Space Age Design: Icons of the Space Age Design Movement

Using over 200 iconic and rare archive images, this authoritative volume explores the origins of the space race and its profound impact on design, architecture, fashion and culture.

The launch of Sputnik in 1957 marked the beginning of a new era for the world – the space age. The subsequent space race triggered an explosion of creative energy. Cars were given rocket-like tail fins. Airports looked like spaceships. Furniture became objects that seemed to anticipate the future. New materials changed the possibilities of design and there was an intense optimism and spirit of innovation in design, architecture, fashion, music and art. Revolutionary products seduced consumers with the idea of how to live in this new era of space travel.

This is the story of space age design – the result of a generation of designers, architects and creatives reaching their peak during a cultural and technological revolution. From the iconic works of Eero Saarinen, Pierre Paulin and Verner Panton to rare images from the NASA archives, Space Age Design is a gateway to the bygone world of glittering mid-century exuberance and a recontextualization of the most innovative designers of the modern era.