Postmodernism was the defining look of the 1980s. Originating as a rebellious movement in philosophy and literature, and spearheaded by Michael Graves, Robert Venturi, Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini, Postmodernism proclaimed the death of modernism and promoted a new, non-linear way of approaching architecture and design. Its lively and colourful rebellion against modernism's monotony and dogma spread from architecture to other design disciplines, and promoted a belief that design need not be taken too seriously.
Postmodern Design Complete is the first book to take a thoroughgoing look at the movement, which is currently experiencing a major revival. It profiles key creators and introduces the principal figures in the fields of architecture, furniture, graphic design, textiles, and product and industrial design. It also presents fifteen seminal and complete homes and their furnishings, and provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary makers. Highly informed and accessible texts are illustrated with images that bring together classics and little-seen rarities, unusual objets d'art and mass-produced items. The book also includes a foreword by Charles Jencks and an afterword by Denise Scott Brown, followed by a substantial reference section. Exhaustively presenting the most knowledgeable sources and material in a single volume, this is the one book that the world's lovers of Postmodernism must have, and that the design-conscious of any persuasion will want.