Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1305065 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-13
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Marisa Bartolucci is the former executive editor of Metropolis magazine. She is the author of Architecture + Design NYC and is currently working on a book about the making of Frank Gehry's masterwork, the Guggenheim Bilbao, and how it has changed the Basques.

Cathy Lang Ho is an associate editor at Architecture magazine. She is the former editor of Design Book Review, and writes about architecture and design for numerous publications, including ID magazine, San Francisco Examiner Magazine, and The New York Times.

Raul Cabra is the principal of Cabra Diseño Editorial, an award-winning design studio and book packaging firm based in San Francisco, where he designs and develops content for books on design and popular culture. His work is currently on exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Dung Ngo is an independent editor and curator. He is the former editor of exhibitions and publications at the Rice University's School of Architecture, where he mounted exhibitions and published books on Rem Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, and Sol LeWitt, among others.

Customer Reviews

baaaaaaaaaaaad!
Not a good example of American Contemporary Furniture. So-so examples, not well researched, ho-hum layout, okay photos -- but overall, had to even hunt for the labels for the few items I was interested in. It was a gift; we will keep it in case one of these items comes to us for conservation.

NO recomendation.

Background: College prof, archeeetect, furniture conservator, and dyslexic typist without spellcheck!

Under The Table
The content is worth only one star, but there are some nice photos, so I'll concede to two. Most of the book is conjecture, and opinion. There is very little evidence of any research going into this title. Not a single outside source, article or book is cited. I think you can learn more about contemporary American furniture design from browsing eBay furniture auctions or reading furniture store catalogs than reading this book.

The only good content is the occasional biography of current designers, and these are few and far between. The books places emphasis on upcoming "third generation" designers, but really fails to discuss where they will come from or what is in store for American design.

I felt like the editors just wanted to put together a fantasy catalog of items they would like to have in their homes, and the book lacks an altogether purpose.

And to top it all off, the design and layout is sub-standard for such a remarkable subject. I don't recommed it to anyone.

Concise & Resourceful
From the outset, this book is small compared with many other fine furniture books but its content doesn't lag behind & even surpasses many other offerings by its sheer resourefulness & succinctness. The layout could be defined as multi-media with clean fonts used, abundant of embossed pictures & diagrams used, highlighted quotes by prominent furniture designers. Even though this is an American Contemporary Furniture Book, which emphasises upon the trends of the West, the Middle, & the East of the States, the influential furniture designers originated from elsewhere (other countries) such as Karem Rashid, M. Ali Tayar, & many others. This book addressed the reason United States is still lagging behind its European counterpart is because of the majority Americans, which still cling to its colonial heritage; the lack of infrastructure, network, & the emphasis upon designers. Even though Karem Rashid is gradually going towards super stardom with support from Umbra, United States still doesn't have designers with superstar status equivalent to Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sotsass, & so forth. It then continued to say that United States is gradually warming up to contemporary futniture with the emergence of the "3rd generation", a hybrid between the modernism & the post modernism schools, & influenced by global consumerism & dematerialisation. Suffice to say that examples provided in this book is broad, index of designers & furniture & selected stores at the end of the book come in handy. To justify United States as a huge melting pot infused by many ideas from all fronts, which trascends into its contemporary furniture, we wouldn't have to wander far than noting the authors & editors of this book, who come from diverse backgrounds & interests. I thoroughly enjoyed this book & would recommend anyone who wants to have a general interest in the contemporary furniture movement in United States or simply furniture enthusiast to seek it out. Enjoy!