Includes bibliographical references (pages 470-473) and index.

Media & masters : [I.] Furniture : Introduction ; Advent of modernity: modernist French furniture and the new materiality / Patrick & Lawrence Seguin ; Bauhaus by design: the ideas and the influence of the Bauhaus masters / Jolanthe Kugler ; Erik Gunnar Asplund ; Marcel Breuer ; Donald Deskey ; Jean-Michel Frank ; Eileen Gray ; René Herbst ; Kaare Klint ; Mogens Koch ; Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret & Charlotte Perriand ; Bruno Mathsson ; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe & Lilly Reich ; Jean Prouvé ; Gerrit Rietveld ; Gilbert Rohde ; Kem Weber -- [II.] Lighting : Introduction ; The age of enlightenment: the evolution of lighting from Art Deco to Modernism / Richard Wright ; Marianne Brandt ; George Carwardine ; Christian Dell ; Poul Henningsen ; Walter von Nessen ; Gio Ponti & Pietro Chiesa -- [III.] Ceramics & glass : Introduction ; The new aesthetic: the evolution of modernist ceramics in the inter-war years / Mel Buchanan ; Bernard Leach & Michael Cardew ; Otto Lindig & Theodor Bogler ; Grete Marks ; Orrefors ; Paolo Venini & Carlo Scarpa ; Marguerite Wildenhain ; Russel Wright -- [IV.] Industrial & product design : Introduction ; 'Flash-and-gleam beauty ': the streamlined decade in America / Anne H. Hoy ; Peter Behrens ; Harold van Doren ; Henry Dreyfuss ; Richard Buckminster Fuller ; Norman Bel Geddes ; Raymond Loewy ; Ferdinand Porsche ; Walter Dorwin Teague ; Wilhelm Wagenfeld -- [V.] Graphics & posters : Introduction ; The birth of modern type: typographical revolution and the advent of modernist graphic design / Rick Poynor ; Josef Albers ; Herbert Bayer ; A.M. Cassandre ; Theo van Doesburg ; László Moholy-Nagy ; Alexander Rodchenko ; Jan Tschichold --

Houses & interiors : Introduction ; Welcome to the machine: the power of the automobile and new technology in shaping the modern home / Tim Benton ; The Bauhaus in America : the modernist émigrés and their influence on American architecture, interiors and design, 1920-1940 / Margret Kentgens-Craig ; Villa Mairea, Noormarkku, Finland / Alvar Aalto ; Sonneveld House, Rotterdam, Netherlands / Brinkman & Van der Vlugt ; Maison de Verre, Paris, France / Pierre Chareau ; Bentley Wood, East Sussex, UK / Serge Chermayeff ; : Willow Road, London, UK / Ernő Goldfinger ; E-1027, Roquebrune, France / Eileen Gray & Jean Badovici ; Gropius House, Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA / Walter Gropius ; Rothenborg House, Klampenborg, Denmark / Arne Jacobsen ; Villa Savoye, Poissy, France / Le Corbusier ; Villa Noailles, Hyères, France / Robert Mallet-Stevens ; Villa Tugendhat, Brno, Czech Republic / Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ; Lovell Health House, Los Angeles, USA / Richard Neutra ; Studio-residence for Chana Orloff, Paris, France / Auguste Perret ; : Rietveld Schröder House, Utrecht, Netherlands / Gerrit Rietveld ; Saarinen House, Cranbrook, Michigan, USA / Eliel Saarinen ; Haus Schminke, Löbau, Germany / Hans Scharoun ; Schindler House, Los Angeles, USA / Rudolph Schindler ; Villa Bianca, Seveso, Italy / Giuseppe Terragni ; Fallingwater, Bear Run, Pennsylvania, USA / Frank Lloyd Wright.

"A beautiful and expansive look at Modernist design, representing iconic works including architecture, interiors, graphic design, and product design. This wide-ranging survey showcases and analyzes the work of dozens of Modernist designers, from those who established the International Style in the 1920s and '30s through the groundbreaking practitioners of the mid-1940s ... This lively and accessible volume includes sections on furniture, lighting, ceramics and glass, industrial and product design, graphic design and posters, houses and interiors, as well as profiles of more than seventy influential creators ... Complete with essays by accomplished scholars and subject specialists, over 600 illustrations, and an illustrated A to Z of designers, architects, and manufacturers" --.

With essays by Tim Benton, Mel Buchanan, Anne H. Hoy, Margret Kentgens-Craig, Jolanthe Kugler, Rick Poynor, Patrick and Laurence Seguin, and Richard Wright. This wide-ranging survey showcases and analyzes the work of dozens of Modernist designers, from those who established the International Style in the 1920s and '30s through the groundbreaking practitioners of the mid-1940s. Modernism, with its powerful aesthetic and compelling philosophical framework, is the twentieth century's most defining movement in design and the applied arts. International architects and designers such as Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized the built world and how we live in it. Their work rejected historical precedents, prioritizing function over tradition, and their experimentation with new forms, materials, and techniques transformed our living spaces and lifestyles and fundamentally changed the way we think about design. This lively and accessible volume includes sections on furniture, lighting, ceramics and glass, industrial and product design, graphic design and posters, houses and interiors, as well as profiles of more than seventy influential creators. The encyclopedic scope facilitates unexpected connections and offers new insights into the movement. Complete with essays by accomplished scholars and subject specialists, over 600 illustrations, and an illustrated A to Z of designers, architects, and manufacturers, this book is unparalleled and unprecedented in scope. Essential Modernism is an indispensable resource for scholars and students as well as for the designer's studio, the collector's desk, and the enthusiast's library. --. From dust jacket.