"The truth is, decorative art is equipment, beautiful equipment," Le Corbusier, L'Art decoratif d'aujourd'hui This book traces the history of an encounter between a remarkable invention, half-industrial half-design object, and one of the most famous architects of the 20th century. Created in 1921, the Gras lamp holds a unique place in the history of lighting. A revolutionary design of marvelous simplicity, its original purpose was to meet the needs of the booming manufacturing and retail sectors. The young Le Corbusier, passionate about the challenges of interior lighting, adopted it as his own from the early 1920s on. Thanks to its remarkable functionality, this lamp also perfectly corresponded to his desire to break with decoration and ornament, and the architect went on to utilize it in his studio in the rue de Sevres in Paris as well as his home. He also placed it in many of the interiors of the houses he designed: the Villa Le Lac (Switzerland), the Villa La Roche (Paris), the Guiette House (Antwerp), the Villa Savoye (Poissy), and the villa belonging to his friend Eileen Gray in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Relying on rich photographic documentation from the period, the book goes through the history of the Gras lamp, its patents and various models, but it also enables the reader to rediscover Le Corbusier's interior designs through the prism of this icon of design, as he was one of this lamp's main promoters in modern times. Text in English and French. Contents: Preface, Antoine Picon; Le Corbusier and "the law of light" Arthur Ruegg; The Lamp and the Architect; Le Corbusier: For daily use; The Studio in the rue de Sevres; Private homes; A Restoration story; Le Corbusier's Designs; Introduction; Villa Le Lac, "little house," Corseaux near Vevey (Switzerland), 1923; La Roche-Jeanneret house, Paris, 1925; Guiette House, Antwerp, 1926; Villa Savoye, "Clear Hours," Poissy, 1929-1931; Swiss Pavilion, Cite Universitaire, Paris, 1931-1933; Visiting Eileen Gray; Bibliography; Chronology."

Situated on the shore of the Lake Zurich, Le Corbusier's exhibition pavilion is his last realised design. Based on his Modulor proportional system and at the scale of a single-family home, it demonstrates the potential of prefabricated elements to form a perfect space for art and design. Commissioned in 1960 by Heidi Weber, Zurich-based gallery owner and patron of Le Corbusier the visual artist, this structure in steel and glass represents pivotal aspects of his architectural philosophy and also points to the future. Architects Silvio Schmed and Arthur Ruegg have carefully restored the Pavillon Le Corbusier to its original state, including the reconstruction of missing pieces of furniture and luminaires. This book documents their research and the restored building, featuring previously unpublished historic photographs and documents alongside newly commissioned images by Georg Aerni.

Since its founding in 1989, the office of Gigon/Guyer architects has designed a truly impressive series of projects. Among the most important are museum, residential, and office buildings, as well as mixed-use constructions. The recently completed Prime Tower and its annex buildings on the Maag site in Zurich have been internationally acclaimed. The monograph offers keen insight into how Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer understand architecture. The diverse concepts and the varied applications of design, material, form, and color employed in their projects are presented in detailed documentation of their work that includes photography, plans, and short texts. Three essays and a discussion between Patrick Gmur, Martin Steinmann, and the architects offer in-depth reflection and contextualization.

Sigfried Giedion (1888-1968) and Carola Giedion-Welcker (1893-1979) were among the most distinguished and influential scholars of art and architectural history during the 20th century's earlier dacades. Of particular impact was their role in connecting leading protagonists of modernism in architecture, art, and literature, such as Alvar Aalto, Hans Arp, Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Breuer, Max Ernst, Walter Gropius, Barbara Hepworth, Le Corbusier, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Piet Mondrian, or Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The discourses they initiated, for example on the New Vision in photography or a 'Synthesis of Arts', have lost nothing of their relevance and provide new starting points through to the present day. The estate of Sigfried and Carola Giedion-Welcker is today kept in Zurich at ETH Zurich's Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture, the Swiss Institute for Art Research, the University of Zurich's Institute of Romance Studies, and the James Joyce Foundation. It comprises some 16,000 letters, 10,000 photographic prints and negatives, a wealth of other papers, and a vast library. This new book offers a re-evaluation of Sigfried and Carola Giedion-Welcker's work, impact, and lasting significance. The editor and contributors were the first to draw fully on the estate, which has been opened entirely to researchers only recently. Featuring a vast number of previously unpublished documents and other images alongside excerpts from the extensive correspondence the two maintained with their artist friends and colleagues in academia, it provides a unique and manifold insight into the 'Giedion universe'.

Le Corbusier designed two color collections for the Salubra wallpaper company: the "Clavier de couleurs" of 1931, with 43 colors, and the 1959 collection, with 20. Not content with the mere color selection, drawn from his experience as an architect and painter, he also organized the tones on 12 sample cards in such a manner that, by using a slider, three or five colors could be varyingly isolated or combined. Each card contained a different color scheme meant, when applied, to create a particular spatial effect. This would become not only a useful tool but also a kind of testament of the purist color theory, an essential groundwork and a valuable instrument for all those who deal with color in theory or practice. In the first volume, Arthur Ruegg, the renowned Le Corbusier expert, explores the significance of the Salubra collections for the history of modern architecture, and in the epilogue to this third edition, presents the specialist research conclusions from the last twenty years. The second volume contains 13 color plates with the 63 colors, printed using the screen printing method and glued by hand as well as 4 separate sliders in pocket. Volume three consists of 63 full page color sample sheets, also printed using the screen printing method.

In this monograph, the author approaches Le Corbusier from a new and unconventional angle. He analyses Le Corbusier's designs to reveal the geometric structures which give each building its unique sense of harmony. Through informative texts and fascinating drawings, the relationship between the rational, constructive and intuitive dimensions in his architecture emerges. Beginning with Le Corbusier's early works and moving chronologically to the icons of the late years - the Chapel at Ronchamp, the Convent of La Tourette - we see two distinct poles: the experimental white buildings around Paris, the epitome of which is the Villa Savoye, and by contrast, the almost mystical monumental buildings in India where Le Corbusier devoted his later years to building the government complex in Chandigarh. Richly illustrated with many unpublished photographs, this book demonstrates how Le Corbusier came to be "one of those rare individuals who succeed in investing their creations with a universal tone." William Curtis

In 2019, the Vitra Design Museum will publish the Atlas of Furniture Design, the definitive, encyclopedic overview of the history of modern furniture design. Featuring over 1700 objects by more than 500 designers and 121 manufacturers, it includes approximately 2800 images ranging from detailed object photographs to historical images documenting interiors, patents, brochures, and related works of art and architecture. The basis for the Atlas of Furniture Design is the collection held by the Vitra Design Museum, one of the largest of its kind with more than 7000 works. The book presents selected pieces by the most important designers of the last 230 years and documents key periods in design history, including early nineteenth-century industrial furniture in bentwood and metal, Art Nouveau and Secessionist pieces and works by protagonists of classical modernism and postwar design, as well as postmodern and contemporary pieces. The Atlas of Furniture Design employed a team of more than 70 experts and features over 550 detailed texts about key objects. In-depth essays provide sociocultural and design-historical context to four historical epochs of furniture design and the pieces highlighted here, enriched by a detailed annex containing designer biographies, glossaries, and elaborate information graphics. The Atlas of Furniture Design is an indispensable resource for collectors, scholars and experts, as well as a beautifully designed object that speaks to design enthusiasts.