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NULL NULL
(@valerogers-com)
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Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 15
21/06/2008 5:48 pm  

I'm looking for some recommendations for books on MCM design - ideally books that include photographs showing furniture and objects in their natural habitats. Any thoughts? I picked up one a few days ago by Bradley Quinn, and am enjoying going through it. Thanks.


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NULL NULL
(@paul-lanhamuk-lockton-com)
Trusted Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 40
21/06/2008 6:17 pm  

Classic Modern by Deborah Dietsch
is a wonderful book featuring MCM pieces in some amazing houses ( Neutra , Frey, Mies Van De Rohe + many more)
Many thanks again for the book James !


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NULL NULL
(@klm3comcast-net)
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Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 265
21/06/2008 7:12 pm  

Decorative Arts 50s
Decorative Arts 50s and Decorative Arts 60s, edited by Peter and Charlotte Fiell and published by Taschen. There's on on the 70s too but I don't have it.
These are both thick books with hundreds and hundreds of photos from manufacturers' catalogs and magazines from these eras. There is very little text other than identifying the objects and interiors. These are the kinds of books that you can look at again and again and always notice new things.
They're also not expensive at all. The only drawback is the way they are bound. Pages tend to come unglued at the spine if you don't handle the book carefully.
http://www.amazon.com/Decorative-Art-50s-Taschen-Anniversary/dp/38365031...


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NULL NULL
(@paulannapaulanna-homechoice-co-uk)
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Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 696
21/06/2008 10:45 pm  

With respect to Spanky I shou...
With respect to Spanky I should point out that "Decorative Art 50s" (& 60s 70s) are actually abridged selections from The Studio Year Book of Decorative Art (subsequently Decorative Art in Modern Interiors) a British publication which ran from 1906 to 1980 - and well worth getting hold of (the originals I mean)when you see them.


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 dots
(@dots)
Trusted Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 64
22/06/2008 1:52 am  

I really like the Lesley Jackson one
"The New Look Design in the Fifties" - although it is contemporary.
For authentic I typically go for old magazines from that era, esp Better Homes and Gardens - then you see what really abominable stuff was popular back in the day. Mixed in you find the good stuff, a chair over in the corner, something on a kitchen counter, a clock on a wall. But ugh, lots of really terrible stuff too - but authentic.
I also recently acquired a 1970s edition of Bloomingdale's Book of Home Decorating, but that has the same issues as the back-issue magazines - a mixed bag o' stuff.


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azurechicken (USA)
(@azurechicken-usa)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 1966
22/06/2008 2:41 am  

.
The taschen books 50s 60s 70s are inexpensive and great sources...I have a number of the orig. studio books...and they are getting expensive!


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claus (DE)
(@claus-de)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 252
22/06/2008 3:27 am  

"contemporary" by Lesley...
"contemporary" by Lesley Jackson. It's about furniture as well as architecture, has good photos and also comprehensive texts about the background.
For the natural habitats I'd focus on the usual classics about residential architecture from Taschen: "Modernism Rediscovered" by Serraino & Shulman, "Case Study Houses" by Smith & Goessel and "R Neutra. Complete Works" by MacLamprecht.


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NULL NULL
(@sonnypippoyahoo-com)
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Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 102
22/06/2008 3:32 am  

inside today's home
3rd edition.


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Riki
 Riki
(@riki)
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Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 1395
22/06/2008 8:47 am  

great website
A great source for out-of-print books is abebooks.com. For instance, the 18 volume set that they sell on ebay for around 260 US dollars, is available by the individual volume for about 5 bucks each.


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Riki
 Riki
(@riki)
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Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 1395
22/06/2008 9:33 am  

great website
A great source for out-of-print books is abebooks.com. For instance, the 18 volume set that they sell on ebay for around 260 US dollars, is available by the individual volume for about 5 bucks each.


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LRF
 LRF
(@lrf)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2967
24/06/2008 6:45 am  

The book that started it...
The book that started it all.... by Cara Greenberg
mid century modern, furniture of the 1950s
she was one of the first people to coin the phrase Mid Century modern. and her book has been the bible or go to book on furniture of the mid century.


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dcwilson
(@dcwilson)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2358
24/06/2008 7:17 am  

Interior Design in the 20th Century by Tate and Smith...
If all you want is MCM pics and info, this book is NOT for you.
But this book does a remarkably good job of tracking how modernism has been (and probably always will be) one of two rivers running parallel in the plain of interior design: traditional and modern. It is quite fascinating to compare the way traditional evolved and the way modern evolved over the 20th century. Neither were static.


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barrympls
(@barrympls)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2649
24/06/2008 8:53 am  

Mid-Century Modern
IS a great place to start....good overview, although it's missing some essential examples.
Another nifty book is;
LANDMARKS OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY DESIGN
by Kathryn B. Hiesinger and George H. Marcus


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