Serge Mouille's lamps are thoroughly modern and timeless. They are unparalleled in both their conception and manufacture, two features essential to the project, and the basis of good design. His outstanding handcrafted work ethic seems obsolete in today's era of industrial outsourcing. Serge Mouille spent his later years teaching his know-how, in the style of the Living National Treasures of Japan, forgoing all awards and accolades from industrial...

Austrian architect Margarete Schütte Lihotzky's 6.5 square meter kitchen rationalized domestic space. Designed in 1926 for the New Frankfurt social housing project and inspired by American and German efficiency studies, this layout pioneered new standards, promoted hygiene, and championed Viennese modernist aesthetics. 10, 000 units were installed, which makes the Frankfurter Kitchen the first industrially produced "fitted kitchen."

From the Danish "Leg godt" meaning "play well," the name Lego has become synonymous with facility, imagination, functional design, longevity, success, and limitless creativity. In 2009, Lego will celebrate its 50th anniversary and the 320 billions of blocks sold since the toy first debuted in1949. The Danish creator, Ole Kirk Christiansen, set forth a revolutionary concept that would make his invention last for generations to come: plastic modular...