
It’s a common place to talk about the start of the New Year at the beginning of January. But at wonnd, we work with people’s needs and behaviours at the core of our strategic approach, and life cycles have guided humanity’s way of acting in all cultures since ancient times. We are human, so we cannot escape from that. 😉
Food, eating rituals, and meal preparation spaces are pillars of all cultures, bringing people together in the same space and activity. The same goes for us. Our kitchen, as in every home, is the soul of wonnd BaseCamp. This is the space where we “creatively cook” all our projects, and exchange thoughts and ideas while sharing a nice coffee or tea (of course!) with our clients, colleagues and friends. For us, this is a key inspiration spot.
Mixing territories is at the core of our approach to every project, and that’s why every month we showcase in the kitchen a selection of books from our library. That will be the food for our thoughts for the following weeks, to share with our team and visitors. Some of them are new releases, and others bring us wisdom from other times that keep guiding us. These are our selected topics to launch 2025:
Seeking for utopia
It is a turbulent time. But we are radical optimists, we choose to start the new cycle with a positive mindset towards envisioning and building a future that will open new opportunities. We look for inspiration in artists and thinkers that aim to build a utopian future and believe that we have to build the future to come, instead of waiting for it.

The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915–1932
Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1992 (English) / Catalogue from the exhibition at Guggenheim Museum New York from September 1992 to January 1993. With contributions by Natalia Adaskina, Vivian Endicott Barnett, Susan Compton, Catherine Cooke, Charlotte Douglas, and Svetlana Dzhafarova.
The Russian avant-garde artists’ work preceded the political and societal revolution that changed the course of Modernist art and modern history. With their radical and innovative perspective, they realize the utopian aims of the Bolshevik Revolution, merging art, politics and life. We chose it because it reminds us that any societal expression is deeply connected to what is happening at all levels (geopolitics, economics, etc).
What’s Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready / Frederik G. Pferd
Harper Business, 2024 (English)
We all know we live in a moment of changing ambiguity and uncertainty. Frederik G. Pferd, Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist, invites us in this book to turn unexpected challenges into opportunities by using optimism, openness, curiosity, experimentation, and empathy, and look at the world not only as it is, but as we envision it to be. We cannot be more aligned with this approach to challenges.
How to future / Austrian Chamber of Commerce
Department of Innovation and Digitalization. 2024 (English)
This booklet brings a global and dynamic overview of innovations and technologies, that combined with the Innovation Map, aims to keep companies updated with worldwide changes. It is a radar for cutting-edge technologies and trends, showcasing 105 groundbreaking technologies that have the potential to profoundly influence people’s lives, society, and entrepreneurial actions.
Creativity and imagination for change
When current models prove to be obsolete, and context changes run faster than ever, creativity and imagination are key skills to face the future successfully. Observing different ways of imagining new possibilities for the future is key to unlocking new and unexpected opportunities, and solutions to our project challenges at wonnd.

Teoría de la inteligencia creadora / José Antonio Marina
Editorial Anagrama, 2001 (Spanish)
This book presents an innovative theory of intelligence, integrating the results of cognitive sciences: neurology, artificial intelligence, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy. Studying in detail the work of creators from diverse disciplines defines intelligence as a capacity to invent and create efficient results to problems, observing the ethics of what we are creating for. Integration of disciplines is at the core of what we do, and a comprehensive understanding of intelligence is fundamental.
La imaginación al poder / Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Editorial Argonauta, 1982 (Spanish)
The student rebellion of May 1968, shook the world. It was a revolt against the very concept of resignation, against the established order. The tremor shook France and spread throughout all countries with a capacity for mobilization and contagion that disconcerted and frightened the powers in power. The youth moved a profound force driven by embracing the dream of changing the status quo, experimenting with life as a canvas for imagining new possibilities, and expressing it in many different ways. We believe in the power of imagination as a changing force. The message of May 68′ keeps resonating: “Be realistic, ask for the impossible.”
Tangram. The ancient Chinese shapes game / Joost Elfers
Penguin Books, 1976 (English)
The Tangram proposes 7 shapes formed from a square, but fitted together they allow us to construct endless figures. The book presents 1600 illustrations of different images that can be formed by using these seven pieces only. The Chinese call Tangram “The board of wisdom” since you need a certain intelligence level to play the game. Tangam reminds us that a “simple” game may open fascinating and unexpected opportunities, and many different solutions, and that things that look “simple” may hide a complex thinking universe behind.
Blurring frontiers
Hybridization and discipline mix are key at wonnd. To begin the year, we are especially inspired by observing the integration of artistic practices with innovation, concept development, communication and design. We are captivated by the intersection of artistic freedom with creative professional constraints, and how to learn from this.

Art and Text / Aimee Selby
Black Dog Publishing, 2009 (English)
Art and text explore the relationship between language and art, from early experiments with pictorial poetry, and art avant-garde to current conceptual practices. It shows how the boundaries of art and communication blur in infinite possibilities, enriching with the mix, challenging our perception and expanding the possibilities for creating new meaning. We constantly learn from the results of these hybridizations.
Chairman. Rolf Fehlbaum / Tibor Kalman
German Design Council and Lars Müller Publishers, 1997 (English). This book accompanied the Federal Award for Design Leadership presented to Fehlbaum in 1997 by the German Design Council.
This book is a portrait of Rolf Fehlbaum, ‘s world, a critical figure of design entrepreneurship of t the late 20th century, and his internationally known furniture design company, Vitra. He believed that the purpose of industry is to fund culture and social progress, and the book expresses this vision in a publication that “sits” the furniture universe in the context of human behaviours and the deep meaning that furniture has for humans: As simple or complex as a chair.
Color happens / Carlos Cruz-Diez
Fundación Juan March, 2009 (English). Catalogue of the exhibition with the same name during February-March 2009
Carlos Cruz-Diez researches and experiments on colour to create sensorial experiences for the public. His domain plays with colour behaviour combining the emotional and rational perception of color. His work is driven by experimentation, looking for new possibilities in the combination of colour and bringing a new dimension of perception. This tension of exploring new expressions with something so natural and known for everyone as colour is a great inspiration for pushing the boundaries of meaning and forcing people to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Blanco sobre blanco. Miradas y lecturas sobre artes visuales / Editorial group by Viviana Usubiaga, Verónica Tell, Teresa Riccardi, Isabel Plante, Mariana Marchesi, María Amalia García, Silvia Dolinko, Talía Bermejo, Agustina Rodríguez Romero.
March 2012. (Spanish)
“Blanco sobre blanco” is an independent magazine on image, visual arts and culture that seeks to bring different voices into dialogue and provoke critical thinking through the confluence of disciplines and perspectives. In their second edition, they reunite musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists. Starting from the outstanding editorial group, this edition includes articles by admired artist friends, this edition includes articles of artists who are admired friends (like the musician Nicolás Varchausky and the multimedia artist Julián D’Angiolillo), they include a Dossier about “puzzles” that explores multiple possibilities for making something new from separate pieces, which resonates a lot with strategy.
Inspiring people
Learning from the work and thinking of professionals and artists we admire is always enriching. We selected some monographic books that show the work of people who crossed the frontiers of their disciplines generating new concepts, understanding and connecting with their contextual moment opening new paths.

Aleksandr Rodchenko / Magdalena Dabrowski, Leah Dickerman, Peter Galassi.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1998. (English)
We always get an interesting idea when exploring the work of Aleksandr Rodchenko, the most versatile member of the Constructivist movement. He applied his innovative and experimental spirit in painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, photography, photomontage, graphic design, furniture, and architecture. One of our favourite pics from the catalogue is the graphics for caramel wrappers.
Take care of yourself / Sophie Calle
Actes Sud, 2007. Published to coincide with the 2007 Venice Biennale. (English)
Sophie Calle, French conceptual artist/provocateur, received an email ending an affair. The letter ended with the words: “Take care of yourself”. She didn’t know how to respond, so she asked one hundred and seven women to interpret this “breakup” email through the lens of their professions: A family mediator, a judge, a journalist, a philosopher, a linguist, a musician… All the different reactions to this same letter are collected in this artist’s book. 107 points of view and perspectives, all different, valid, and complementary. In each of them, we can find an interesting angle to the same subject.
Life Style / Bruce Mau.
Phaidon Press, 2000. (English)
This book is a manifesto that documents Bruce Mau’s creative process and studio practice. It integrates the studio projects with essays, observations, and anecdotes, and documents the process behind the final results. It is always a good reminder of how form and content are inseparable, and we cannot separate the projects from the context in which they are created.
Enjoy a 2025 full of enriching readings!
There are plenty of urgent challenges to tackle in this new cycle. Come to join the conversation in our kitchen, and let’s work together! As we always say, not everything is done!