Book List of the Week: Massimo Vignelli
“The list is almost ridiculous—the more I think, the more books come to mind. Books that have been useful but not fundamental, books that have somehow shaped my mind, enriched my experience, affected my designs.”
By Steve Kroeter June 2, 2014
Much has already been written about the many design contributions and lasting influence as well as the kindness and generosity of Massimo Vignelli, who passed away last week. Both Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand, among others, have movingly detailed the role Massimo played early in their graphic design careers.
Massimo also kindly took a chance on Designers & Books when it was only an idea. When we first decided to launch the site, he was one of the first designers we approached—we didn’t know him personally—for a list of the books that had inspired him. And he was among the first to agree to participate, something he did with great care and enthusiasm.
We sent a query about when we might expect to receive his book list. His assistant, Daisy, replied with this note:
Massimo is working on it and putting considerable thought to the project. It is very difficult for him to narrow it down... he has quite an extensive library with a wide range of topics that have influenced his career. Like everything he does, he is approaching the task with great attention to detail. I will let you know his progress, unless he contacts you directly. Thank you.
Later we heard from Massimo directly:
Mr. Kroeter,
I find your request extremely difficult for me. Out of thousand of books which have enriched my life and knowledge, I cannot single few ones without omitting so many others who have shaped my mind in the course of my life.
Naturally architecture and design books have been the major influences, but art history, philosophy, literature, ethnology, music, particularly on the theoretic and critical side of every discipline, have been my favorite reading.
It will take an enormous amount of time to list every book that has left a mark on my formation. I will just list some of the names that comes to my mind:
G.C. Argan, S. Giedion, L. Mumford, Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, W. Gropius, G. Kepes, Moholy Nagy, Zevi, M. Pagano, E. Persico, E. Rogers, P. Rand, Plato, G. Lukacs, M. Mila, J.G. Frazer, H. Balzac, Maupassant, L. Tolstoi, F. Dostoevsky, Checov, T. Mann, W. Goethe, A. Moravia, C. Pavese, I. Calvino, U. Eco, V. Nabokov,T.Farrel, T.Dreiser, E.Hemingway, and so many others including Mozart, Beethoven and Bach!
The list is almost ridiculous, the more I think the more books come to mind, books that have been useful but not fundamental, books that have somehow shaped my mind, enriched my experience, affected my designs.
I am curious to see how my friends on your list, have answered the question.
Please let me know if you have any suggestion for me.
Best regards,
Massimo Vignelli
The next day we received his book list, with this note:
Dear Mr. Kroeter,
I am sending you a list of books, but really I feel guilty to leave out all those who have really enriched my life.
Anyhow here is a list. Let me know.
All the best,
Massimo Vignelli
The list—the first we published, in February 2011—contains 32 books.
Announcements
If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture by Moshe Safdie
If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture
By Moshe Safdie
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
Published: September 2022
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Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
Growing Up Underground: A Memoir of Counterculture New York by Steven Heller
Growing Up Underground: A Memoir of Counterculture New York
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Published: October 2022
An entertaining coming-of-age memoir from Steven Heller, award-winning designer, writer, and former senior art director at the New York Times, that takes readers on a visually inspired look back at being at the center of New York’s youth culture in the 1960s and ’70s.
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Women Holding Things by Maira Kalman
Women Holding Things
By Maira Kalman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: October 2022
In the spring of 2021, Maira and Alex Kalman created a small, limited-edition booklet, “Women Holding Things,” which featured select recent paintings by Maira, accompanied by her insightful and deeply personal commentary. The booklet quickly sold out. Now, the Kalmans have expanded that original publication into an extraordinary visual compendium. We see a woman hold a book, hold shears, hold children, hold a grudge, hold up, hold her own. In visually telling their stories, Kalman lays bare the essence of women’s lives—their tenacity, courage, vulnerability, hope, and pain.
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