Product/industrial and lighting designer Inga Sempé: Inga Sempé (Paris)
Profile Book List
French product designer Inga Sempé—known for her pleated paper and pendant lamps, ruched sofas, and other distinctive twists on everyday objects—credits her parents in ways both large and small when it comes to what she reads and how she looks at books. “Almost 95 percent of the books I have read were given to me by my mother,” she admits in the introduction to her list for Designers & Books.
Newest Posts and Book Lists
168 blog entries
Jun 18, 2013
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Jun 11, 2013
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Architect Vincent Van Duysen: Vincent Van Duysen Architects (Antwerp, Belgium)
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“I like to surround myself with books, not only in my library but also in the bedroom, living room, and kitchen. In most spaces in my home you will find books. This allows me to pick up a book at any moment, at any place,” remarks Belgian architect and interior designer Vincent Van Duysen.
Jun 6, 2013
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June brings to Designers & Books ten new reviews of Notable Design Books of 2013, selected by members of our Book Board. Highlights include two volumes from a series profiling remarkable women in design, a reissue (and reconsideration) of a title on the work of Nazi architect Albert Speer, three books on California’s design scene from the 1930s to the present, and a new look at sustainable fashion.
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Jun 4, 2013
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Architecture critic Julie Iovine: The Wall Street Journal (New York)
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“I look to books for everything imaginable, and unimaginable. They shape my outlook, but also throw open spaces I could never have found on my own. The chance to consider an essential list is wonderfully engrossing, and also a bit of a nasty parlor trick. Must I commit?” is how Wall Street Journal architecture critic Julie Iovine begins her book list for Designers & Books.
May 28, 2013
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Architect Hugh Hardy: H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture (New York)
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Designers & Books caught up with architect Hugh Hardy, known for his design of some of New York's most celebrated theaters—from Broadway houses to Radio City to Lincoln Center—on the occasion of the recent release of his new book, Theater of Architecture (April 2013, Princeton Architectural Press). We asked a few questions about his latest title (his third), as well as about the selections on his book list, which he describes as “a mixed bag of gifts and explanations: history, architecture, urban affairs, and theater.”
May 21, 2013
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Architect, interior and product/industrial designer Matteo Thun: Matteo Thun & Partners (Milan)
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Matteo Thun needed something that functions like “a phone book” * to show the varied work for which he has become known over the course of his career. That work includes co-founding (with Ettore Sottsass) Memphis—the industrial design collective that defined Italian design in the 1970s and 1980s—and also the hotels, private residences, housewares, and lighting designed by his own firm, Matteo Thun & Partners.
May 14, 2013
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Textile design firm executive Michael Maharam: Maharam (New York)
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As CEO of his family’s over 110-year-old textile firm, Michael Maharam has introduced the work of modern and contemporary graphic, fashion, and industrial designers to the company’s commercial fabric lines. Hella Jongerius, Maira Kalman, Abbott Miller, and Paul Smith, among many others, have all designed for Maharam, which has become known for the progressive design and engineering of its textiles for architects and interior designers.
May 7, 2013
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May 2, 2013
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Our May reviews are in. Designers & Books is posting its second monthly roundup of Notable Design Books of 2013, selected by members of our Book Board.
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Apr 30, 2013
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Jewelry and watch design editor Marion Fasel: InStyle (New York)
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“To be a jewelry designer is a calling,” says Marion Fasel, InStyle’s jewelry editor since 1996, the year she launched the magazine’s award-winning coverage of the field. “You have to actively seek an education,” Fasel continues, “and books are one of the best resources.”
