Design History

Elizabeth Simcoe and Her Daughters: Amateur Ecclesiastical Design In the 1840's

by Jim Cheshire

“Ever more and more”: Revisiting the tin can.

by Selçuk Balamir

'An Analysis of the Art Craft Debate with Reference to the Work of Chatwin: Martin'

by Grace Lees-Maffei

In Ring of Fire (exhibition catalogue), ed. Steven Adams (Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire, 1998): 7-20.

Interventions in the debate about the boundaries and common ground between ‘art’ and ‘craft’ have proliferated in... more Interventions in the debate about the boundaries and common ground between ‘art’ and ‘craft’ have proliferated in recent years. Practical work that through form or content addresses this no man’s land has provoked some controversy, with artists and craftspeople differing over the aims and achievements of their work, and the reception of it. Despite continuing rehearsals of the craft/art debate and related arguments - some of which are outlined below - these issues remain live.

'Belonging and Belongings: Etiquette Writing as Design Discourse 1920-1970'

by Grace Lees-Maffei

In Making and Unmaking, ed. Tim Putnam, Valerie Swales and Ruth Facey, 102-117 (Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth, 2000).

For Norbert Elias, writing in 1939, the apparatus of the home had lessened in social importance as it had become... more For Norbert Elias, writing in 1939, the apparatus of the home had lessened in social importance as it had become increasingly private, but in recent years the home has been reconsidered as ‘the principal site where material culture is appropriated in mutual relationships’.  This paper tracks the shift from the former view to the latter through examination of the type of advice literature which addresses the fusion of the social and the material, including etiquette literature and the literature of home entertaining and home decoration. Following a discussion of advice writing as a strain of design discourse, the paper considers how readers were reconciled with a new modernist challenge to extant conceptions of comfortable hospitality and status display by using a small selection of advice texts as representative of the wider literature.  As well as referring to some key related design historical texts, the paper makes use of the theories of Elias, Goffman and Bourdieu. In contrast to the reification of power typical of courtly etiquette, the mid 20th century witnessed social changes attendant upon economic and cultural reorganisation that effected the way home entertaining was conducted. The declining influence of aristocratic modes of taste in favour of a flatter social model encompassed a shift from service culture to self-service culture, and a changing geography of home entertaining. From 1920 to 1970, the home opened up, modifying the way its parts were conceptualised in advice literature as public and private, front and backstage. Importantly, the gradual acceptance of modern domestic design led to a waning of earlier modes of status-display through luxury to a general aestheticization of everyday life.

‘Men, Motors, Markets and Women’

by Grace Lees-Maffei

In Autopia, ed. Peter Wöllen and Joe Kerr, 363-370 (London: Reaktion, 2002). Reproduced with permission in Carl's Cars 16 (Summer 2006): 112-114.

'See 500 sexy models reveal all.' This Motor Show slogan provides a graphic reminder of the traditional role of women... more 'See 500 sexy models reveal all.' This Motor Show slogan provides a graphic reminder of the traditional role of women in car culture – as adjuncts rather than drivers. Stephen Bayley’s 1986 essay Sex, Drink and Fast Cars typifies 'man's relationship' with his car as being all about power, as articulated by designers, stylists, advertising creatives and marketing professionals. For Bayley, a woman in a powerful car is 'at once titillating and de-masculating' and represents 'an overt sexual statement'.  The feeling is mutual, it seems, as shown by the female journalist who admitted: ‘men who are ambivalent about driving are not attractive to me. And it’s not just me.’  The masculine dominance of car culture is sustained even though an increasing number of women drive and as increasing numbers of women work as car journalists.

‘Dressing the Part(y): 1950s Domestic Advice Books and the Studied Performance of Informal Domesticity in the UK and the US’

by Grace Lees-Maffei

In Performance, Fashion and the Modern Interior, ed. Fiona Fisher and Patricia Lara-Betancourt (Oxford: Berg, 2011): 183-196

Behaviour is subject to fashion as much as clothing, furniture and other designed goods. As a discourse of ideals,... more Behaviour is subject to fashion as much as clothing, furniture and other designed goods. As a discourse of ideals, domestic advice literature - and by that I mean advice literature pertaining to the social and material composition of the home, namely etiquette, homemaking and home decoration books - can be read retrospectively to trace fashionable changes in both design and manners and is therefore a useful resource in uncovering the history of intersections between fashion, performance and the modern interior. This chapter examines three domestic advice books from the UK and the US: American industrial designers Russel and Mary Wright’s Guide to Easier Living, revised edition 1954 (1950), British journalist Julia Cairns’s Home Making, also 1954 and British author Daphne Barraclough’s How to Run a Good Party of 1956 to examine a historical moment in which a shift in fashionable behaviour produced new advice about domestic interactions, or performances, within the home. With reference to Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor developed in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, here advice books are presented as scripts for domestic performances within the home as a stage.

Small Change? Emily Post’s Etiquette

by Grace Lees-Maffei

In Must Read: Rediscovering American Bestsellers, ed. Sarah Churchwell and Thomas Ruys-Smith (London: Continuum, 2012): pp. TBC.

In the contemporary book market, non-fiction genres such as biography and self-help command considerable sales, ... more In the contemporary book market, non-fiction genres such as biography and self-help command considerable sales,  yet ‘bestseller’ is still a term primarily associated with fiction (the nature of that fiction is explored in this book).  This chapter examines a non-fiction text which has been a bestseller for nine decades, and the pre-eminent example of American advice literature, Emily Post’s Etiquette. In catering to the social needs and aspirations of its readers, Etiquette has described as well as prescribed US social interaction and is therefore a useful tool in calibrating the changing nature of the American dream. Succeeding members of the Post family have renewed the book’s content and thereby ensured its continued popularity. By examining these processes of change – of authorship and content – this chapter shows how non-fiction bestsellers maintain and rejuvenate their markets in a manner quite distinct from the majority of bestsellers which are relatively unchanging works of fiction, bound up with their original authors.

Design als 'mediating interface'Zur Zeugen‐und Zeichenhaftigkeit des Radioapparates

by Andreas Fickers

Der" Transistor" als technisches und kulturelles Phänomen: Die Transistorisierung der Radio-und Fernsehempfänger in der deutschen Rundfunkindustrie …

by Andreas Fickers

Exhibition Review: Saint Laurent Rive Gauche: la révolution de la mode

by Alexis Romano

Published in 'Textile History,' vol. 42:2 (November 2011), 268-271.

Yohji Yamamoto and the Museum: a Contemporary Fashion Narrative

by Alexis Romano

Published in 'Yohji Yamamoto,' edited by Ligaya Salazar (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2011), 102-127.

CfP - The Invisible Bicycle: New Insights into Bicycle History

by Timo Myllyntaus

Call for papers
Session on Bicycle History
ICOHTEC, Manchester, U.K., 22–28 July 2013
In conjunction of... more Call for papers
Session on Bicycle History
ICOHTEC, Manchester, U.K., 22–28 July 2013
In conjunction of the 24th International Congress of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine


The Invisible Bicycle: New Insights into Bicycle History


Despite of the ongoing interest and the multitude on historical insights, bicycle history calls for further research, especially as the bicycle has at some point in time been an integral part of everyday life and mobility in probably all corners of the world. Many aspects of bicycle use and technology remain invisible or show only fleeting presence in the bicycle historiography. Partially this is due to locations that appear peripheral, such as developing countries and rural areas. But even the Western, urban cycling asks for more scrutiny, especially during the decades of bicycle’s most intensive use as a means of transport, from the early 20th century till the1960s. Similarly interesting are the dynamics of the decline and a new increase in cycling in the second half of the 20th century.

How can we study the history of everyday practices in bicycle use and non-use? Is the decline of cycling in industrial societies a universal phenomenon? How do the transnational timelines of bicycle history look like? How have technological features and design influenced on the image and popularity of cycling? Are there “national styles” in the design and technical characteristics of bicycles? To this session we invite papers on all aspects of bicycle history, but especially on those so far understudied. We encourage questioning typical timelines of bicycle history and presenting of alternative histories and controversial case studies.

Please, contact Timo Myllyntaus (timmyl@utu.fi) or Tiina Männistö-Funk (tiiman@utu.fi) and submit an abstract (200 – 400 words) of your paper proposal and a one-page CV by Friday 9 March 2012.

Further information at: http://www.icohtec.org/annual-meeting-cfp-2013.html

'Workshop of the World? Manufacturing the British Product'

by Deborah Sugg Ryan

in Christopher Breward & Ghislaine Wood (eds.) British Design from 1948: Innovation in the Modern Age, V&A publishing, 2012, ISBN: 9781851776740

This chapter considers how institutions, individuals and industries responded to new circumstances of manufacturing... more This chapter considers how institutions, individuals and industries responded to new circumstances of manufacturing the British product from the 1960s onwards. New forms of education for industrial design resulted in the emergence of the consultant designer and in design consultancies that worked in partnership with industry in Britain and abroad. As British manufacturing evolved within a changing world economy, a decline in R&D in some fields was matched by an equal (though less well-documented) investment in other areas. In the meantime, the tradition of the British inventor and design entrepreneur was far from dead. More hidden was the role of women, but here too female designers and consumers played important roles. Britain also became a workshop in innovation and creativity, set against the backdrop of Swinging London, developing new technologies and exporting design expertise.

ICOHTEC Travel Grants to Barcelona Symposium

by Timo Myllyntaus

.
Guidelines

The ICOHTEC Board will make available a limited number of grants for graduates,... more .
Guidelines

The ICOHTEC Board will make available a limited number of grants for graduates, post-graduates and young researchers who are giving papers or present posters at the 2012 ICOHTEC Symposium Technology, the Arts and Industrial Culture in Catalonia, Spain 10-14 July 2012. Special preference will be given to students and young researchers from developing countries as well as Eastern and Central European countries in transition who are not able to receive sufficient financial support from their home countries or sponsors in other countries.

These travel grants are not intended to provide the full costs associated with attending the symposium; they are meant as an encouragement, not a full subsidy.

Eligibility: ICOHTEC Travel Grants will be awarded to students or young researchers, travel costs and accommodation costs of whom have not been covered by some sponsors.

The Travel Grant of 350 euro is to be used to cover bus/train/flight tickets, lodging and/or regis-tration fee. Reimbursement will be made after presenting paper or poster and proving the student’s or young researcher status by an appropriate document (Student’s ID or supervisor’s/professor’s letter).

Application forms should be sent to the President as email attachments or by ordinary mail. Applications for support must include personal contact information, an estimate on travel, registration and accommodation costs, title of the paper/poster to be presented and a short CV. An application form may be downloaded from the ICOHTEC web site at:
http://www.icohtec.org/resources-prizes.html.

Deadline: Applications with appendices should be submitted by 26 March, 2012. Submissions via email are requested and preferred.

James Williams
President
101 Lake Winnemissett Drive
Deland FL 32724 USA
techjunc@gmail.com

Borderline graphics: an analysis of Cinema Marginal posters

by Priscila Farias

Co-authored with Regina Wilke, presented at the Design History Society Annual Conference 2011: 'Design Activism and Social Change', Barcelona (Spain)

This paper presents a study on Brazilian Cinema
Marginal film posters. It identifies the political and more This paper presents a study on Brazilian Cinema
Marginal film posters. It identifies the political and
cultural context of the posters production, and
considers their graphic, communicative and
meaningful aspects.
In 1968, the Institutional Act #5 (AI-5) comes into
force in Brazil, and, for the next ten years, the
country is haunted by the most violent period of
military dictatorship. Cinema Marginal has its
heyday between 1968 and 1973, a period marked
by the military regime (1964-1985). Such films
portray the spirit of that era in dissimilar ways
that alternate between eroticism, horror,
romance and suspense, often with political
messages in subtext. Its main shared
characteristics are the subversion of cinematic
language and experimental attitude. Such films
interact with avant-garde theatre, visual arts and
Brazilian popular music, especially with the
Tropicalia movement, setting up a privileged
moment of creation, despite the sombre political
framework.

British Football Programmes

by Kerry William Purcell

Corporate America And The New Luminous Environment: Kelly’s work with Johnson, Mies, and Noyes

by Margaret Maile Petty

chapter published in 'The Structure of Light: Richard Kelly and the Art of Architectural Illumination', edited by Dietrich Neumann (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), pp. 63-80.

This study examines the career and contributions of Richard Kelly, a central figure in the field of architectural... more This study examines the career and contributions of Richard Kelly, a central figure in the field of architectural lighting design in the USA in the postwar era. Kelly persistently argued for lighting design as a distinct and essential element of every architectural program and as the key mode through which we understand and experience the designed environment. Collaborating with many of the mid-century's most prominent architects, this chapter argues that Kelly played a formative role in the creation of a new visual language of corporate modernity, which was eagerly embraced by a number of significant firms as an important element in the articulation of a modern corporate identity.

Spiegelungen / Reflections

by Margaret Maile Petty

chapter published in 'Leuchtende Bauten: Architektur der Nacht' edited by Dietrich Neumann and Marion Ackermann (Germany: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2006).

This short essay examines the use of floodlighting in the United States to establish a nighttime presence for... more This short essay examines the use of floodlighting in the United States to establish a nighttime presence for corporate architecture as well as to define a distinctive and modern metropolitan nightscape.

Scopophobia/Scopophilia: electric light and the anxiety of the gaze in postwar American architecture

by Margaret Maile Petty

chapter published in ‘Atomic Dwelling: Anxiety, Domesticity, and Postwar Architecture’ edited by Robin Schuldenfrei (Routledge, 2012), pp. 45-63.

In the postwar era interest in the “dematerializing” of traditional boundaries between enclosure and exposure in the... more In the postwar era interest in the “dematerializing” of traditional boundaries between enclosure and exposure in the private dwelling was promoted in a variety of popular media. Transparency became an essential component of “good living.” However, the increasing use of glass in residential architecture brought significant challenges to the occupation of domestic spaces. Primary among these concerns was the psychic dislocation caused by extensive visual exposure. An article in the New York Times called attention to this problem, reporting that some residents of glass buildings “develop dizziness” as well “a fear of being watched.” For many a sense of vulnerability, of being seen without being able to see, was greatly amplified in glass-enclosed spaces after dark. To address these concerns, and provide control over the visual conditions of the private dwelling, electric lighting was proposed as singularly powerful tool in the modulation of the domestic environment. Purposeful lighting was suggested as a means to create “atmosphere” and express “personality” as well as to control the transparency of glass enclosures after dark. This paper explores the use of electric lighting in the postwar era as a means to both address and mediate the gaze in the visual and social “scripting” of the domestic environment. Culling from film and cultural theory to investigate the social and aesthetic conditions “good living,” this study calls attention to the role of electric lighting in the composition of performative spaces within the postwar dwelling.

Edge of Danger: Electric Light and the Negotiation of Public and Private Domestic Space in Philip Johnson's Glass and Guest Houses

by Margaret Maile Petty

published in 'Interiors' vol. 1, no.3 (2010): pp.197-218.

In the first half of the twentieth century the dematerializing of boundaries between enclosure and exposure... more In the first half of the twentieth century the dematerializing of boundaries between enclosure and exposure problematized the conventions and traditional expectations of the domestic environment. At the same time, as a space of escalating technological control, the modern domestic interior also offered new potential to re-define the meaning and means of habitation. The inherent tension between these opposing forces is particularly evident in the introduction of new electric lighting technology and applications into the modern domestic interior in the mid-twentieth century. Addressing this nexus point of technology and domestic psychology, the following essay examines the critical role of electric lighting in regulating and framing both the public and private occupation of Philip Johnson’s New Canaan estate. Exploring the dialectically paired transparent Glass House and opaque Guest House, this study illustrates how Johnson employed electric light to negotiate the visual environment of the estate as well as to help sustain a highly aestheticized domestic lifestyle. Johnson’s use of electric light to maintain the transparent exposure of the Glass House as well as to intensify the sensual interior landscape of the Guest House, when contextualised within the existing literature, provides a more complex understanding of the construction of two very different forms of domestic occupation within the New Canaan estate. Through this investigation, we are afforded a more nuanced understanding of Johnson’s process as an architect and a client, as well as the means with which he inhabited his own architecture.