"There is nothing for it but for all of us to invent our own ideal libraries of classics. I would say that such a library ought to be composed of half of books we have read and that have really counted for us, and half of books we propose to read and presume will come to count—leaving a section of empty shelves for surprises and occasional discoveries."

―Italo Calvino, Why Read the Classics?

Books—reservoirs of knowledge, containers of worlds, physical artefacts—are intimately personal objects. As many writers, and more often voracious readers will tell you, they become a part of one’s self. “I have often felt that my library explained who I was, gave me a shifting self that transformed itself constantly throughout the years,” Alberto Manguel, Argentine-Canadian novelist, wrote in Packing My Library: An Elegy and Ten Digressions. Each book in the seemingly endless expanse of a library presents us with new worlds to inhabit, granting us infinite possibilities. Reading exercises our imagination, it asks us to create anew, to think critically and to examine the world around us; books grant readers a sense of empathy. In that sense, they are akin to the process of design wherein a designer must empathise with their users to imaginatively come up with the solution to a problem.

But also, there is so much the physicality of a book can tell us, by its heft, the glossiness of its pages, the use of illustrations even. It can signal what kind of reader it is meant for, how long it will take to read, and how much it costs. Such a relationship inexplicably ties design with books and designers with reading. A new project at this year’s Salone del Mobile probes this relationship, constructing a library—the installation for which will be designed by Formafantasma—based on the recommendations of leading designers and stakeholders of Salone. These titles will then be acquired to add to the library and its catalogue will continue to expand with each edition of the pre-eminent design event in Milan. The hope is that the library will present a diverse range of titles, that could range from anything from design to fantasy to anyone who browses its corridors. As President of Salone del Mobile.Milano, Maria Porro told STIR, her pick would be In the Fog of Milan (1968) by Bruno Munari.

Taking inspiration from this project, STIR enlists below its own catalogue of books, some well-loved and read one too many times as one can tell from their wear, some providing a unique perspective not quite as well known and others adding a vital voice to the realm of design and architecture. Hopefully, each serves as endless inspiration and provides valuable insight.

Martino Gamper

London-based Italian designer Martino Gamper highlights how books can augment design projects through his recommendation of BOX, a catalogue that accompanied furniture designer Max Lamb’s exhibition of the same name. As he tells STIR about Lamb’s work and the reason for its inclusion here, “Working with materials readily available in their surroundings serves as an inspiration for designers. Cardboard boxes, typically overshadowed by their contents, possess inherent beauty in their material and design. Utilising cardboard boxes involves considering not only their physical forms and volumes but also appreciating the raw components they offer.”

Luca Nichetto

Founder of eponymous multidisciplinary design practice in Venice, Luca Nichetto graciously presented a list of five books for the library including his practice’s monograph, Nichetto Studio: Projects, Collaborations, and Conversations in Design (2022), Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture (1963) and Da Cosa Nasce Cosa (1981) [roughly translated to One thing leads to the other] by Bruno Munari, The Travels of Marco Polo, and On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac. Speaking about the choice of including Munari he says, “[Da Cosa Nasce Cosa] triggers curiosity by examining how ordinary things give rise to others and how to analyse commonplace surroundings” while the ironic approach used in Speak Italian is something he resonates with. The inclusion of Marco Polo’s and Kerouac’s travel accounts speak to the curiosity for new experiences and an inherent nostalgia for another world.

Nifemi Marcus-Bello

The book offered by Lagos-based designer, Rwanda: Its Cultural Heritage, Past and Present (2008) by Kanimba Misago Celestin and Lode van Pee presents a critical addition to the library by underscoring the relevance of archives and the evolution of design as we know it from indigenous practices through the ages. The book highlights how design is influenced by culture and vice-versa. As Marcus-Bello tells STIR, “As a designer, I am interested in archives, archiving and understanding the nuances of design language from an ethnographic standpoint. I think this book does that and more, it looks at indigenous design solutions and speaks about them from a human and material perspective.”

Mario Trimarchi

With the idea to help readers “[rediscover] in a profoundly simple way that connection between everyday things and everyday life itself”, the multifaceted designer Mario Trimarchi presented the catalogue for a recent design exhibition, The New Poetic Activism curated by him at the ADI Design Museum, Milan. The catalogue presents the projects of the 17 designers who participated in the exhibition, with their thoughts related to design and poetry. Through the exhibition, on view until April 7, Trimarchi draws on the idea of affectivity, or how “objects know how to make us love them because they know how to love us.”

Nada Debs

Lebanese designer Nada Debs’ addition, Woman Made: Great Women Designers (2021) by Jane Hall provides a crucial database that highlights the contributions of women to the field of product design. As Debs elaborates, “I think that for the longest time, women product designers were not highlighted all in one place. I like that in this book, the women designers go back to the early 1900s.”

Adam Nathaniel Furman

Adding a critical queer narrative to the make-shift library put together by STIR, London-based artist and designer Adam Nathaniel Furman’s addition, Bachelors of A Different Sort: Queer Aesthetics, Material Culture and The Modern Interior in Britain (2014) by John Potvin unpacks the relationship between interior design and queer identity. “This book is a vital and hugely important milestone in opening up the world of gay space-making and domestic life construction to a broader audience. It inspired me as a designer to a huge degree, seeing myself and a lineage that I could place myself within so beautifully and tenderly explored was unbelievably empowering and uplifting,” Furman elaborates on his choice.

Giles Tettey-Nartey

White Papers Black Marks: Architecture, Race, Culture (2000), edited by recent RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner Lesley Lokko was the book chosen by British-Ghanaian designer, researcher and architect Giles Tettey-Nartey. The book provides a crucial perspective on the interconnections between race and its manifestations in the built environment. Talking about the book, Tettey-Nartey says, “[It] is an important inclusion because it explores the connection between identity and the explicit and implicit ways architecture, design and the built environment influence and shape our understanding of space and place.”

Paola Navone

A book by Leonard Koren that expands on the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, Wabi-sabi for artists designers poets & philosophers (1994) was interior designer, product designer, and architect Paola Navone's choice to include in the library. "A short essay based on the idea that true beauty comes from imperfection and incompletion" is what interested Navone about the slip of a book. She goes on to say how the book presents a universal concept which is what inspires and fascinates her.

The 2024 Salone del Mobile is back in Milan's Rho Fiera fairgrounds, to be held from April 16 to 21, 2024.

Stay tuned to STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.