Michael Erlhoff and Friends: Txt & Img - Tapa blanda

Michael Erlhoff (b. 1946) directed the Rat fur Formgebung (German Design Council) from 1987 to 1991; in 1991 he served as the founding dean of the Cologne International School ofDesign, where he is now a professor of the history and theory of design; he is president of the Raymond Loewy Foundation; and he organizes the annual St. Moritz Design Summit. Erlhoff is a multidisciplinary author, a stalwart debater, and a tireless critic of cultural and social ossification. This reader presents a selection of Erlhoff's best and most stimulating essays. In addition, there are texts and visual contributions by more than eighty of his friends, including Volker Albus, Gerhart Baum, Mechtild Frisch, Mischa Kuball, Kasper Koenig, Friederike Mayroecker, Alessandro Mendini, Gerhard Ruhm, Stefan Sagmeister, Manfred Schneckenburger, Ettore Sottsass, Kurt Weidemann, Oswald Wiener, and Joerg Zintzmeyer. A prismatic book, which combines entertainment with science, culture, and symbolism to produce a kaleidoscopic mix that is sure to fascinate more than just design and cultural professionals alone.

The editor, Uta Brandes, has been professor of design in Cologne since 1995 and a visiting professor in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, and Sydney. She is a celebrated author of books on a wide variety of aspects of design.