Minimum - Mini Edition (Phaidon Miniature Editions)

This extraordinary visual essay explores the notion of 'minimum', a concept that is rooted in the pursuit of simplicity, as applied to architecture, art and design; it is the quality that a building or object possesses when every component, every detail and every junction has been reduced or condensed to its essentials. Now itself condensed, Minimum is available for the first time as a pocket edition.

This book, designed and compiled by the Minimalist architect John Pawson, captures the essential qualities of particular kinds of simplicity. This is illustrated by architecture ranging from prehistoric Mexico and Ancient Egypt to the high Modernism of Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe; art from the Dutch School to Donald Judd; the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe and Bill Brandt; and furniture and pottery. With its broad spread across time and a wide geographical area, Minimum seeks to analyse the elements of simplicity and capture them in print.

John Pawson is a renowned architect and designer specializing in the Minimalist aesthetic. He has designed interiors for Calvin Klein, B&B Italia and the Cathay Pacific Lounge at the Hong Kong International Airport. His own work is the subject of two books John Pawson Works and John Pawson Themes and Projects, both published by Phaidon.