Rethinking The Modular: Adaptable Systems in Architecture and Design - Softcover

Burkhard Meltzer; Tido Von Oppeln

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500292353 ISBN 13: 9780500292358

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2016

Synopsis

The modular did not have to be invented: it can be found everywhere. We divide surfaces into grids, spaces into parts, and time into rhythmic units. Modular structures are also increasingly being recognized as a way of communicating, where the aim is not to construct a universal principle but to facilitate interplay between different systems. Building on the visionary design system that architect Fritz Haller and engineer Paul Schärer developed in 1965 for Swiss furniture company USM, Rethinking the Modular brings together specially commissioned essays and interviews with leading designers, architects and thinkers to present the wide-ranging importance and influence of modular design over the past fifty years. In revealing the broad possibilities created by balancing structure with flexibility, the timely publication redefines the place of modularity in modern design history, and offers a rich resource for designers today.

About this title

About the Authors

A prolific writer for many design magazines, Tido von Oppeln also edited the book Totem and Taboo: Complexity and Relationships between Art and Design. He has been a lecturer in design theory and history in Lucerne and Zurich since 2009.

Burkhard Meltzer is a freelance curator who writes about future art for magazines such as Kunstbulletin, frieze and Spike. He is the author of Ana and, with Tido von Oppeln, he was one of the editors of It’s Not a Garden Table: Art and Design in the Expanded Field.

From the Back Cover

An exploration of the past, present and future importance of the modular in architecture and design.

The modular did not have to be invented: it can be found everywhere. We divide surfaces into grids, spaces into parts, and time into rhythmic units. Modular structures are also increasingly being recognized as a way of communicating, where the aim is not to construct a universal principle but to facilitate interplay between different systems. Building on the visionary design system that architect Fritz Haller and engineer Paul Schärer developed in 1965 for Swiss furniture company USM, Rethinking the Modular brings together specially commissioned essays and interviews with leading designers, architects and thinkers to present the wide-ranging importance and influence of modular design over the past fifty years. In revealing the broad possibilities created by balancing structure with flexibility, the timely publication redefines the place of modularity in modern design history, and offers a rich resource for designers today.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500292353
• ISBN 13: 9780500292358
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 298