Rizzoli Ex Libris has just released a wonderful new brick of a book, B Is for Bauhaus, Y is for YouTube ($25). The stout, dense volume, weighing in at close to 500 pages, contains 39 essays on design in the modern world, all written by Deyan Sudjic, the director of London’s Design Museum. In fluid, frank prose, Sudjic covers every letter of the alphabet at least once—B is for both Bauhaus and blueprint, and C heads up five chapters, on cars, chairs, [Pierre] Chareau, collecting, and critical design. The essays are sure to interest even the most informed design aficionado, as they are by turns entertaining and erudite, rooted in a deep understanding of the various forces that have influenced the aesthetics of the modern world (see “P Is for Postmodern”), but not above a gossipy look at behind-the-scenes drama (see “U Is for [Jørn] Utzon,” about the design of the Sydney Opera House).
