Miguel Milá: Essential, A Design Guide for Life sets out the thinking of one of Spain's founding industrial designers in his own voice—part manifesto, part family memoir, part quiet handbook for living well.
About This Book
Where earlier books on Miguel Milá have looked at his work from the outside, this one lets the designer speak for himself. Milá wove together recollections of his family and upbringing, reflections on the objects he made and firm convictions about what design is for, arriving at a way of thinking in which a good lamp and a good life are shaped by the same values: restraint, honesty, comfort and care.
First published in Spanish as Lo esencial, the text appears here in an English translation by Valerie Miles. It opens Apartamento's new series of reading books devoted to the ideas and reflections of creative thinkers—small, text-led volumes to be carried around and returned to.
Key Features
- The first account of Milá's design philosophy written in his own words rather than by a biographer or critic
- A braided text moving between artistic manifesto, family history and practical advice on living
- English translation by Valerie Miles
- The first volume in Apartamento's reading book series on creative thinkers
What You'll Discover
- How Milá understood the relationship between everyday objects and the quality of daily life
- The family background and Barcelona milieu that shaped his sensibility
- His case for simplicity, durability and common sense over novelty
- A companion volume to the more visual Miguel Milá: A Life in Design
About the Author
Miguel Milá (1931–2024) was a Barcelona designer widely regarded as a pioneer of Spanish industrial design. Trained initially in architecture, he became known for lamps, furniture and street fixtures of lasting, understated clarity, many of which remain in production.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Dimensions: 140 × 210 mm
- Pages: 160
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9788409778348
- Publisher: Apartamento
Perfect For: Designers, students and readers drawn to the ethics of making, and anyone who admires the understated clarity of Spanish midcentury design.