5 Design Books for the Holidays

Central Image Source: designersreviewofbooks.com

1. “Are We Human? Notes on an archaeology of design”, 2016, Β. Colomina and M. Wigley

The established theorists of design and architecture, both curators of the 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial, Colomina and Wigley, reflect on our connection to design. This book explores the relationship between humans and design since it is considered that design strictly exists to serve man. The opinion of the writers is that design is rather called to recreate the world and subsequently humans, predetermining our future. This book also functions as a collection of texts, with more than 75 participating architects, designers, artists, archaeologists, historians and scientists, who respond to the issue of the history of human evolution, implying that design and the act of envisioning always a different version of the present produces new versions of everyday life.

2. “The System of Objects”, 1968 Jean Baudrillard

French intellectual Jean Baudrillard, deeply disappointed by the events of May 68’, the failure of social revolution and the triumph of capitalism, writes “The System of Objects”. The desire for consumption and social stability was more powerful than the desire for revolution and reform. Baudrillard’s book is a postmodern criticism, attacking not only the economy but the culture it produced as well. Following his intellectual mentors, sociologist Henri Lefebvre and semiotician Roland Barthes, he made pointed and sarcastic comments about the objects of contemporary, everyday life. In this book, objects are organised in systems of signification that are, in turn, broken down into 1. non-functional objects, 2. functional objects, and 3. metafunctionlal objects. In this work he incorporates Ferdinand de Saussure’s theories about signs and Sigmund Freud’s theories about psychology, aiming to expose the hidden meaning of everyday objects, juxtaposing their function or dysfunction with the function or dysfunction of language in a system of use and uselessness. 

3. “Design Studies”, 2009, H. Clark , D. Brody

It is the most essential textbook for an introduction to the world and history of design. The volume consists of over 70 essays on the study of contemporary design, its role, the process of its creation and the concept of the product and its symbolic use, divided into sections by subjects, which analyze these issues in depth and finally propose a guide for further reading. Design Studies: A Reader is a reference book and a valuable tool, mainly for students of design, art and architecture but also for anyone who is interested to delve into issues of contemporary design. The volume includes essays by intellectuals who have taken part in founding the theoretical and critical aspects of contemporary art: Theodor Adorno, Jean Baudrillard, Zygmunt Bauman, Pierre Bourdieu, Arthur C. Danto, Adrian Forty, Michel Foucault and Victor Papanek among others.

4. “Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming”, 2013, Anthony Dunne, Fiona Raby

In Speculative Everything, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby propose a kind of design that is used as a tool for creating not only objects but ideas as well. Speculative design aims to create an imaginary “space”, a design that speculates about a functional future or the problems it may have in store, thus suggesting possible solutions. “Speculative Everything” offers a journey through the emerging cultural landscape of design ideas and approaches to the future. Dunne and Raby, based on their design and many years of teaching, use examples from the fine arts, design, architecture, cinema and photography. The book is based theoretically on political theory, the philosophy of technology and cyberspace as well as fantasy literature. The book argues that through "speculative design" reality can become less rigid and more at our disposal.

5. “Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change”, 1971, 2019, Victor Papanek

This timeless book by designer and educator Victor Papanek was inspired, as he notes in the introduction, by the lack of such books. Books about design that inspire and teach the meaning of design to anyone who is interested. A book that he himself would like to read. Written in 1971, it’s now been translated into more than 20 languages. This work is a milestone in design literature. Victor Papanek’s unique guide suggests that design can minimise pollution, the accumulation of capital, hunger and isolation and deal with many more issues of the modern world. He leads us away from the commodity fetishism of a profligate society, towards a new age ethically dominated by responsible design that is centered around an equally responsible and conscious consumer.