frederick Kiesler, Richard Neutra, and R. M. Schindler in Europe prefigured their later adoption or rejection by American culture. They argue that émigrés and refugees from fascist Europe such as György Kepes, Paul László, Victor Papanek, Bernard Rudofsky, Xanti Schawinsky, and Eva Zeisel drew on the particular experiences of their home countries, and networks of émigré and exiled designers in the United States, to develop a humanist, progressive, and socially inclusive design culture which continues to influence design practice today.

Frederick Kiesler was a committed networker and communicated regularly with the who’s who of the avant-garde. He was an important intermediary between the visionary ideas of the European Moderne movement and the up-and-coming New York art scene. About 20 contributions portray his colorful life and his multifaceted oeuvre in various contexts, and place Kiesler in a dialog with the most important artists and architects of his time. The publication on the occasion of the 20 year anniversary of the Friedrich Kiesler Foundation deals with his relationship with the Bauhaus, surrealism, and the New York School, as well as with personalities such as Richard Buckminster Fuller, Marcel Duchamp, Arshile Gorky, Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Hans Arp, Sigfried Giedion, and others.

"The goal of the logo is to alert readers to the threat that massive unauthorized photocopying poses to the future of the written work. [...] The Deco idiom col- onized broadcast facility, from the world's metropolis in London to the North American prairie, and instrument, the radio cabinet, in the houses of the prosperous to the relatively poor. [...] This book would not have been possible without the vision and support of Luc Noppen and the Institut du patrimoine of the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, which founded the Prix Phyllis-Lambert. [...] In addition to Luc and the Institut du patrimoine, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the IODE (War Memorial Scholarship Program), the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) (with support of TD Financial Bank), and, at UBC, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Department of Art H [...] There are numerous others who gave of their time and expertise: Don Luxton, Linda Fraser at the CAA, Joan Seidl at the Museum of Vancouver, the staff at the City of Vancouver Archives and the Vancouver Public Library, the staff at the Special Collections at UBC, Alexis Sornin and the librarians at the CCA, Kathleen Correia and the staff at the California State Library, Jennifer Whitlock at the Uni"--

This interdisciplinary collection of case studies rethinks corporate patronage in the United States and reveals the central role corporations have played in shaping American culture. This volume offers new methodologies and models for the subject of corporate patronage, and contains an extensive bibliography on corporate patronage, art collections and exhibitions, sponsorship, and philanthropy in the United States. The case studies herein go beyond the usual focus on corporate sponsorship and collecting to explore the complex organizational networks and motivations behind corporate commissions. Featuring chapters on Margaret Bourke-White, Julie Mehretu, Maxfield Parrish, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Eugene Savage, Millard Sheets, and Kehinde Wiley, as well as studies on Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, John D. Rockefeller Sr. and Jr., and Dorothy Shaver, and companies such as Herman Miller and Lord and Taylor, this volume looks at a wide array of works, ranging from sculpture, photography, mosaics, and murals to advertisements, department store displays, sportswear, medical schools, and public libraries.

Over 950 entries From the Arts and Crafts Movement to Postmodernism, Apple to Frank Lloyd Wright, this fascinating dictionary covers the past 160 years of international design, with accessible entries on branding, graphics, industrial design, functionalism, and fashion. New entries on digital design and sustainable design bring the coverage up to date. The dictionary's international focus takes in major movements, key concepts, design terminology, and important design institutions, museums, and heritage sites. The new edition reflects the growing global importance of design, with coverage of India, China, the countries of the Pacific Rim, Eastern Europe and East Asia, and demonstrates how developments in the design of technology influence everyday life, with new entries on fonts, games developers such as Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo, Android, Samsung, and Blackberry, and a fully revised entry on Apple. The A-Z entries are complemented by an extensive bibliography and a timeline.

A 2023 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title The 20th century furniture is hot. American Furniture Designers: 1900 to the Present highlights the furniture produced by the 20 most important American furniture designers of the 20th and early 21st centuries plus a selection of the best-known European designers whose work is sold by Knoll International and Herman Miller. The designers are organized into five chapters. Introductions to each section summarize the evolution of furniture design as it evolved through the 20th and early 21st centuries. The book begins with the Arts and Crafts era before World War I; moves into the interwar period when Modernism gained a foothold in America; continues through the Postwar heyday of Mid-century Modern; highlights the furniture from the 1970s and into the 21st century with a focus on the foremost promoters of modern furniture, Knoll International and Herman Miller; and concludes with a selection of the top Studio Furniture makers and their innovative creations. The book focuses on the leading American designers from each of these periods including Gustav Stickley and Charles Rohlfs during the Arts and Crafts movement, Paul Frankl and Gilbert Rohde in the interwar period, Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson for Mid- century Modern, and Wendell Castle and George Nakashima for Studio Furniture to name just a few. All their furniture is explained and profusely illustrated with 280 color photos. For anyone curious about the modern material culture that surrounds them, the book will explain everything about American furniture from 1900 into the 21st century: when it was made, where it was made, who made it, what it was made of, how it was designed, how long it was in production, and how the furniture related to its contemporaries.

Arranged in alphabetical order, these 5 volumes encompass the history of the cultural development of America with over 2300 entries.

How did Hawaiian and Polynesian culture come to dramatically alter American music, fashion and decor, as well as ideas about race, in less than a century? It began with mainland hula and musical performances in the late 19th century, rose dramatically as millions shipped to Hawaii during the Pacific War, then made big leap with the advent of low-cost air travel. By the end of the 1950s, mainlanders were hosting tiki parties, listening to exotic music, lazing on rattan furniture in Hawaiian shirts and, of course, surfing. Increasingly, they were marrying people outside of their own racial groups as well. The author describes how this cultural conquest came about and the people and events that led to it.

The first major look at the renowned industrial designer and architect, who helped to shape the look of American modernism from the 1920s through the early 1950s For German-born Kem Weber (1889-1963), design was not about finding a new expression; it was about responding to "structural, economic, and social requirements . . . characteristic of our daily routine of living." He sought to ensure that each design he produced--whether a piece of furniture or a building or an interior--was an improvement that responded to modern needs and modern life. Weber was a leading figure of modernism on the West Coast from the 1920s through the early 1950s, and his work greatly influenced the California style of the time. His most iconic designs were his Bentlock line, the Air Line chair, the interiors for the Bixby House, and his tubular-steel furniture for Lloyd. This book, a result of significant new primary research in the Weber family's archives, represents the first major study of the life and career of this important designer. Christopher Long details the full range of Weber's contributions, focusing particularly on the part he played in the advancement of American modernism, and his role in heralding a new way of making and living.