Rolf Fehlbaum Livres

A charming tale for little and big design enthusiasts with wonderful illustrations by the renowned artist Maira Kalman is a fun and engaging way for children to learn about some of the masterpieces of design. When a set of eight classic old No. 14 Thonet chairs are threatened with certain doom, their ingenuity saves the day! Together they discover not only a way to escape but a world of the most wonderful and imaginative chairs from around the globe. The Thonets discover, too, that they have a talent for the stage! This charming tale by Rolf Fehlbaum, with delightful illustrations by Maria Kalman, is accompanied by a brief and informative glossary of twenty-two of the most innovative chairs created in 150 years.

Ballenberg is a Swiss open-air museum. It gathers over a hundred houses and the living world of the rural population from the 14th to the 19th century. Architecture, furnishings and tools were always committed in their design and execution to the needs and necessities of everyday life, and solutions were found genuinely with the available means.0Edited by Rolf Fehlbaum, entrepreneur and long-time driving force behind Vitra, the publication is an invitation to discover and explore the world of things with different eyes. It compiles observations and discoveries by designers Jasper Morrison, David Saik and architect Tsuyoshi Tane. They share a fascination with the simple, the practical and the functionally beautiful. Traces of wear and tear testify to long-lasting utility and economic common sense.0The publication is also an encouragement to designers and consumers alike to resist trends and fads and to critically evaluate the objects of everyday use in terms of utility and aesthetics.

Collectible kinetic sculptures from bygone visions of the future, in a new compact edition This compact volume explores the 172 space-themed toys in the R.F. Robot Collection held by the Vitra Design Museum. Largely produced in Japan between 1937 and 1973, these figures of robots (and the occasional astronaut) have been carefully researched and compiled over the years by Rolf Fehlbaum, former Chairman of Vitra and founder of the Vitra Design Museum, who describes them as small kinetic sculptures of great originality. Ever since the term's first appearance in Czech writer Karel ?apek's science-fiction play R.U.R. in 1921, robots have both served and taken over the work of humans, creating human dependency and, at times, a shift in the power dynamics of a society. Robots 1:2 shows the toys and their original packaging (where available, as it was seldom preserved) on a scale of 1:2, with the largest robot determining the size of the book. This conveys something of the uncanny nature of the robots and their general ambiguity, while the vivid illustrations on the boxes give an idea of the futuristic fantasies developed over the period. QR codes for some of the robots link to a page with short videos showing them in action.

Brazil unites some of the most creative manifestations of popular art in the world. By presenting works by the legendary Mestre Vitalino and other artists from Pernambuco, the Jequitinhonha Valley and Niterói „An Art of Resilience“ fosters awareness of this amazing art of the people. In a time of roaring art prices and a narrow consensus on what is worth collecting, presenting and investing in, popular art offers a fresh and uninhibited artistic exploration of life and its challenges.

ROBOTS 1:1 explores the space-themed toys in the R. F. Robot Collection held by the Vitra Design Museum. Largely produced in Japan between 1937 and 1973, these figures of robots (and the occasional astronaut) have been carefully researched and compiled over the years by Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra and founder of the Vitra Design Museum, who describes them as “small kinetic sculptures of great originality.” Ever since the term’s first appearance in Czech writer Karel Čapek’s science fiction play R. U. R. in 1921, robots have both served and taken over the work of humans, creating human dependency and at times a shift in the power dynamics of a society. ROBOTS 1:1 is unique in that it shows the toys and their original packaging (when available) in a scale of 1:1, with the largest robot determining the size of the book. In this way, it conveys something of the uncanny nature of the robots and their ambivalence, while the vivid illustrations on the boxes give an idea of the futuristic fantasies developed over the period. ROBOTS 1:1 is limited to an edition of 1,000 copies, numbered and signed by Rolf Fehlbaum. A USB stick with 34 short films demonstrating a selection of robots in action is integrated into the spine of the book, alongside a poster featuring 80 robots in chronological order of their release. The R. F. Robot Collection, housed in the »Black Box« on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, is open to the public and can be visited as part of a guided tour.