Typologie, a captivating collection of design books that delve into the essence of everyday objects, has just released its fourth issue, and it's all about the humble wooden crate. We often encounter crates at outdoor markets. Stacked up like scaffolding and laid out on stalls, they are used to transport and display fruits and vegetables. Our eyes wander from leeks to turnips, while we tend to overlook these simple yet ingenious objects: a few slats of poplar wood, stapled together in perfect efficiency and function. Although this classic design has been around for over sixty years, its principle has remained more or less unchanged.⁠ ⁠ Partnering with The Vitra Design Museum, Typologie showcases 45 striking photographs printed in bichromie, 30 colorful illustrations, a thought-provoking text by Alexandre D'Orsetti, and a fascinating interview featuring Philippe Weisbecker, a French artist, Pierre Cornu, a historian, and Jean-Luc Baley, the director of a wooden crate factory. This issue meticulously inventories the crate's various shapes, manufacturing process, and history, bringing to life the enduring relevance of this often-overlooked object. If you're curious about the world around you and love thoughtful design, you won't want to miss Typologie's latest issue. Buy

A humorous tribute to Matteo Thun, one of Italy’s most distinguished designers and architects, and his work. In the summer of 2009, Swiss artist Walter Pfeiffer made an extensive trip from Zurich to the Italian island of Capri, taking shots of some fifty of Thun’s design objects en route. Yet, rather than doing a mere documentation of these items, Pfeiffer created highly lively “tableaux vivants.” The artist was accompanied on his journey by Thun’s two then teenage sons, who thus form the main visual narrative of the book and appear in many pictures together with their father’s creations. A brief introduction by Matteo Thun’s wife Susanne and an index of the depicted design gems round out this extraordinary and entertaining visual travelogue. Buy

Not happy with the cold weather? Considering how long the Berlin winter lasts, there's still plenty of time to reach for the knitting kit and knit yourself some warm jumpers... And honestly with the book by Lærke Bagger at your side, it couldn't be more fun!⁠ Her mantra "Better unique than perfect" fits perfectly with the new DIY and upcycling of vintage clothing that is currently taking over fashion. Laerke is a trained textile designer and has been knitting with recycled materials since she was a teenager. So this book does not only teach you knitting scrunchies, socks, jumpers or even a ball gown, but also how to do it with recycled materials, yarn scraps and incorporating real found objects. In the process, you will be encouraged to stand by imperfections.⁠ Buy

How to Design a Post-Fossil World with the Sun?⁠ ⁠ Polluting energy systems based on finite fossil resources are destroying our planet and threatening its inhabitants. We all know that by now. And at the same time, there is this infinite (at least in human terms) energy of the sun pouring down on us. ⁠ ⁠ This book is about what we know about solar energy, what we can already do and what we hope to be able to do in the near future. And so it is divided into exactly these three parts: the first explains how we have designed with the sun in the past, providing a visual timeline of the historical development of solar power. The second part looks at the present: Where are we now and what is solar design? It provides examples of innovative solar design in architecture, fashion, mobility and product design. Finally, the last part looks to the future and asks how we can ensure that solar energy does not become the asbestos of the 21st century.⁠ Buy

What is artistic research? What is a research document? How do these relate to the making process, invention, and creativity? ⁠ ⁠ Research For People Who (Think They) Would Rather Create addresses all relevant aspects that need to be considered during a research and documentation process, such as: finding the right topic and approach; formulating your research question; working out your methods; choosing one or more suitable writing styles; and considering the possible roles of visual, virtual, auditory, embodied, and spatial materials.⁠ Buy

Ricardo Bofill is one of our favourite architects. But La Fábrica, his own home, must be his most outstanding creation. A former cement factory on the outskirts of Barcelona, serendipitously discovered while driving, the building became the centre of the late Catalan architect’s life. Here, Ricardo created a world of his own, exposing the concrete forms from beneath years of dust and smoke, encouraging nature back onto the structure, and fine-tuning the balance between its monumental scale and a delicate, human sensibility, in one of the earliest examples of the reuse of an industrial building—and it’s still changing.⁠ ⁠ This new edition by apartamento expands on the book originally published in 2018, featuring exclusive archival imagery and an expansive selection of photographs taken by Nacho Alegre on his visits to La Fábrica over the last decade. He returned in November 2022 to document the building in its current state, closing the book with 32 pages of otherwise unseen images—a portrait of Ricardo’s most cherished work at a moment of profound transformation. With an introduction by Pablo Bofill, the book also features an interview with Ricardo himself by Barcelona-based architects Arquitectura-G and Guillermo López.⁠ Buy

Vertical lines bound by razor-sharp rims, meet gently rolling bodies of symmetric beauty, round vessels with asymmetric collars and irregular appearing spikes that seem to be sometimes thorns, sometimes nipples, glowing in burnished graphite black or soft terra cotta.⁠ Magdalene Odundo’s work is inspired by the human body, by traditional vessels, ethnological objects, and sculptures. “Study whatever has gone before, not with a view to becoming a copyist, but with the object of gaining knowledge.” Fascinated by these words of British industrial designer Christopher Dresser she absorbed the British museums and pieced what she saw together into a language truly of her own.⁠ “Making is a journey of collecting, piecing together the collected or recorded memories.” This publication translates Odundo’s quote into print and shows her work next to all the objects that inspired her, insightful essays about her method and practice round it off.⁠ ⁠ First Edition, third printing with a beautiful new cover.⁠ Buy

The Dictionary of Color Combinations is probably one of the most beautiful books we ever held in our hands! After it has been sold out for a year, we finally have it back in stock and are mesmerized as before.⁠..⁠ ⁠ The pocket size jewel offers 348 incredible color combinations by Japanese painter Sanzo Wada. The compositions of two, three, and four tones could not be more intriguing and with its index registering the CMYK code of every shade used it is an indispensable tool for every designer.⁠ Buy

The world today faces overwhelming environmental and social problems. To combat, change and overcome these challenges, collective action is necessary and inevitable. This has led to new forms of collective art and design practices: Artists collaborate with non-artists, make products for their local environment and take on multiple identities such as researcher, community activist, computer hacker or business consultant.⁠ ⁠ The book "Making Matters" by the fantastic publisher Onomatopee looks at art practices on all continents where the boundaries between art, design, research and activism are blurring or dissolving. ⁠ Buy

Pierre Charpin's new monograph does not show the product designer's objects but covers 17 years of his drawings!⁠ ⁠ French furniture designer Pierre Charpin's new book titled Avec le dessin takes a deep dive into his expansive visual oeuvre, exploring the many styles and approaches that he takes when drawing.⁠ ⁠ By adopting various techniques and tools, he develops forms, investigates structures and discovers colours and their combinations. But his enchanting lines, loops, ribbons and shapes are much more than just a tool for creating a product. They have the power to stand for themselves, giving us an insight into the designers mind.⁠ ⁠ "Like any child, I drew. Drawing comes before writing. A sort of original gesture, a primitive impulse, an imperative need to project tangible figures of one’s own experience and presence in the world outside oneself, for oneself, and for others”, Charpin writes in the introduction. But even though he grew up in a family of creatives, he was slow to assert real passion for any particular field – including that of drawing. It was only many years later, after entering the world of furniture and object design, that he would discover that drawing was a practice within itself.⁠ ⁠ Ranging from figurative to abstract and beyond, Avec le Dessin is a testament to the designer's versatility - and his "primitive impulse" to draw. Buy

MacGuffin Magazine has a pretty special concept: Each issue of MacGuffin takes a close look at one unassuming everyday object to reveal its hidden complexity and stories. Through scrupulous, illuminating research this magazine unearths historical delights, exposes unusual viewpoints and changes our perspective.⁠ ⁠ Born out of boredom with the design world, this design magazine by an editorial team of architects and art historians does not focus on the latest trends, iconic designs or an endless stream of new objects, but concentrates on the much wider story of what an object becomes when it enters our day-to-day life, and on what it reveals in turn about us. In this way, each issue becomes a fascinating and amusing gem of meticulous research and design enthusiasm.⁠ ⁠ The latest issue is about the chain - one of the most contradictory of objects. Worn with love since time immemorial, it is also the ultimate symbol of slavery and suffering. Linking together royals and rappers, cycling skirts and classic scarfs, caged wrestlers and medieval warriors, hyperlinks and haunted houses, Baltic protestors and Cuban revolutionaries...⁠ ⁠ ⁠Btw the word MacGuffin is not the name of a Scotsman, but comes from the film world, from Hitchcock himself to be precise. It describes an object that serves to trigger the plot in a film without being of any particular use itself. A typical MacGuffin is, for example, a bag with the loot from a bank robbery. It is of central relevance for the protagonists, but for the plot the bag is of secondary importance. The story revolves around the chase and the resulting dramatic situations. Similarly, for each issue of MacGuffin, the object is only the starting point from which we delve into human behaviour, culture, traditions and history, uncovering the personal and sometimes curious relationships we have with the things that surround us.⁠ Buy

What began as a live Instagram series during the lockdown is now a wake-up call in book form! Design critics and curators Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli trace possible future scenarios and analyse them in conversations with leading names from the world of architecture and design. It is a powerful testament to the power of design to spark radical and far-reaching change. Now the spark only has to be ignited!⁠ Buy