Catharine Rossi

Mateo Kries

Katarina Serulus

Jochen Eisenbrand

A history of the nightclub from Studio 54 to the Double Club Nightclubs and discothèques are hotbeds of contemporary culture. Throughout the 20th century, they have been centres of the avant-garde that question the established codes of social life and experiment with different realities, merging interior and furniture design, graphics and art with sound, light, fashion and special effects to create a modern Gesamtkunstwerk. Night Fever: A Design History of Club Culture examines the history of the nightclub, with examples ranging from Italian nightclubs of the 1960s that were created by members of the Radical Design group to the legendary Studio 54 in New York, Philippe Starck's Les Bains Douches in Paris and the more recent Double Club in London, conceived by German artist Carsten Höller for the Prada Foundation. Featuring films and vintage photographs, posters and fashion, Night Fever takes the reader on a fascinating journey through a world of glamour, subculture and the search for the night that never ends.

A Design History of Club Culture

Night Fever

Alex Coles

An examination of the notion of craft as it moves from moves from “modern craft” to “post-craft” amid new economies of making. The notion of the handmade has shifted from the margins to center stage. Craft's value is increasingly recognized across creative, economic, social, cultural, and political contexts. Amid dissolving disciplinary boundaries and the widespread appropriation of craft, its meaning is changing. While its claims to values such as authenticity and anti-consumerism are questionable, the role of craft is poised to be optimized within the contemporary climate. Amid new economies of making, as craft moves from “modern craft” to “post-craft,” we need to examine not only the practice of craft but also its mediation and interpretation.

Post-Craft

This long-awaited first title in a new series from design historian Alex

The Italian Avant-garde, 1968-1976

Deyan Sudjic

Maria Cristina Didero

Evan Snyderman

SuperDesignis the only wide-ranging look at the short-lived but powerfully influential movement known as Italian Radical design. In numerous exclusive interviews, unreleased photographs, original drawings and artwork unearthed from personal archives, and newly commissioned photography of rarely seen works, SuperDesigncasts new light on this tumultuous period of design. What started as a largely student-led rally against the establishment and a rejection of accepted design norms became a movement that brought together some of the most dynamic and avant-garde thinkers and creative makers across Italy. SuperDesignreveals how and why these designers changed the way we think about the objects that surround us during this short yet action-packed time. Through enigmatic, confrontational, and even distasteful objects, peppered with innovations in the interiors of youth discos and subversive performances, the Radicals projected design's new era as equal parts Pop Art, play, Surrealism, and futurism. Alongside the exclusive primary source material, SuperDesignfeatures additional essays by top design scholars Deyan Sudjic and Catharine Rossi. This book demystifies these fantastic works and tells the stories behind the often contentious relationships between the key figures of the movement (some of whom remain at odds still, nearly fifty years later). Bridging Hippie Modernism and Memphis, SuperDesignis a lively document of how the iconoclasm and bold experimentation of the Italian Radicals continues to influence design today.

Catharine Rossi

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