Kingston University

School of Art and Design History

BA (Hons) History of Art, Architecture & Design

2002-2003

Semester A, Level 3

Viviana Narotzky and Catherine McDermott

 

 

Modernisms and Post- Modernisms: Design and Architecture after 1945

 

Contents:

 

Course Outline and Weekly Sessions                                                           p. 2

Weekly Bibliography                                                                                       p. 4

General Design Resources                                                                            p. 5

 

 

Modernisms and Post- Modernisms: Design and Architecture after 1945

 

Course Outline

This module explores architecture and design after the Second World War. They will be studied in the context of important economic and cultural shifts in the second half of the 20th Century. This will include issues of Modernisms and Post-Modernisms, youth culture, globalization and the commodification of place.

 

Week 1 Britain Can Make It

The lecture will explore the impact of the war on British designers and the emergence of  new generation of designers who explored a new style for the post-war period.  Using Robin Day as a case study the impact of new technology and social change underpinned British design in the 1950s.

Seminar: Brief City a film made in 1951 to celebrate the Festival of Britian

 

Week 2 National Identity in Architecture and Design: The Impact of a Changing Context

This lecture will explore the relationship between architecture, design and national identity. It will look at the ways in which national characteristics have been expressed in the past and explore the complexity of that relationship in the context of globalization, modernism and post-modernism.

 

Week 3 Study Visit The Holocaust Exhibition, Imperial War Museum

During the Second World War, for the first time in history, industrial methods were used for mass extermination. The exhibition uses historical material to tell the story of the Nazis' persecution of the Jews and other groups before and during the Second World War. The large-scale organized violence and the technological and pragmatical underpinnings of the holocaust have been recently put forward as the ultimate expression of modernity’s drive towards rationalism and productivity, and the historical turning-point that led to the crisis of modernism.

 

Week 4 From Reconstruction to Deconstruction – Italy

Italian design since 1945 was regarded as being at the cutting edge of design theory and practice. We will analyse its evolution and characteristics, from the drive of post-war reconstruction to the emergence of design as popular culture and as cultural critique.

 

Seminar: There has been a longstanding concern about national characteristics in design. Discuss the ongoing relationship of design and national identity.

 

 

 

Week 5 Post-Modernism in Architecture and Design

This lecture will investigate aspects of the emergence of post-modern theories in architecture, within the context of popular culture in the 1960s, and explore key concepts such as ‘complexity and contradiction’ and ‘the presence of the past’. We will examine Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s writings and work, and relate it to the critical analysis of postmodern culture.

Seminar: Analyse and critique the political and artistic positions taken within Italian design as a reflection of the 1960s Pop culture. Discuss the elision of art and design culture since that time.

 

Week 6 Post-Punk Theory and Ideas

In the late 1970s British design developed a unique identity led by the developments in fashion, graphics and interior design.  Punk was not about working class music it was underpinned by the ideas and theories of art and culture central to this new British design movement.

Seminar: How and why did ‘complexity’, historicism and quotation manifest themselves in design and architecture in the 1970s and 1980s?

 

Week 7 Reading Week

 

Week 8 Modernism v. Postmodernism: Student Presentations

Student-led seminar presentations. Choose a case-study as a vehicle to explore the particular character of modernist or post-modernist approaches to design or architecture in the second half of the 20C.

 

Week 9 The City: selling place in a global market

This session will explore the rise of the city as a postmodern commodity, placing it within the context of globalization and the production of place. Issues of collective identity and symbolic capital will be addressed, through the study of Barcelona.

 

Week 10

 

Week 11 Study Visit: Droog Design

Visit to the exhibition of work by Droog Design at the Design Museum.

 

Week 12 Placing The Contemporary

Issues and New Directions in Design in the 21st century.  Exploring the key debates and issues that concern contemporary design and designers.

 

 

Bibliography (* Marks essential reading, ** Marks key texts)

 

Week 2

* H. Aldersey-Williams, World design: nationalism and globalism in design, New York: Rizzoli, 1992, pp 8-17

B. Anderson, Imagined Communities, London: Verso, 1991

* J. Aynsley, Nationalism and Internationalism, Design in the 20th century, London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1993

** M. Featherstone, ‘Global Culture- Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity’, in Theory, Culture & Society, London: Sage Publications, 1990

F. Huygen, British Design- Image & Identity, London: Thames and Hudson, 1989

** E. Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger, The Invention of tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984

M. Leonard, Britain™, London: Demos, 1997

L. Skov, ‘Fashion Trends, Japonisme and Postmodernism, Or 'What is so Japanese about Comme des Garçons?’', in Theory, Culture & Society 13, no. 3,1996, pp 129-151

 

Week 3

** Z. Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge: Polity, 1989

** M. Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, New York: Penguin, 1988

R. Williams, The Politics of Modernism, London: Verso, 1996

 

Week 4

T. Benton, 'From the Arengario to the Lictor's Axe: Memories of Italian Fascism', in Material Memories: Design and Evocation, edited by M. Kwint, C. Breward & J. Aynsley, Oxford: Berg, 1999

* P. Sparke, '"A Home for Everybody?": Design, Ideology and the Culture of the Home in Italy, 1945-1972', in Modernism in Design, edited by P. Greenhalgh, London: Reaktion Books, 1990

** P. Sparke, Italian Design- 1870 to the Present, London: Thames & Hudson, 1988

 

Week 5

K. Frampton, 'Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance', in The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture, edited by H. Foster, Washington: Bay Press, 1995

** D. Harvey, The condition of postmodernity: an enquiry into the origins of cultural change, Cambridge, Mass: Basil Blackwell, 1990

A. Huyssen, After the Great Divide- Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1986

C. Jencks, What is Post-Modernism?, London: Academy Editions, 1996

* D. Scott Brown, R. Venturi & S. Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas: the forgotten symbolism of architectural form, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1993

** R. Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, The Museum of Modern Art Papers on Architecture, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1988

 

Week 9

G. Kearns & C. Philo, 'Culture, History, Capital: A Critical Introduction to the Selling of Places', in Selling Places: The City as Cultural Capital, Past and Present, London: Pergamon, 1993

**H. Lefebvre, The Production of Space, Oxford: Blackwell, 1998

L. Mumford,  'What Is a City?', in The City Reader, New York: Routledge, 1996

R. Rogers, Cities For A Small Planet, London: Faber & Faber, 1997

* J. Urry, Consuming places, London: Routledge, 1995. Part III: Consumption, Place and Identity

J. Urry, The tourist gaze: leisure and travel in contemporary societies, London: Sage Publications, 1990

** S. Zukin, The Cultures of Cities, Oxford: Blackwell, 1996

* ———. 'How To Create A Culture Capital', in Century City - Art & Culture in the Modern Metropolis, edited by Iwona Blazwick, London: Tate, 2001

 

 

General design resources

Design Dictionaries and Related Sources

There are very many dictionaries and other reference resources relevant to the study of contemporary design and design history. Those listed below are available from the LRC or are web-based resources linked from the Library web pages. The titles listed relate to general design and designers, to product and interior design and in a few instances to graphic design, textiles and fashion. For further subjects consult the Library Catalogue using Web OPAC at http://opac.kingston.ac.uk/ }http://opac.kingston.ac.uk/; use bibliographic guides such as Design and Applied Arts Index available from the Library web pages.

 

Some General Reference Sources

Design and Applied Arts Index

http://www.daai.co.uk/splash.php"}http://www.daai.co.uk/splash.php

One of the best bibliographic sources for design related subjects. A starting point for many new design names providing references to journal and magazine articles about designers and design companies not as yet included in design dictionaries. A password is available from the Library for off campus access.

 

X-Refer Plus

http://www.xreferplus.com/search.jsp"}http://www.xreferplus.com/search.jsp_

Online dictionaries and encyclopedias across all subject areas Athens Password required for off campus access. This electronic reference source includes the full searchable text of several of the design dictionaries listed below together with many other online dictionaries across all subject areas. It can be used from a PC in the Library or from off campus using any PC with an internet connection.

 

Walford's guide to reference material. Vol.3: Generalia, language and literature, the arts. 6th (rev) ed. London: Library Association Publishing, 1995.

ISBN 1856041379

Quick reference 011.02/WAL

 

General Design and Designers

M. Byars, The design encyclopedia, London: Laurence King,1994

Quick reference 745.4003/BYE

 

A.J. Coulson, A bibliography of design in Britain, 1851-1970, London : Design Council, 1979

ISBN 0850720915

Quick reference 745.40016/COU

 

P. Dormer, The illustrated dictionary of twentieth century designers, London: Headline, 1991 ISBN 0747202680

Quick reference 745.44/ILL

 

D.L. Ehresmann, Applied and decorative arts: a bibliographic guide, 2nd ed, Englewood, Colo. :Libraries Unlimited,1993

Quick reference 745.016/EHR

 

M.J. Horn, and C. Losecaat, Design handbook : the bible of Britain's design industry, London: British Design Initiative, 2001

ISBN 095367441x

Quick reference 745.44/HOR

 

L. King, The International design yearbook. London, 2002

ISBN 1856692981

Annual

Quick reference 745.44/INT

Earlier volumes at 745.44/INT

 

J. Jagger & R. Towe, Designers international index, London: Bowker-Saur, 3rd vol, 1991

Quick reference 745.4/DES

 

S. Jervis, The Penguin dictionary of design and designers, Harmondsworth: Penguin,1984

Quick reference 745.4003/JER

 

G. Julier, The Thames and Hudson encyclopedia of 20th century design and designers, London: Thames and Hudson, 1993

(World of art library)

 

P. Lewis & G. Darley - Dictionary of ornament. London: Macmillan, 1986

ISBN 0333405641

Quick reference 745.3/LEW

 

S. Pendergast, Contemporary designers, 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1996

1558621849

Quick reference 745.44/PEN

 

J.F. Pile, Dictionary of 20th-century design, New York; Oxford: Facts on File, 1990

ISBN 0816018111

Quick reference 745.44/PIL

 

P. Sparke, Design directory, Great Britain, London: Pavilion, 2001

ISBN 1862053308

Quick reference 745.44042/SPA

 

Graphic Design

T. Dalley, The Complete guide to illustration and desig techniques and materials, Oxford: Phaidon,1980

Quick reference 741.60028/DAL

 

A. & I. Livingston, The Thames and Hudson encyclopaedia of graphic design and designers, London: Thames & Hudson, 1992

ISBN 0500202591

Quick reference 659.1323025/LIV

Also available online from X-Refer Plus

 

P.B. Mintz, Dictionary of graphic arts terms: a communication tool for people who buy type and printing, New York; London: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981

ISBN 0442267118

Quick reference 686.2/MIN

 

M. Heller, Who's who in graphic design : profiles of more than 300 leading graphic designers from 46 countries, Zurich: Benteli-Werd Verlags, c1994

Quick reference 659.1323025/WHO

 

Architecture and Interiors

J. Banham, Encyclopedia of interior design, London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997

ISBN 1884964192

Quick reference 747.03/BAN

 

J. Fleming, The Penguin dictionary of architecture and landscape architecture, 5th ed,

Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999

ISBN 014051323x

Quick reference 720.3/FLE

 

V. Magnano-Lampugnani, The Thames and Hudson encyclopaedia of 20th century architecture, London: Thames and Hudson, 1986

0500234256

Quick reference 724.903/MAG

Also available from X-Refer Plus

 

Fashion and Textiles

R. Martin, Contemporary fashion, New York; London: St. James Press, 1995 (Contemporary arts series)

ISBN 1558621733

Quick reference 687.1014/MAR

 

G. O'Hara, The encyclopaedia of fashion : from 1840 to the 1980s, London : Thames and Hudson, 1986

0500013853

Quick reference 687.03/OHA

Also available from X-Refer Plus

 

A. Stegemeyer, Who's who in fashion, New York: Fairchild Publications, c1996 ISBN1563670402

Quick reference 687.1014/STE