The Language of Things

(Paperback)

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Description

'Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable ...... the backlash against mindless consumerism has begun . . . for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us' TIME OUT Design is everywhere. It seduces, pleases and inspires us. It makes us part with our money. It defines who we think we are. And understanding it offers us a whole new way of seeing the world. An iPhone, an anglepoise lamp, a Picasso, a banknote, an Armani suit, a William Morris textile, a Lucky Strike packet, a spacecraft - every object tells a story. Here Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, decodes the things around us- their hidden meanings, our relationship with them, how they shape our lives and why we desire them. 'An elegant, witty and free-ranging survey, from Thomas Chippendale's ponderous 18th-century manor-house furnishings to Jonathan Ive's sprightly Macintosh iBooks' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Lively . . . engaging' EVENING STANDARD 'Sharp and worthwhile' FINANCIAL TIMES

Reviews

An elegant, witty and free-ranging survey of industrial product design from Thomas Chippendale's ponderous 18th-century manor-house furnishings to Jonathan Ive's sprightly Macintosh iBooks * Telegraph *
Sudjic's book rebukes designers for their arrogance and increasing self-importance ... readable, sharp and worthwhile * FT *
The Language of Things is a happy trot through the colourful landscape formed by design's eternal alternation between use and allure * Evening Standard *
Deyan Sudjic presents us with a nightmare vision of a world drowning in objects ... witty, well observed and wide-ranging * Guardian *
As a confessional, the book is witty and honest, and Deyan Sudjic remains one of our most insightful commentators * Royal Academy magazine *
Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable ... a very nice object in itself ... much in here for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us * Time Out *

Author Bio

Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum. He was born in London, and studied architecture in Edinburgh. He has worked as a critic for the Observer and the Sunday Times, as the editor of Domus in Milan, as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and as a curator in Glasgow, Istanbul and Copenhagen. He is the author of B is for Bauhaus, The Language of Things and The Edifice Complex.