Henry van de Velde (1863-1957) was a versatile designer of functional beauty and an enthusiastic pioneer of modern design. He set out to create beautiful household objects that were reproducible and thus affordable and could become part of comfortable homes, not just for the happy few. That was his life's work which he undertook with passion. This book is published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Van de Velde's birth. It is a synthesis of his work and a tribute to its content and form. Just like Van de Velde's own work, it is a total artistic project, in which all parts are orchestrated into a single whole, combining both contemporary research and earlier approaches. Various Van de Velde specialists have worked together to produce this volume, under the supervision of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar and the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels.