This an essential tool kit for understanding the world around us. It's about our obsession with collecting, the quest for authenticity and the creation of national identities. It's about Hitchcock's film sets and why we value imperfection. It's about fashion and technology, about politics and art.

'A memoir and a master class in musing on modern design . . . It's a collection of thoughtful, absorbing essays about many aspects of modern design, a subject nobody writes better about than Sudjic' - Evening Standard

This book is an essential tool kit for decoding contemporary culture. It's about what makes a Warhol a genuine fake, the beauty of the jumbo jet, the notion of authenticity, Hitchcock's film sets, the success of Ikea, the creation of national identity, the mania to collect and the value of imperfection.


About the Author
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.

Reviews
A memoir and a master class in musing on modern design . . . It's a collection of thoughtful, absorbing essays about many aspects of modern design, a subject nobody writes better about than Sudjic . . . There are many rewarding pieces here on subjects ranging from the genius of Dieter Rams, the beauty of the Jumbo jet, the success of Ikea, the troubled concept of authenticity, and the contradictions of Leon Krier, to the development of the zip and the end of the typewriter and the analogue camera * London Evening Standard *
The book is written with a natural fluidity, with authority, and at times an almost academic interrogation * Design Week *
Combining Sudjic's obsessive attention to obscure detail with a pop culture-honed eye for influence and connection, 'B' is a handbook of why things are the way they are * Wallpaper* *



Book Information
ISBN 9780718199517
Author Deyan Sudjic
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 400g
Dimensions(mm) 180mm * 110mm * 36mm