Designing Worlds : National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization
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Author
Fallan, Kjetil
Lees-Maffei, Grace
History
School of Humanities
School of Creative Arts
Art and Design
Theorising Visual Art and Design
Attention
2299/22650
Abstract
From consumer products to architecture to advertising to digital technology, design is an undeniably global phenomenon. Yet despite their professed transnational perspective, historical studies of design have all too often succumbed to a bias toward Western, industrialized nations. This diverse but rigorously curated collection recalibrates our understanding of design history, reassessing regional and national cultures while situating them within an international context. Here, contributors from five continents offer nuanced studies that range from South Africa to the Czech Republic, all the while sensitive to the complexities of local variation and the role of nation-states in identity construction.