Nicholas Koening courtesy of Morgan Hotel

You see the influence of some people every day: Gandhi and the idea of peace, President Obama and the soon-to-be-sweeping health care reform, Carl Sagan and the thought of ourselves as small. All pretty big ideas. What you may not see or realize is that there are people who very directly influence the way you dress, the way your favorite store is decorated, and the fact that you can get away with a tie and jeans in this day and age. Enter Andrée Putman.  Blending the high and the low into a beautifully unique and practical product, Putman describes her own best works as “the perfect balance between discipline and revolt.”
     Rizzoli Publications has released a definitive look, Andrée Putman: Complete Works, at the woman who in the 1980s brought to light the idea of high-end chic mixing with plebeian materials. Her career includes redesigning hotels, department stores, residences, and, recently, an entire thirty-one floor apartment skyscraper in Hong Kong, as well as a plethora of product design. 
     The book, written by Donald Albrecht (curator of architecture and design at The Museum of the City of New York) and Jean Nouvel (award-winning architect) offer the ultimate look at all of her works in a staggeringly winsome package: perfectly-square, minimal, robust in content, and all-around attractively built — just as Andrée would want.