The Eames Plastic Chairs were launched in 1950 as the first-ever industrially produced plastic chairs. The curved organic shells, which rested on a minimalist metal base, represented a carefree, free-floating type of seating never seen before – in striking contrast to the heavy upholstered furniture found in most homes of that era. In many ways Charles and Ray Eames were ahead of their time, surrounding themselves with friends who shared their visionary perspective. One of these cohorts was the American cartoonist Saul Steinberg, who was especially known for crossing borders into uncharted visual territories.

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One day this spring, Rachel Comey and Leanne Shapton were having lunch when it occurred to them that there was a blind spot in their knowledge of midcentury furniture designers: women. Comey, a fashion designer, was looking for chairs for her new store in L.A. She wanted something designed by a woman — which turned out to be a tall order. On a whim, they went to a few nearby furniture dealers in NoLIta. “We were like, ‘What have you got by women?” Shapton recalls. “And they were like: nothing.”

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New copyright laws in the UK have come into effect, effectively banning replicas of some of the most-copied icons of 20th century furniture design – including pieces by Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames.

As of 28 July 2016, dealers cannot make or import new furniture copies. After a transitional period of six months, they will no longer be able to sell them either.

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I just read a scathing critique of the lack of copyright protection for industrial designers: Australian journalist Joe Aston's "Industrial designers deserve [the] same copyright treatment as Hollywood." In it, self-professed design-lover Aston sounds extremely pissed off, takes shots at both America and Asia, and makes some points you've heard before, some you haven't:

How is it a gross moral and commercial trangression to download a film or an album from a file sharer, denying the filmmaker or songwriter rightful compensation for their work, yet the purchase of a blatant rip-off of a designer's original chair or table or lamp is a misdeed we sanction?

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In his new book, the author Witold Rybczynski has pulled off a deft trick. Now I Sit Me Down, due out next month, feels loose and relaxed, as well as grounded and authoritative. In a way, it’s like a good chair. The book, a sweeping look, rendered in concise breezy prose, blends first person accounts of the author’s experience, with the cultural history of the chair, from the ancient Greeks, to the Eames and beyond. Here’s an edited version of our conversation from last week.

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"Art was, seriously, the only thing I'd ever wanted to own," David Bowie told the New York Times in a 1988 interview. Although the musician was a passionate patron of the art world, and even a painter himself, the interview was one of only a handful of times he had alluded to his private art collection.

It wasn't until after his death in January, when his estate reached out to Sotheby's in London about the artwork, that people even within the art world realized the breadth and diversity of the collection he had quietly acquired for decades.

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Ten years ago, designer Hella Jongerius began a research project for Swiss furniture company Vitra. As she parsed through decades of colors, shapes, textiles, and materials, Jongerius developed what has quickly become The Vitra Colour & Material Library. In our new book I Don’t Have a Favourite Colour, Jongerius describes her unique method of research and how its results were applied to the Vitra product portfolio. 

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Interior designer Andee Hess, founder of the Portland-based Osmose Design, has been referred to in the press to "enigmatic" and "hard to pin down." Looking at her portfolio, it’s easy to see why: Her work embodies a wide range of styles and aesthetics, from the transportive drama of a neighborhood Italian restaurant to the sleek minimalist kitchen in a downtown loft.

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