青幻舎 SEIGENSHA Art Publishing

An abundance of plates and illustrations complements the author’s engaging account of modern furniture from its origins in the mid-eighteenth-century British Industrial Revolution. From Michael Thonet, Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, and Hans J. Wegner to Taro Okamoto and Shiro Kuramata, the accessible discussion ranges over the globe, helping readers connect the individual “dots” in their understanding of the history of product design into a single integrated flow. The author’s exceptional erudition, coupled with his insight as a professional designer, makes for a one-of-a-kind textbook that offers a delightfully page-turning read while laying out knowledge essential for anyone involved in design.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. German Simplicity
Timeline: 1770s to 1930s
Topic 1. Michael Thonet and His Five Sons
Topic 2. The Cantilever Chair: An Offshoot of Industrial Technology
Topic 3. Only a Year in the Making: The LC Series
Topic 4. German Émigrés to the United States
Topic 5. Art Deco: A Movement for the Upper Classes
Close-Up 1. Origins of the Modern Chair
Close-Up 2. Michael Thonet and His Five Sons
Close-Up 3. Bent-Pipe Cantilever Chairs
Close-Up 4. Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret
Chapter 2. American Affluence
Timeline: 1900s to 1950s
Topic 1. The Ford Model T: A Model without Updates
Topic 2. The Shrewdness of Raymond Loewy
Topic 3. MoMa, Department Stores, and Design Competitions
Topic 4. Florence Knoll and Her Cranbook Colleagues
Topic 5. Eames and Herman Miller
Topic 6. Two Wire Chairs
Topic 7. Eero Saarinen’s Two Airports
Close-Up 1. Designer Charles Eames
Close-Up 2. Architect Eero Saarinen
Close-Up 3. Bauhaus Director Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Close-Up 4. Sculptor Harry Beltoia
Chapter 3. Italian Cheer
Timeline: 1920s to 1970s
Topic 1. Fascist Italy
Topic 2. Domus and the Compasso d’Oro
Topic 3. The Vespa and the Fiat 500
Topic 4. The Lightheartedness of Achille Castiglioni
Topic 5. Colorful New Materials
Topic 6. The Postmodern Pandemic
Close-Up 1. Geo Ponti: The Godfather of Modern Italian Design
Close-Up 2. Injection-Molded Chairs
Close-Up 3. Zanotta’s Challenge
Chapter 4. Scandinavian Economy
Timeline: 1920s to 1980s
Topic 1. Kaare Klint: The Father of Modern Danish Design
Topic 2. Arne Jacobsen: From Ashtrays to Architecture
Topic 3. Finn Juhl: The Sculpted Elegance of Curves
Topic 4. Børge Mogensen: Klint’s Heir and Champion of the Common People
Topic 5. Hans J. Wegner: The Leading Master of Modern Danish Furniture
Topic 6. Paul Kjærholm: An Uncompromising Metal Artist
Topic 7. Verner Panton: A Colorful Rebel
Topic 8. Alvar Aalto: An Architect Fostered by the Nature of Finland
Close-Up 1. Arne Jacobsen, Architect (1)
Close-Up 2. Arne Jacobsen, Architect (2)
Close-Up 3. Hans J. Wegner, Master Chairmaker
Close-Up 4. Alvar Aalto, Naturalist
Chapter 5. Japanese Diligence
Timeline: 1900s to 1980s
Topic 1. Sori Yanagi and The Radiant City in the Jungles of the Philippines
Topic 2. US Dependent Housing and Postwar Japanese Furniture
Topic 3. Public Housing and the Demise of the Chabudai Table
Topic 4. The Sled Base and the Culture of Low Seating
Topic 5. The Defiant Furniture of Taro Okamoto
Topic 6. The ’64 Tokyo Olympics and ’70 Osaka Expo
Topic 7. Shiro Kuramata: Turning Dreams into Reality
Close-Up 1. Sori Yanagi: Icon of Postwar Japanese Design
Close-Up 2. Genealogy of the Folding Chair
Close-Up 3. Shiro Kuramata’s Defiance of Gravity
Sidebars
01. The Arts and Crafts Movement and William Morris
02. Did the Beetle “Exploit” the Nazi Regime?
03. Modular Furniture by Architect Fritz Haller
04. Two Italian Folding Chairs
05. Genealogy of the Folding Stool
06. Woodworker George Nakashima
Conclusion
Biographical Index
References

Naoki Terada is an architect and designer who also leads the Terada Mokei scale-model brand. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Meiji University in 1989 and completed the Diploma Programme at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in Britain in 1994. He founded his own architectural office, Terada Design (now Terada Hirate Sekkei), in 2003. His projects range widely from architectural to furniture and product design; he also served as CEO of the furniture importer inter.office from 2018 and 2024 and began a professorship in the Scenography, Display, and Fashion Design Department of Musashino Art University in 2026.