THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY OBJECTS

THE B32 CHAIR designed by Marcel Breuer—a snaking, cantilevered masterpiece of tubular steel—has lost its power to shock, but the idea of crafting society seating from crude industrial materials startled Brits when Mr. Breuer moved to their country in the '30s. His inspiration? The tubular steel Adler bicycle he used to scoot around the Bauhaus campus back in Germany. This tale is just one of those disclosed in "Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things," an exhibition that opens Jan. 30 at London's Design Museum. Other revelations: Jasper Morrison constructed his 1983 Handlebar Table , a more literally velodrome-ish descendent of Mr. Breuer's chair, by hand while still a student, despite its mass-produced appearance; only 10 exist. And the Grillo telephone, a 1965 Italian icon, pioneered the snap-shut "clamshell" form that future cellphone and laptop designers would happily steal. Unlike other mod telecommunications relics, says curator Gemma Curtin, "the Grillo still looks relevant." designmuseum.org