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96 FORTUNE APRIL 2020

VOLKS WAGE N

BEETLE

DESIGNED BY

Ferdinand Porsche,

1938

They say you can’t

outrun your past.

Tell that to the

VW Beetle, which

pulled off one of

the great reinven-

tions of our time.

Commissioned

by Adolf Hitler to

be an affordable

“people’s car” for

the citizens of the

Third Reich, the

Bug, as it’s now

lovingly known,

overcame its

sinister origins to

be embraced by

hippies and Disney

alike. Designed by

Ferdinand Porsche,

the undeniably

cute little car uses

a rear-mounted,

25-horsepower

air-cooled engine

to keep things

as mechanically

simple as possible.

APPLE WATCH

DESIGNED BY

Apple, 2015

The power of

an iPhone in a

package not much

bigger than a

postage stamp.

BIALETTI

MOKA POT

DESIGNED BY

Alfonso Bialetti, 1933

As essential as the

beverage it brews,

it took espresso

from coffee shop

to stove top.

POÄNG

DESIGNED BY

Ikea (Noboru

Nakamura), 1974

Ikea continues

to sell about

1.5 million of these

elegant-yet-afford-

able chairs annually.

MICROSOFT

OFFICE

DESIGNED BY

Microsoft, 1990

Can you imagine

doing business

without Excel or

PowerPoint?

46 47 48 49 50 READ MORE

Go to Fortune.com to see

the rest of the 100 Greatest

Designs of Modern Times.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This list was compiled by the

Institute of Design at the Illinois

Institute of Technology under

the supervision of Denis Weil.

Research was led by Todd Cooke

and conducted by Ellesia Albert,

Harini Balusubramanian, Jessica

Jacobs, Mark Jones, and Martin

T hale r.

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DSB.W.04.20.XMIT.indd 96 FINAL 3/10/20 6:39 PM