Rethinking The Modular: Adaptable Systems in Architecture and Design

Tido von Oppeln

ISBN 10: 0500292353 / ISBN 13: 9780500292358

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2016

About this Item

The modular did not have to be invented: it can be found everywhere. We divide surfaces into grids, spaces into parts, and time into rhythmic units. Modular structures are also increasingly being recognized as a way of communicating, where the aim is not to construct a universal principle but to facilitate interplay between different systems. Building on the visionary design system that architect Fritz Haller and engineer Paul Scharer developed in 1965 for Swiss furniture company USM, Rethinking the Modular brings together specially commissioned essays and interviews with leading designers, architects and thinkers to present the wide-ranging importance and influence of modular design over the past fifty years. In revealing the broad possibilities created by balancing structure with flexibility, the timely publication redefines the place of modularity in modern design history, and offers a rich resource for designers today.

Seller Inventory # 0101133

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rethinking The Modular: Adaptable Systems in Architecture and Design
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500292353
• ISBN 13: 9780500292358
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of USM's pioneering modular system within the greater context of architecture and design

In 1965, leading Swiss furniture company USM patented its signature modular furniture system, USM Haller. This flexible storage solution for both home and office was inspired by Fritz Haller’s modular architecture and designed for infinite reuse and reconfiguration. Considered a design classic, USM Haller is included in the collections of major museums including MoMA and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Released as part of USM’s fiftieth-anniversary celebration of this iconic furniture design, Rethink the Modular examines the role of unit-based systems in the wider context of architecture and design. It combines previously published writings, specially commissioned essays from thinkers and innovators John Thackara and Rick Poyner, and interviews with leading figures in the design world that explain how the concept of the modular influences their work. Interspersed with visual material, the texts reveal the many possibilities created by balancing structure with flexibility, and seek to redefine the place of modularity in modern design history. 400+ illustrations

About the Authors

Burkhard Meltzer is a freelance curator who writes for magazines such as Kunstbulletin, Frieze,and Spike. He was curator and art director at the Neue Kunsthalle St. Gallen.

Tido von Oppeln is an author and curator. He has worked on various exhibitions about design, art, and architecture at the Museum der Dinge, Vitra Design Museum, Marta Herford, and the Museums Quartier Vienna. He lives in Zurich. He is the editor, along with Burkhard Meltzer, of It’s Not a Garden Table.