The Language of Things

In The Language of Things Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, decodes the things around us: their hidden meanings, our relationship with them, how they shape our lives and why we desire them. Design is everywhere. It seduces, pleases and inspires us. It makes us part with our money. It defines who we think we are. An iPhone, an anglepoise lamp, a Picasso, a banknote, an Armani suit, a William Morris textile, a Lucky Strike packet, a spacecraft - every object tells a story. And understanding their stories offers us a whole new way of seeing the world. 'Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable ... for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us'   Time Out 'A nightmare vision of a world drowning in objects ... witty, well observed and wide-ranging'   Guardian 'An elegant, witty and free-ranging survey, from Thomas Chippendale's ponderous 18th-century manor-house furnishings to Jonathan Ive's sprightly Macintosh iBooks'  Daily Telegraph 'Lively ... engaging'   Evening Standard 'Readable, sharp and worthwhile'   Financial Times Director of the Design Museum, Deyan Sudjic was born in London of Yugoslav parents. He is a former architecture critic for the Observer, and a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art. Sudjic was Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002 and is author of The Edifice Complex, the much-praised 100-Miles City, the best-selling Architecture Pack, The Language of Things and monographs on John Pawson, Ron Arad and Richard Rogers. Review An elegant, witty and free-ranging survey of industrial product design from Thomas Chippendale's ponderous 18th-century manor-house furnishings to Jonathan Ive's sprightly Macintosh iBooks (Telegraph)Sudjic's book rebukes designers for their arrogance and increasing self-importance ... readable, sharp and worthwhile (FT)The Language of Things is a happy trot through the colourful landscape formed by design's eternal alternation between use and allure (Evening Standard)Deyan Sudjic presents us with a nightmare vision of a world drowning in objects ... witty, well observed and wide-ranging (Guardian)As a confessional, the book is witty and honest, and Deyan Sudjic remains one of our most insightful commentators (Royal Academy magazine)Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable ... a very nice object in itself ... much in here for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us (Time Out) About the Author Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum. He was born in London, and studied architecture in Edinburgh. He has worked as a critic for the Observer and The Sunday Times, as the editor of Domus in Milan, as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and as a curator in Glasgow, Istanbul and Copenhagen. He is the author of B is for Bauhaus, The Language of Things and The Edifice Complex.