Antiques of the Future

by Lisa S. Roberts

Early in the 1980s, some of the world’s most famous architects and industrial designers began to design a wide variety of everyday objects for the home. From tea kettles and toasters to desk lamps and dustpans, these highly designed, often whimsical products blurred the lines between form, function, and fun. Lisa Roberts, an architect and home furnishings designer, became so enamored of these objects that she set out to collect her favorites, amassing more than 300 exemplary pieces over the past 25 years.

Seventy of these award-winning household objects—created by such design superstars as Michael Graves, Philippe Starck, and Karim Rashid—are presented in Antiques of the Future , a book as clever, energetic, and eye-popping as the products themselves. Each is captured in vibrant, humorous photographs, accompanied by details about the product, designer, and manufacturer and a concise explanation of why it deserves a place in the collection. Whether it’s a paperweight, a salad spinner, or a blow dryer, these ordinary objects have extraordinary style. Accessible and entertaining, Antiques of the Future not only helps readers to develop an eye for distinctive design but also explains how they can start their own “museum-quality” collections.

Genres: Design, Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2006

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is a collector of designer household products, usable every day objects such as salt & pepper shakers and toilet brushes. Antiques of the Future showcases "highly designed contemporary products that will rise in value once they are no longer in production because they represent the best of design in their time."
I own a few of these items, others I really would love to own. There are some neat things in here in all different price ranges. I could kick myself for not buying one of those computers that came in different colors back in the day!
Luckily for me, the second section of the book lists resources where you can track down some of this stuff.
I read this in one sitting. It's a treasure of products that may be worth something someday. And the book itself will certainly become quite the collectible in the future.

[Daniel Currie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is certainly dubious as to whether anything in this book will be a prized antique in the future, but it is filled with alot of cool looking, if not particulary functional, items.

Lots of clever ideas and of course the book itsle is designed to look like piece of art, so it is a fun quick read.