The Mystery of the X202 (el. knyga) (skaityta knyga) | Peter Wyeth | knygos.lt

Aprašymas

A rich and complex story of conflict between design and industry, and an unknown designer poised to revolutionize the world.

The intriguing life story of a self-taught engineer and designer who produced world-class art in anonymity opens with the discovery of a rare 1948 catalogue of modern furniture. Working in the same British factory for 50 years, James Leonard used a revolutionary cast aluminum process invented during World War II. His postwar Project X was so successful it established a monopoly within a year with striking chairs and desks in British schools, imported by Knoll to the United States. But his most beautiful design, the X202 "Armchair" remains unknown. By contrast, the paired "Student Chair," the X200, sold over a million copies, the most successful chair in British history. The central mystery of the chairs’ contrasting fates involves his boss's dismissal as 'unfit' at the peak of success, the marvel of the Mosquito fighter/bomber, obsession with a winning racecar, mysterious double lives, a financial scandal, and the eternal battle between art and business. As Wyeth details Leonard's double life among the avant-garde and the unprecedented achievement of Project X, he reveals forces that compromise great art, just as he shows James Leonard to be a superlatively talented designer. To analyze his designs requires an approach closer to TJ Clark on Cezanne or other art historical works that unfold a universe through small details, coincidences, and associations. This fascinating micro-history will intrigue the everyday reader as much as design historians and specialists.

Author Peter Wyeth has been called "the original forensic archaeologist of design, solving the crimes of under appreciation."