Summary

This book collects 333 design classics from the 1600s to the end of the Second World War. These essential design products, that were made possible thanks to startling new inventions, discoveries and cost effective techniques, revolutionised our everyday lives and established a bench mark for great and enduring design. From the safety-pin and the Ford T to the chairs of Michael Thonet and Frank Lloyd Wright, these products were the first to hail the beginnings of industrial design. Selected by an international group of designers, architects, critics, curators and academics, the list includes works by anonymous inventors as well as masterworks by pioneering designers such as Christopher Dresser, Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe.