{"product_id":"undesigning-the-bath-by-leonard-koren","title":"Undesigning The Bath by Leonard Koren","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the quarter century since its publication, and long since out of print, \u003cem\u003eUndesigning the Bath\u003c\/em\u003e has accrued a devoted following amongst designers and artists. The book presented a novel idea, coming from an artist and designer: that design is, in some fundamental ways, antithetical to the essential bathing experience. It was the culmination of a many-decade interest of Koren’s, who created bath-related events, unusual bathing environments, and paper works about bathing, including the avant-garde \u003cem\u003eWET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing,\u003c\/em\u003e from 1976–81.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhy are most designers (architectural, interior, or industrial) incapable of creating deeply satisfying bathing environments? Because the key metaphors of design--efficiency, slick modernity, overwhelming visual appeal--are antagonistic to a profound bathing experience. Extraordinary baths instead are complex and distinctly elemental--earthy, sensual, and animistic. They are created by natural geological processes or by composers of sensory arousal working in an intuitive, poetic, open-minded--undesign--manner.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLeonard Koren, who trained as an artist and architect, was the founder and creative director of WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing, one of the seminal avant garde publications of the 1970s. Among Koren's other books are \"Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets \u0026amp; Philosophers\" and \"Arranging things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e112 pages\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eDesigned by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/leonardkoren.com\/\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLeonard Koren\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eReissued by Blunk Books 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e6\" X 9\", Softcover\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Leonard Koren","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44153440927834,"sku":null,"price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0590\/3643\/4522\/files\/Undesigning-The-Bath-by-Leonard-Koren-at-Working-Loose-Maine-01.webp?v=1790004675","url":"https:\/\/www.workingloose.com\/products\/undesigning-the-bath-by-leonard-koren","provider":"Working Loose","version":"1.0","type":"link"}