Retro Unit
Life Style by Bruce Mau 2000
Life Style by Bruce Mau 2000
Stock Available: 1
Couldn't load pickup availability
Life Style Bruce Mau.
Each day, the average Western citizen sees, assimilates, and recognizes16,000 logos. Chances are that Bruce Mau has been involved in the creation,evolution, and/or devolution of many of them. But calling Bruce Mau a graphicdesigner would be akin to calling Mae West a playwright--technically correct,but oh-so-limiting.This mammoth catalogue raisonn+¬ of Mau's graphic work (which only PhaidonPress has the resources, and the patience, to produce) is the much-anticipatedfollow-up to the 1995 sensation S, M, L, XL that Mau coauthored withrenowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Nearly as big, but much more colorful,Life Style offers a compendium of thoughts on the conflicts andconundrums that so perplex concerned aesthetes in Western civilization,including suburban sprawl, ecological threats, the implications of identitycreation, and the role of the graphic arts in architecture and design.Trying to pin down this huge undertaking to only a few highlights would be adisservice to a man who counts such luminaries as Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, JohnCage, Michael Snow, Meg Stuart, and Chris Marker as friends and colleagues. Thecenter section alone, which recounts and reprints the celebrated spreads fromhis publishing venture Zone Books, would be worth the price: "The times wereextraordinary--the middle 1980s, the height of American yuppie culture gorgingitself on wealth. The Macintosh computer had only just been introduced and wasmaking itself felt in the world of typography by virtue of its capacity todistort fonts. It would eventually transform the field of design, disseminatingexpertise and clustering capacities vertically. Faxes and FedEx were makingpossible a new level of international collaboration that would soon put aToronto designer at the center of a transatlantic project. That project wasZone."The collaboration at Zone Books enabled some of the most provocative bookprojects ever seen, and they are reproduced faithfully in Life Style(although one might need a magnifying glass to get the most out of them). Zonewas the first and most satisfying of Mau's team projects, and the pleasure ofits success is apparent in the book. But readers will find much more of interestdocumented here, including his revolutionary stint at I.D. Magazine; hisbrilliant realization of a book version of the underground, classic sci-fithriller "La Jet+¬e"; and his ideas for information interchange at severalmajor architectural projects, including right here in Seattle, working with hisfriend Koolhaas in building the controversial new Seattle Public Library.All things considered, this major book will leave some readers furious at BruceMau's audacity and others aghast at his cross-disciplinary influences. I doubtthat there's anyone working in design today who has had quite his impact. Thisbook is a beautifully realized celebration of that impact, and very much worththe wait.By the way, Phaidon has produced this book with eight different and gorgeousfabric covers. Yours might differ from our rather inadequate representation onthe site. As with S, M, L, XL, I predict that some day all of them willbe (ahem) "coollectors'" items. --Charles DeckerMore inanilesto than monograph,
Me Style is the first bosk to document
Bruce Mau's creative process and his
studio practice, Bruce Mau Design.
Conceived and designed by the studio, the
book is a singular album of playful and
critical statements about the visual and
cultural trends that influence today's image-
driven contexi. This collection of Mau's
essays, observations, anecdotes, and
project documentation embodies his unique
world view and his belief that form and
content are inseparable. The book's organ-
iation echoes his conviction that design is
more than an end in and of itself, it is
*pot separated or secrecated from life but
instead is integrated with other messy
flows. It engages direcily with the world."
Edited by Kyo Maclear with Bart Testa
Bs16.16622
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Our team aim to pack, check and dispatch orders within 24 hours of receiving your order Monday to Friday. Where an order is placed after 2pm AEST on Friday it may not be dispatched until Monday. During the Christmas holiday season, orders may take more than 24 hours before dispatch.
Overseas deliveries leave our warehouse every Wednesday.
We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return.
To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unworn or unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. You’ll also need the receipt or proof of purchase.
To start a return, you can contact us at info@retrounit.com.au. If your return is accepted, we’ll send you a return shipping label, as well as instructions on how and where to send your package. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return will not be accepted.
