"During the last decade, the emergence of Italy as the dominant force in design has had a profound influence in Europe and the Americas. The phenomenon is important not only because of the high quality and diversity of the forms produced, but also because it has generated a lively debate on the sociocultural implications of product design, raising questions of vital concern to designers throughout the world. For many designers, the aesthetic quality of individual objects intended for private consumption have become irrelevant in the face of such pressing problems as poverty, urban decay, and the pollution of the environment now encountered in all industrialized countries. Consequently, they are increasingly shifting he focus of their attention from the well-designed object to man's total environment, seeing the designer's function as one that can mold patterns of behavior by creating new settings for freer, more adaptable lifestyles. Some, however, despairing of effecting social change through design, regard their task as essentially a political one. They therefore abstain from the physical designing of either objects or environments and channel their energies into the staging of events and the issuing of polemical statements. Their approach thus parallels that of many artists in other mediums who view their art in primarily conceptual terms. This publication, issued in conjunction with a major exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, is the first to deal comprehensively with these challenging developments. Over 150 objects of Italian design of the past ten years have been selected for the show and are all reproduced in color and black-and-white, as are the dozen environments by well-known Italian designers specially commissioned for the occasion, and the two awarded prizes in a concurrent competition for young designers under thirty-five sponsored by the Museum. Each environment is accompanied by a statement in which the individual or group responsible for the project clarifies his position regarding the present and future role of design. In addition to essays by Emilio Ambasz, Curator of Design at the Museum of Modern Art and director of the exhibition, the book contains contributions by a number of outstanding Italian critics and art historians. Together, these comprise the first historical survey of contemporary Italian design and a critical analysis of its intellectual and formal positions within the context of international design today." -- Publisher's description

These twelve essays by leading architectural critics, sociologists, and designers are devoted to the unusual story of the transformation of residential living space in a country rich with architectural meaning. Home design and construction in Italy shifted after World War II from a base of craftsman builders to medium-size industrial production-a fundamental social change that was directed both by an active base of architectural theory and the culture of domestic life. Italy's design technologies extended the theory and practice of domestic architecture from its artisan characteristics to technologic visions-without breaking the social bond that architecture provides in Italy. Italy, unlike other countries, successfully redefined its "culture of living." The largest part of the anthology addresses issues of design, production, and building, including Beppe Finezzi's "Living Between Art and Architecture" and Frida Doveil's "New Materials and New User Values For the Home." Other essays include "The Landscape of Daily Life" (Francesca Picchi), "A Homeless Country (Andrea Branzi), "Italian Design" (Paola Antonelli). Provocative pieces like "Living in Italy, A Question of Taste" by Franco La Cecla center on the perception of rituals of living in Italy as they are affected by the accelerating design tastes of the last fifty years.

This essential survey of Italian Radical design, a movement that interrogated modern living against the turbulent political climate of the 1960s, is lavishly illustrated with new photography, including rarely seen prototypes and limited-production pieces.

This long-awaited first title in a new series from design historian Alex