Isao Hosoe. The trickster of design

Isao Hosoe saw the trickster as the ideal archetype of the designer: a figure capable of surpassing limits, breaking established rules, and generating innovation through unexpected connections.

Isao Hosoe. The Trickster of Design — published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, scheduled for autumn 2025 at the ADI Design Museum in Milan — presents a selection of projects that embody this vision, highlighting Hosoe’s ability to spark change and foster dialogue between opposites. The volume guides readers through the work and thinking of a designer who transformed curiosity, play, and research into surprising inventions — including some of his most iconic objects, such as the Hebi lamp and the 4632 ashtray.

Comprised of two notebooks reminiscent of those Hosoe used for notes and sketches, the book reveals the "behind the scenes" of design: the origins of ideas, the intermediate steps, and the poetic nature of the design process. It also includes contributions from critics, scholars, and collaborators such as Andrea Branzi, Lorenzo De Bartolomeis, Masaya Hashimoto, Enrico Loccioni, Ann Marinelli, Koryo Miura, Carlo Marzi, Lorenzo Palmeri, Sebastiano Bagnara, Alessandro Pollini, Hirotoshi Sawada, Nami Sawada, Renata Sias, Salvatore Zingale, and Francesco Zurlo.

The two notebooks — one to be read vertically and the other horizontally — offer a dual journey through sketches, photographs, and notes, revealing Hosoe’s inventiveness and originality.