THE ABC’S OF ▲◼︎●
THE BAUHAUS AND DESIGN THEORY
Ellen Lupton and J. Abbot Miller [Editors/Designers]
Ellen Lupton and J. Abbot Miller [Editors/Designers]: THE ABC’S OF ▲◼︎●: THE BAUHAUS AND DESIGN THEORY. New York: The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 1991. First edition [Writing/Culture Monograph V]. Slim quarto. Letterpressed chipboard wrappers. 64 pp. 105 illustrations. Elaborate graphic design throughout. Designed and edited by Ellen Lupton and J. Abbot Miller. A fine copy of the rare original edition.
8.25 x 10.75 softcover book published in conjunction with the exhibition “The ABC’s of ▲◼︎●: The Bauhaus and Design Theory from Preschool to Post-Modernism,” at The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York [April 8 – May 11, 1991]. The essays trace the origins and impact of the Bauhaus, addressing modernist design theory in relation to the 19th-century kindergarten movement, and Bauhaus graphic design in relation to the ideal of a universal "language" of vision. Additional essays address psychoanalysis, fractal geometry, and Weimar culture.
- Elementary School: J. Abbot Miller
- Visual Dictionary: Ellen Lupton
- The Birth of Weimar: Tori Egherman
- Herbert Bayer’s Universal Type in its Historical Context: Mike Mills
- The Gender of the Universal: Mike Mills
- Psychoanalysis and Geometry: Julia Lupton and Kenneth Reinhard
- Design in N-Dimensions: Alan Wolf
- Fractal Geometry: Alan Wolf
Includes work by Gerd Balzer, Herbert Bayer, Josef Hartwig, Peterkeler, László Moholy-Nagy, Erich Mrozek, Gertrud Preiswerk, Joost Schmidt, Michael Beirut, Bill Bonnell, Michael Patrick Cronan, Linda Eisler, Dan Friedman, April Greiman, Aimee Hucek, Willi Kunz, Takaaki Matsumoto, Katherine Mccoy, Scott Miller, Dean Morris, Paul Rand, Nacy Skolos & Tom Wedell, Ladislav Sutnar, Michael Vanderbyl, Wolfgang Weingart, Terrence Zacharko, and others.
Interior Design magazine says that The ABC's of the Bauhaus is, 'a collection of visually and intellectually stimulating essays about basic design courses at the Bauhaus, Froebel toys, inflation in the Weimar Republic, the typography of Herbert Bayer, Psychoanalysis, and fractal geometry. A fascinating fantasia on an elementary theme.' And Elysabeth Yates Burns McKee, from Design Book Review says that 'perhaps the most successful aspect of The ABC's is its ability to elucidate complex and fundamental theroetical aspects of the Bauhaus program.'
The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography was established in 1984 in order to preserve an unprecedented resource, Herb Lubalin’s vast collection of work. Its goal was to provide the design community with a means to honor Lubalin, and to study his innovative work.