Humble Masterpieces: Everyday Marvels of Design

by Paola Antonelli, Francesco Mosto (Photographer)

From M & Ms to Post–It Notes, a charming and insightful collection of design marvels from everyday life, celebrated by the curator of the MoMA's department of architecture and design. Every day we use dozens of tiny objects, from Post–It notes to Band–Aids. If they work well, chances are we do not pay them much attention. But although modest in size and price, some of these objects are true masterpieces of the art of design. Paola Antonelli, curator of the Museum of Modern Art's Department of Design and Architecture, is a highly celebrated figure in the world of design (she was just ranked among the top 100 most powerful people in the world of art). Paola has long been passionate about the subject of everyday objects that are marvels of design. The response to her recent MoMA show, also called Humble Masterpieces, was electric. In addition to lively coverage in dozens of publications, the museum goers spread the word about the fun of learning about and nominating their own picks for humble masterpieces. Now, in this colorful visual feast, Antonelli chooses 100 fabulous objects, from Chupa Chup lollipops to Legos to Chopsticks and Scotch tape. Each object will be portrayed with a gorgeous close–up detail, a brisk and informative text on its origin and special design features, as well as a silhouette image of the object as we see it each day. Certain to appeal to a broad audience, and to lend itself to fun, creative promotional opportunities, Humble Masterpieces will celebrate the possibility of looking at our everyday lives in an all–new way.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art Design, Science, Art

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2005

About the author

Paola Antonelli is curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art. Since 1994, Paola has curated the following landmark exhibitions: "Achille Castiglioni: Design!;" "Humble Masterpieces;" "Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design; " "SAFE: Design Takes on Risk;" "Thresholds: Contemporary Design from the Netherlands;" "Projects 66: Campana/Ingo Maurer:" and "Workspheres." For these accomplishments she received the 2006 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Design Mind Award. She was also appointed senior fellow at the Royal College of Art, London and given an honorary doctorate by Kingston University. Prior to joining the staff at MoMA, Paola was the editor of Abitare and a contributing editor to Domus. Among the books she has written are: Humble Masterpieces: Everyday Marvels of Design and Objects of Design from the Museum of Modern Art. She also writes for publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Harvard Design, I.D., Metropolis, Nest, and Paper.

Reviews

[Zay Pinto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly an informative read. There’s a lot to be gleaned reading through this book. It’s simple and easy to read. However, I do feel like there’s inconsistencies with given information such as mediums and manufacturers that hold the book back. It’s not a huge deal by any means. Additionally, the book was incredibly straightforward, as it should be.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Paola speak at the Business Factory Innovation's BIF-5 Summit earlier this month. This is a fantastic little book about an exhibit at the MOMA where Paola is curator of design. The exhibit included the Q-tip, the paperclip, the zipper, crochet hook, Swiss Army knife, guitar pick and other everyday inventions that are so brilliant in their function and beauty. Some of the stories behind the inventions are just great. Like Leo Gerstenzang, a Polish born American, who watched his wife stick wads of cotton on toothpicks to clean their baby's ears. Or Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese born American, who invented the Fortune Cookie in 1914... not Chinese but Japanese, but because of all the Japanese Americans being put into determent camps during WWII, the Chinese restauranteurs were able to adopt the practice and propagate it. The invention of putting notes into "cookies" or mooncakes was actually a Chinese invention from the 13th century as a military practice to get strategies past the Mongolians who disliked mooncakes so never bothered with them. Anyway, that's just a couple examples, the book is fascinating, and it's great to see designers being given a prominent place alongside Picasso and Matisse at one of the great museums of art.

[Rujeko · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is an enjoyable MoMA-produced (it came out of an exhibition of the same name) book with many cocktail-party worthy anecdotes about the design and development of 'indispensable' everyday items like band aids, post-its, chinese take-out boxes, safety pins, coffee cozies, ballpoint pens, and more. it is interesting to see how these items came to be and you can really appreciate the innovation and creativity of the inventors, but the book is also a celebration of excessive consumption and the creation of a global disposable mindset which has led to trash, trash and more trash. aside from the literal trashing and landfill filling of items designed to be thrown away, there is also the issue of the pollution caused by the development of the plastics and various chemicals necessary to many of these things. so while i enjoyed learning the various factoids, my enjoyment was heavily tempered by the feeling that need is relative and i don't know that we 'needed' all of these items which we now have in such abundance.

[Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

- Antonelli is a Curator of Architecture and Design at The Museum Of Modern Art (N.Y.C.). From Q-Tips to paper clips, Bic Pens, Lego Blocks, guitar picks, etc, she celebrates the beauty and ingenuity of everyday objects. Many commonplace, daily-used objects are revealed to be true masterpieces of the art of design. Every object discussed is beautifully photographed, with details describing the little-known history of some of our favourite things.

[Joris · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review from a few years back) Beautiful coffee table book with little back stories on everyday objects (matches, ice cream cones, paper clips, Phillips screws, t-shirts, dice, etc.) Not a lot of depth, but it does make you realize and appreciate the human process of invention and design that lies behind every single product we use.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

would have preferred to see the exhibit (120 items v. 50), but also useful book.

[Erica Chang · Rating 3 out of 5]

good photos and little histories, but not enough on the functional design

[Daniel Urban-brown]

I just got this for my birthday.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Product design classics