Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890-1980

Edited by Bobbye Tigerman and Monica Obniski.
With contributions from Glenn Adamson, Arndís Árnadóttir, Charlotte Ashby, Graham Boettcher, Danielle Charlap, Kjetil Fallan, Diana Jocelyn Greenwold, Denise Hagströmer, Helena Kåberg, Alexandra Lange, Cara McCarty, Monica Penick, Hannah Pivo, Rosanne Somerson, Erica Warren.

Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890–1980 is the first exhibition to examine the extensive design exchanges between the United States and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) during the 20th century. Serving as a corrective to the dominant narrative of central European émigrés shaping modern American design culture, the exhibition will present a new international story, featuring accounts of Scandinavian designers who immigrated to the United States; Americans who studied or worked in Nordic countries; the ambitious campaigns to market and export Scandinavian design to American consumers; and the American and Nordic figures who championed sustainable and accessible design practice. Many of the issues considered in the exhibition remain relevant today, including the contributions of immigrants to their adopted societies, the importance of international exchange, critical analysis of cultural myths, and concern about environmental sustainability and accessibility.

Featuring my chapter, “Free To Be … Scandinavian,” on the myriad ways Scandinavian toys and household goods helped shape American child-rearing practices.

Midwest Architecture Journeys

Edited by Zach Mortice, with an introduction by Alexandra Lange.

Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright may be the Midwest’s (and the nation’s) most famous architects, but the region has always been a fertile ground for builders master and amateur. Midwest Architecture Journeys takes readers on a trip to visit some of the region’s most inventive buildings by architects such as Bertrand Goldberg, Bruce Goff, and Lillian Leenhouts. It also includes stops at less obvious but equally daring and defining sites, such as indigenous mounds, grain silos, parking lots, flea markets, and abandoned warehouses. Through dozens of essays written by architects, critics, and journalists, Midwest Architecture Journeys argues that what might seem flat is actually monumental, and what we assume to be boring is brimming with experimentation.

See more: Belt Publishing

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America

A lively exploration of eclecticism, playfulness, and whimsy in American postwar design, including architecture, graphic design, and product design, edited by Darrin Alfred and Monica Obniski.

This spirited volume shows how postwar designers embraced whimsy and eclecticism in their work, exploring playfulness as an essential construct of modernity. Following World War II, Americans began accumulating more and more goods, spurring a transformation in the field of interior decoration. Storage walls became ubiquitous, often serving as a home’s centerpiece. Designers such as Alexander Girard encouraged homeowners to populate their new shelving units with folk art, as well as unconventional and modern objects, to produce innovative and unexpected juxtapositions within modern architectural settings. Playfulness can be seen in the colorful, child-sized furniture by Charles and Ray Eames, who also produced toys. And in the postwar corporate world, the concept of play is manifested in the influential advertising work of Paul Rand. Set against the backdrop of a society that was experiencing rapid change and high anxiety, Serious Play takes a revelatory look at how many of the country’s leading designers connected with their audience through wit and imagination. Contributors include Amy Auscherman, Dakin Hart, Steven Heller, Pat Kirkham, and Alexandra Lange.

See more: Yale University Press

Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe

Alexander Girard was one of the most important modern textile artists and interior designers of the 20th century. He combined Pop and Folk art influences to create a colorfully opulent aesthetic language whose impact continues to be felt today. This richly illustrated catalogue draws on the vast holdings in Girard’s private estate, which were exhaustively investigated for the first time at the Vitra Design Museum. The book presents the oeuvre of the multitalented designer in all its facets, while offering the first scholarly, critical examination of his work. Six essays address Girard’s textile and graphic design for the furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, interior design projects such as the Irwin Miller House in Columbus, Indiana (1953), and the restaurant La Fonda del Sol in New York (1960), his activities as a pioneering exhibition organizer and curator, his roots in Italy and his passion for folk art, which resulted in a collection of more than 100,000 objects and served as one of the most important sources of inspiration for his own work. In addition to extensive portfolios with never-before-shown archive materials, the publication also provides a biography and a complete list of works, plus articles by Susan Brown, Jochen Eisenbrand, Barbara Hauss, Alexandra Lange, Monica Obniski and Jonathan Olivares.

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Thirty Years of Emerging Voices: Form, Idea, Resonance

The prestigious Emerging Voices award was created in 1982 by The Architectural League of New York to showcase the work of early- to mid-career North American architects. Each year, through an invited competition, a jury selects practitioners or firms with a significant body of realized work that represents the best of its kind and has the potential to shape the future of architecture and landscape design. Thirty Years of Emerging Voices documents and critically assesses the first three decades of the League’s Emerging Voices program. Essays by Reed Kroloff, Ashley Schafer, and Karen Stein and concise commentaries by Alan G. Brake, Henry N. Cobb, Alexandra Lange, Thomas de Monchaux, Paul Makovsky, and Suzanne Stephens complement the presentation of work from the nearly 250 individuals and firms that have been selected for the program.

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