Design History

Hey guys,

Another week, another homework. This time we had to borrow 2 books from The library and read how they explain what design history is and after we have to compare them.

,,Design History and The History of Design'' by John A. Walker

Design history, it it proposed, shall be the name of a comparatively new intellectual discipline, the purpose of which is to explain design as a social and historical phenomenon. It follows that the expression 'the history of design' refers to the object of study of the discipline design history. Design history has close links with other disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology and sociology.

In Britain the Design History society was established in 1977 even though, of course, histories of design were being written long before that date. Once organization exists, the trapping of an academic discipline soon follow. Although the phrase 'the history of design' implies that there is a single, homogeneous object of study, in practice design history never supplies us with single, complete, homogeneous account upon which we can all agree. There are always multiple histories, various histories od design. These histories are the output, the product of the discipline design history.

Notes and References

Extracted from Walker, J. A., Design History and The History of Design, London: Pluto Press 1989.

,,The Design History Reader'' by Grace Lees-Maffei and Rebecca Houze

What is Design history and what should it be? These are the questions that every conscientious design historian should constantly pose, and many will acknowledge that the answers to each are not the same. The design Hisotry Reader empolys inclusive definitions of design and of design history, which is a discipline in interested in all aspects of designed objets and images. To study design and it histories is to study processes of thinking, problem solving, drawing, talkind, consulting and responding to range of practical and aesthetic constraints to create the most appropriate solution(s) under the given circumstances. Design history seeks to understand design in historical context, as conditioned by, and bearing evidence of, the time and place in which it was undertaken and produced.

Extracted from Grace Lees-Maffei and Rebecca Houze , The design History Reader, Oxford, Berg 2010.