100 Milestones in Modern Design

Objects, Ideas, and Events

100 Milestones in Modern Design takes readers on a vivid journey through the defining moments that changed the way we live, work, and see the world.

Explore 100 pivotal moments when creativity and culture intersected to shape modern life. 

Design is not just about objects—it’s about ideas that have changed the world. From William Morris’s Red House and the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Bauhaus, the iPhone, and 3D-printed bridges, 100 Milestones in Modern Design traces the decisive events that transformed the way we live, work, and see the world. Drawing on decades of scholarship, curator and educator Daniella Ohad presents a panoramic and provocative view of design’s evolution as a social, technological, conceptual, and aesthetic force.

Through 100 concise, visually rich entries, Ohad connects the dots between invention and ideology, showing how design has responded to—and influenced—industrialization, urbanization, war, feminism, consumerism, globalization, climate change, and sustainability. Each milestone represents a point of transformation:

• The birth of the modern home with William Morris’s Red House
• The advent of industrial furniture through Thonet’s bentwood chairs
• The modernist ideals of the Bauhaus
• The cultural impact of Levi’s blue jeans
• The utopian visions of glass architecture
• Steve Jobs’ first visit to Japan
• The role of the sale of Yves Saint Laurent in shaping the design market

Ohad reveals design as an ongoing dialogue between progress and purpose—a mirror of the societies that create it and shape our lives. Her selection, deeply informed yet accessible, reframes modern design history as a story of courage, experimentation, and the pursuit of better living.

Beautifully illustrated and globally inclusive, 100 Milestones in Modern Design invites you to see design not as decoration, but as an instrument of change—from the materials that define eras to the movements that define meaning.

For designers, educators, students, and anyone fascinated by creativity’s role in shaping civilization, this book offers a vital perspective: the history of design is the history of us all.

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