Design

White

AUTHOR: / Kenya Hara, Nippon Design Center Hara Design Institute
ISBN-13: / 978-3-03778-183-8
PAGES/ILLUS: / approx. 65 p., 4 illus., Hardcover
PRICE: / approx. $29.85
AVAILABLE (US): / November 2009
White is not a book about colors. It is rather Kenya Haras attempt to explore the essence of White, which he sees as being closely related to the origin of Japanese aesthetics – symbolizing simplicity and subtlety. The central concepts discussed by Kenya Hara in this publication are emptiness and the absolute void.
Kenya Hara also sees his work as a designer as a form of communication. Good communication has the distinction of being able to listen to each other, rather than to press one’s opinion onto the opponent. Kenya Hara compares this form of communication with an "empty container". In visual communication, there are equally signals whose signification is limited, as well as signals or symbols such as the cross or the red circle on the Japanese flag, which – like an "empty container" – permit every signification and do not limit imagination. Not alone the fact that the Japanese character for white forms a radical of the character for emptiness has prompted him the closely associate the color white with emptiness.
SELLING POINTS:
  • Following the success of Designing Design, this is the most recent publication of Kenya Hara
  • Kenya Hara talks about the backgrounds of his designs
  • An important book on Japanese design philosophy
  • High-end layout

SUBJECT: / Design, general
LOCATION IN BOOKSTORE: / Design
RELATED TITLES:
Curiosity: 30 Designs for Products and Interiors (978-3-7643-6743-5, 2002, $53.95)
Muller-Scholl, Manuscript: Essentials for the Everyday Use of Interior Architects and Designers (978-3-7643-7820-2, 2007, $39.95)
COMPETITION:
Hibi, Japanese Detail (Chronicle Books, 978-0811836753, 2002, $24.95)
Black, The Japanese House: Architecture and Interiors (Tuttle Publishing, 978-0804832625, 2000, $39.95)

Design

Maharam Agenda

EDITOR: / Maharam, New York, USA
ISBN-13: / 978-3-03778-187-6
PAGES/ILLUS: / approx. 255 p., 200 illus., in color, Hardcover
PRICE: / $79.95
AVAILABLE (US): / October 2009
First renowned as a supplier of theatrical textiles to Broadway and beyond, Maharam pioneered the concept of engineered textiles for interior applications in the sixties, and is the world's leading provider of textiles to commercial architects and interior designers.
Maharam takes a holistic view of design, embracing a range of disciplines including architecture and interiors, furniture, fashion, accessories, graphic and digital media.
The Maharam Design Studio oversees the cultivation of an extensive textile collection, ranging from re-editions of enduring designs of the twentieth century's most noted multidisciplinary visionaries to textile-based collaborations with industry outsiders across varied disciplines, including Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, Maira Kalman, Bruce Mau, Jasper Morrison, Nike and Paul Smith, among others.
The publication provides a comprehensive overview of the company's history, cultural markers and design projects. Abstracted product applications are featured through "Useless Objects", a collaboration with Jasper Morrison.
SELLING POINTS:
  • A comprehensive survey of the world of design of this renowned textile manufacturer
  • Contains objects designed by Jasper Morrison especially for this publication

MARKET: / Designers, architects, artists
SUBJECTS: / Design, general; Interior Architecture and Design; Industrial Design
LOCATION IN BOOKSTORE: / Design
RELATED TITLES:
Curiosity: 30 Designs for Products and Interiors (978-3-7643-6743-5, 2002, $53.95)
Muller-Scholl, Manuscript: Essentials for the Everyday Use of Interior Architects and Designers (978-3-7643-7820-2, 2007, $39.95)
COMPETITION:
Mitton, Residential Interior Design (Wiley, 978-0471684732, 2007, $55.00)
Ching, Interior Design Illustrated (Wiley, 978-0471473763, 2004, $45.00)

Philosophy

On Education

Perspectives in Comprehensive Learning

AUTHORS: / R. Buckminster Fuller
ISBN-13: / 978-3-03778-199-9
PAGES/ILLUS: / approx. 240 p., 10 illus., Softcover
PRICE: / approx. $37.35
AVAILABLE (US): / September 2009
Buckminster Fuller's prophetic 1962 book Education Automation brilliantly anticipated the need to rethink learning in light of a dawning revolution in informational technology – "upcoming major world industry." Along with other essays on education, including "Breaking the Shell of Permitted Ignorance," "Children: the True Scientists" and "Mistake Mystique" this volume presents a powerful approach for preparing ourselves to face epochal changes on spaceship earth: "whether we are going to make it or not... is really up to each one of us; it is not something we can delegate to the politicians – what kind of world are you really going to have?"
SELLING POINTS:
  • The theories of Buckminster Fuller available again at long last, edited and annotated by his grandson, Jaime Snyder
  • The visionary intellectual world behind the celebrated architecture of Buckminster Fuller
  • Buckminster Fuller’s theories are every bit as topical today as they were when first published decades ago

MARKET: / Fans of Buckminster Fuller, designers
SUBJECT: / Philosophy of Education
LOCATION IN BOOKSTORE: / Philosophy
RELATED TITLES:
Wringe, Moral Education (978-1-4020-6180-6, 2007, $49.95)
Aloni, Enhancing Humanity: The Philosophical Foundations of Humanistic Education (978-1-4020-6167-7, 2003, $59.95)
COMPETITION:
Curren, Philosophy of Education: An Anthology (Wiley-Blackwell, 978-1405130226, 2007, $109.95)
Noddings, Philosophy of Education (Westview Press, 978-0813343235, 2006, $30.00)

Popular Science, Astronomy

NASA's Moon Program

Paving the Way for Apollo 11

AUTHOR: / David Harland, Kelvinsbridge, Glasgow, UK
ISBN-13: / 978-0-387-68131-3
PAGES/ILLUS: / XXVIII, 476 p., 202 illus., 32 in color, Softcover
PRICE: / $39.95
AVAILABLE (US): / June 2009
This series will become the definitive account of the Apollo era. It will give the Springer/Praxis list unrivalled coverage of the Apollo era of space exploration as the 40th anniversary approaches in 2009 and the world looks back with a sense of wonderment at the achievement. Plans are already in train for a return to the Moon by 2020 to create a Moonbase.
SELLING POINTS:
  • A series of books detailing NASA’s Moon Program of the 1960s and early 1970s
  • Each book features color sections displaying high-resolution scans from NASA/original Hasselblad film
  • Brings to life the stories of flight plans, mission reports and flight transcripts

MARKET: / Space exploration enthusiasts, space historians, students and engineers in the aviation industry and space agencies
SUBJECTS: / Astronomy; Popular Science in Astronomy; Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences
LOCATION IN BOOKSTORE: / Popular Science, Astronomy
RELATED TITLES:
Harland, Exploring the Moon, The Apollo Expeditions (978-0-387-74638-8, 2008, $39.95)
Shayler, Gemini – Trailblazer to the Moon(978-1-85233-405-5, 2001, $54.95)
COMPETITION:
Jenkins, The Apollo 11 Moon Landing (Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers, 978-1580071482, 2009, $16.95)
Bizony, One Giant Leap: Apollo 11 Remembered (Zenith Press, 978-0760337103, 2009, $35.00)