The Swedish design partnership Claesson Koivisto Rune was founded a little over ten years ago but has already received extraordinary recognition. Like Scandinavian masters before them, such as Aalto or Jacobsen, Claesson Koivisto Rune practise both architecture and design. In 2004 they were among the first Swedish architects to be selected for the international section of the Architecture Biennale in Venice. The architectural projects in this monograph include private houses and interiors from Europe to North and South America, as well as larger buildings like the Sfera Building Culture House in Kyoto, Japan. The furniture and other product designs presented here are manufactured by over 30 international companies. All photographs have been taken anew for this publication, which is a design object in itself, consisting of two books – separate volumes for architecture and design – with introductions by Paola Antonelli (MoMA) and Marcus Fairs (ICON Magazine).
Paola Antonelli is curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art. Since 1994, Paola has curated the following landmark exhibitions: "Achille Castiglioni: Design!;" "Humble Masterpieces;" "Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design; " "SAFE: Design Takes on Risk;" "Thresholds: Contemporary Design from the Netherlands;" "Projects 66: Campana/Ingo Maurer:" and "Workspheres." For these accomplishments she received the 2006 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Design Mind Award. She was also appointed senior fellow at the Royal College of Art, London and given an honorary doctorate by Kingston University. Prior to joining the staff at MoMA, Paola was the editor of Abitare and a contributing editor to Domus. Among the books she has written are: Humble Masterpieces: Everyday Marvels of Design and Objects of Design from the Museum of Modern Art. She also writes for publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Harvard Design, I.D., Metropolis, Nest, and Paper.