Supernatural

Description

This book is the first ever monograph on the acclaimed product designer Ross Lovegrove (b.1958). Written by the designer himself, with a forward by Paola Antonelli, it presents an exhaustive survey of the designer’s cutting-edge career, featuring both realized and unrealized projects.

While the core text explains Lovegrove’s thought-provoking philosophy and original way of working, the products’ descriptions reveal the crucial practical aspects and characteristic elements of each project. Lovegrove’s work includes a vast range of products – from minimalist furniture to incredibly high-tech products, from water bottles to airplane seats – and explores the possibility of realizing sculptural and organic shapes through modern technology and materials.

In recent years, Lovegrove has worked on a design concept that he likes to define as ‘organic essentialism’, inspired by elements and aesthetics assimilated from the natural world and reshaped in futuristic forms. His interest in this sort of new naturalism, which he terms ‘supernatural’, is accompanied by research into new materials, new applications and new methods of production. This combination of archetypal inspiration and up-to-the-minute technology makes him one of the most intriguing and provocative figures in today’s design world.

The only monograph on this prolific, innovative product designer.

Born in 1958, Ross Lovegrove studied industrial design at Manchester Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art, London. In the early 1980s he began to work for the industrial design consultancy Frogdesign in Germany, where he was assigned projects for Apple and Sony. After this experience he became an in-house designer for Knoll in Paris, where he developed different office systems. He returned to England in 1986 where he established his own practice and started to collaborate with the most important design manufacturers such as Kartell, Luceplan and Cappellini. He is currently working on a number of projects in Japan where he enjoys unparalleled success as a European designer.

Paola Antonelli is Curator for the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She has been a contributing editor for Domus magazine and the Design Editor of Abitare. She has lectured at the University of California and Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and she taught throughout Europe and the United States.

‘Beautifully presented…full of nuggets of design wisdom. Super.’ (IDFX Interior Design)‘Supernatural is an apt title for the first monograph dedicated to Ross Lovegrove’s oeuvre. The British artisan endows such mundane objects as water bottles and teapots with an ethereal, luminescent, and almost ghostly quality. The work speaks to a singular talent that seems of another world.’ (House Beautiful)

‘It’s hard not to love visionary Ross Lovegrove. Forget groceries – splurge on this monograph of his complete work instead! One of the world’s most pre-eminent product designers, Lovegrove’s signature output will astound as his text informs. A must! A must! A must!’ (Elle Decoration)

‘Tightly edited … provides as much of an insight into [Lovegrove’s] future as it does into his past…Supernatural differs from the usual monograph in its sense of purpose.’ (Blueprint)

‘Beautiful exploration of [Lovegrove’s] inspiring creations.’ (Daily Telegraph)‘If there is a prize for the most beautiful book on design, this one has to be in the short list. Phaidon, a publisher noted for quality production, has excelled itself with this silver and white volume that matches the elegance of Lovegrove’s creations.’ (Uptown) 

‘The latest scripture on design isn’t just a flashy coffee table book. Supernatural: The Work of Ross Lovegrove offers those fascinated with shape and form a thoughtful and practical insight into the designer’s inventive mind.’ (CITY)