Design in Britain

If the words "British design" make you think of Victorian wallpaper patterns and crocheted tea cozies, wake up. You've been asleep for decades. From the postwar years on, innovative designers from Britain have been setting trends in architecture, fashion, graphic design, furniture, industrial design, and automobiles. And over the past decade, a new generation of designers has continued to heighten the prominence of British design around the globe.

This gorgeously illustrated book-the first wholly devoted to contemporary British design-celebrates these designers' achievements and influence. Its chapters, each devoted to a specific design field, are written by internationally recognized experts. Together, they present the most comprehensive account ever of Britain's premier place in the today's design world. Edited by Deyan Sudjic, the director of the Design Museum, in London, Design in Britain was specially commissioned to mark the museum's 20th anniversary.

The Design Museum's mission is to celebrate, entertain, and inform. It is the world's leading museum devoted to contemporary design in every form from furniture to graphics, and architecture to industrial design. Design is a hugely fertile field of inventive new work, as well as a key component underpinning the modern economy. It provides a means for understanding the contemporary world, and, potentially, for making it a better place.

Deyan Sudjic, the Director of the Design Museum in London was previously the design and architecture critic for The Observer, the Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Kingston University and Co-Chair of the Urban Age Advisory Board. Alongside these roles, he was the Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Recently, he was a juror for the design of London's Aquatics Centre, which