Pushchairs and calculators

New York’s Museum of Modern Art has raided its collection of UK design for a new book, due out in June.

Hugh Aldersley-Williams’ British Design does the usual summing up of our design history, from Josiah Wedgewood to Ron Arad, but the book’s interest comes from the fact that this is a rare US take on British design.

In her introduction, Moma curator Paola Antonelli is duly respectful, saying, ‘Because of its ability to both reflect and anticipate the pulse of culture throughout the industrial era, Great Britain has always represented a treasure trove for design curators at The Museum of Modern Art’.

Source: Museum of Modern Art

John Pemberton’s 1975 Sovereign Calculators

Source: Museum of Modern Art

Charles Currey’s 1960 Sailing Knife

Featured products include neglected classics like John Pemberton’s 1975 Sovereign Calculators, Charles Currey’s 1960 Sailing Knife, and Owen Maclaren’s 1966 stripy folding pushchair, which leaves me nostalgically admiring of its cool, utilitarian lines.

But it’s not all praise. Looking to the future of design in the UK, Aldersley-Williams warns that, ‘the country must resist its tendency towards insularity. It is when its designers look outward that interesting things begin to happen’.