8vo. pp. 224. profusely illustrated. hardcover. dw. (near fine - some light shelf wear, covers scuffed). Cambridge: The MIT Press, [2011].
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The "objective" world is one of facts, data, and actuality. The
world of the "nonobject" is about perception, experience, and possibility.
In this highly original and visually extravant book, Branko Lukic (an award-winning
designer) and Barry Katz (an authority on the history and philosophy of design)
imagine what would happen if design started not from the object but from the space
between people and the objects they use. The "nonobject," they explain, is
the designer's personal experiment to explore our relation to the observable world.
So they show us an umbrella that puts us in a harmonious relationship with nature by
sending falling rain rushing through the handle from an upturned top that resembles
a flower; a spoon with a myriad of tiny bowls that allow us to savor our soup; a
"superpractical" cell phone with keypad, speaker, and microphone on every
surface. They imagine the ideal material, "Thinium," incredibly thin and
incredibly strong, environmentally and aesthetically beneficial. They show us clocks
and watches that free us from time told by artificial demarcation and consider the
possibility of a digital camera that captures the part of the scene we didn't see.
In NONOBJECT, product design meets philosophy, poetry, and the
theater of the imagination. The nonobject fills us with surprise and
delight.
