World Design

The functional design of most global products reflects nothing more profound than the power of their manufacturers, laments Aldersey-Williams, the London-based European editor of International Design. In his view, multinational corporations, by promoting a homogenous, Bauhaus-derived style and pretending that regional differences do not exist, have eroded national identities and jeopardized locally made artifacts around the world. In a study that will serve as a fertile sourcebook for designers and a coffee-table tour for browsers, Aldersey-Williams attempts to define the native design aesthetics of 19 countries, as seen by each country's leading designers. Japanese prefabricated tearooms, German coffee-makers and restaurant lights, Singaporean food packaging, Canadian gift boxes, Egyptian baby strollers, and electronic equipment, cars, furniture, appliances, jewelry, ads and posters from the U.S. to Yugoslavia are illustrated in 250 plates (150 in color). (July)