WOHNEN HEUTE 3
L'HABITATION MODERNE 3
THE HOME TODAY 3
WARENKATALOG DES SCHWEIZERISCHEN WERKBUNDES 1960
CATALOGUE SUISSE DE L'EQUIPEMENT 1960
SWISS CATALOGUE OF GOODS 1960]
Alfred Altherr [Editor] and Richard P. Lohse [Designer]
Alfred Altherr [Editor] and Richard P. Lohse [Designer]: WOHNEN HEUTE 3 | L'HABITATION MODERNE 3 | THE HOME TODAY 3 [WARENKATALOG DES SCHWEIZERISCHEN WERKBUNDES 1960 | CATALOGUE SUISSE DE L'EQUIPEMENT 1960 | SWISS CATALOGUE OF GOODS 1960]. Teufen AR: Arthur Niggli Ltd., 1960. First edition. Text in German, French and English. Square quarto. Thick perfect bound and letterpress scored printed glossy wrappers. 168 pp. 225 black and white illustrations. Designed by Richard P. Lohse. Faint wear overall. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print. A nearly fine copy. Rare.
8.25 x 8.25 softcover book with 168 pages and approx. 225 black and white illustrations of Swiss Furniture, Textiles, Lamps and Appliances [for the household and office]. Introduction by Alfred Altherr. Captions include material[s] used in the piece, its weight/dimensions, designer and year. At the back there's an index of approximate prices for each piece as well [read them and weep].
This is the third volume in the series published by The Schweizerische Werkbund SWB (Swiss Association of Art and Industry). "The Home Today 3" was designed by Richard P. Lohse and is a striking example of 1950s' Swiss Typography: square format, sans-serif type (Akzidenz-Grotesk titles), and a grid-based, multi-column (parallel language) layout.
Designers include Alfred Altherr, Gottfried Anliker, Jurg Bally, R. Baltensweiler, Hans Bellmann, A. Berling, Max Bill, Peter Christoffel, Hans Coray, Peter Derron, Edi Franz, Pierre Gauchat, Hans Gugelot, Willy Guhl, Robert Gutmann, Hanni Handschin, Helen Hausmann, Robert Haussmann, Josef Hoffmann, G. Honegger-Lavater, Florence Knoll, Max Konig, Kunstgewerbeschule Zurich, Wilhelm Kienzle, Heinz Loeffelhardt, Walter Muller, Kurt Naef, Carl Pott, Fernand Renfer, Benedikt Rohner, Eero Saarinen, Ursula Schneider, Artur P. Staubli, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Kathi Wenger, Kurt Wiesendanger, Tapio Wirkkala, Walter Wirz, Works Design, Emil Roth, Otto Senn, Gebr. Scharli, Hans Scmidt and Albert Steiner among many others.
Richard Paul Lohse (1902 - 1988) was a Swiss printmaker and painter who adopted Concrete art in the 1940's. He then began producing paintings that were mathematically produced patterns, normally of grids. Despite its rigid process, his work has been praised for its beauty and sophisticated color. Lohse gained an international reputation after 1950. His subsequent book design can be viewed as a theoretical extension of the Zurich Concrete Art movement.
In 1958 Lohse and three other Zurich-based graphic designers launched a new magazine simply called "Neue Grafik." These designers were Josef Muller-Brockmann (1914 - 1996), Hans Neuburg (1904 - 1983), and Carlo Vivarelli (1919 - 1986). These designer/editors signed some of their jointly written articles with the acronym LMNV, formed from their initials.