The complex and refined creative imagination of Carlo Mollino - an eclectic personality of the Italian 20th century - is the common thread that unites the research documented in these pages, which combines a selection of photographs from the fifties and sixties, shot by Mollino himself, with the works of Enoc Perez and Brigitte Schindler, artists united by a visionary spirit aimed at experimentation. The volume opens with the shots of the splendid and provocative models portrayed by Mollino (Turin, 1905-1973), through which the author on the one hand explores the beauty of female nature and on the other aims to compose an image – subjective and transfigured – of the woman as the ideal counterpart of his existence. Enoc Perez (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1967) began a personal investigation in the nineties on a series of iconic twentieth-century architectures, which he transposed into paintings with an indefinite, sometimes dreamlike flavour: among these stands out Casa Mollino – the architect’s last enigmatic and secret residence, which now houses the Museum – visited by the painter in 2019 and the subject of the works presented here. The same house, designed by Mollino down to the smallest detail and conceived as a mirror of his worldview, was a source of inspiration for Brigitte Schindler (Munich, 1972), whose photographs intercept the mystery suspended in the rooms, the subtle connections between the objects carefully chosen and positioned by the owner. The volume includes contributions by Mario Diacono, Fulvio Ferrari, Enoc Perez and Brigitte Schindler, together with extracts from “The message from the dark room” by Carlo Mollino. Text in English and Italian.

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.

An examination of hagiographical traditions and their impact. Icelanders venerated numerous saints, both indigenous and from overseas, in the Middle Ages. However, although its literary elite was well acquainted with contemporary Continental currents in hagiographic compositions, theological discussions, and worship practices, much of the history of the learned European networks through which the Icelandic cult of the saints developed and partially survived the Lutheran Reformation remains obscure. The essays collected in this volume address this lacuna by exploring the legacies of the cult of some of the most prominent saints and holy men in medieval Iceland (the Virgin Mary along with SS Agnes of Rome, Benedict of Nursia, Catherine of Alexandria, Dominic of Caleruega, Michael the Archangel, Jon of Holar, THorlakr of Skalholt, Larentius of Holar, and Gudmundr the Good), using evidence drawn from Old Norse-Icelandic and Latin hagiographic literature, homilies, prayers, diplomas, sacred art, place-names, and church dedications. By placing the medieval Icelandic cult of the saints within its wider European context, the contributions trace new historical routes of cultural transmission and define the creative processes of the accommodation and adaptation of foreign hagiographic sources and models in medieval and early modern Iceland. They provide a clear picture of an Icelandic hagiographic literature and culture that celebrates the splendour of the saints; they also show how an engaging literary genre, which became immensely popular on the island throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, was created.