Think of this new book from Gestalten as more of a travel monograph than an homage to a famous brand, even if it’s the qualities and cult following of the latter that facilitated these gorgeous spreads of global imagery. Land is a book dedicated to the life-altering perspective offered up by Land Rover Defender ownership.
Land Rover Defender 110 Tdci 2.4 in sunset and dust, camping trip
Subtitled From Workhorse to Cultural Object: The Land Rover as Design Icon, the book is divided into three sections, with the first focusing on those specialist workshops around the world that have decided to make the Defender their focus. As well as full restorations and EV conversions of this classic British workhorse, there are plenty of firms out there that will uprate and upgrade a Land Rover to deal with anything. We’ve covered a fair few on these pages, but Land will introduce you to many more.
Assembling Retro Defender: Hand-installed parts, including the bodywork, of which 80 per cent is new
It’s followed by a digression into Land Rover’s role as a contemporary cultural object, manipulated and modified by designers and artists. Finally, there’s the Adventure section, a slice of contemporary travel porn that fuses a host of contemporary obsessions, from van life to drone photography, to wellness, off-grid living, personal growth and a general sense of an aesthetically driven life.
Arguably no vehicle has travelled further into the unknown than the Land Rover. Today, these machines continue to conquer boundaries and facilitate their owners’ wildest dreams of exploration and adventure
Land - From Workhorse to Cultural Object: The Land Rover as Design Icon
Land – From Workhorse to Cultural Object: The Land Rover as Design Icon, €60 / £60, gestalten.com, @gestalten