Introduction: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization (original) (raw)
Related papers
Designing Worlds: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization
2016
Kjetil Fallan, Grace Lees-Maffei, Eds, ‘Designing Worlds: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization’, (Oxford & New York: Berghahn Books, 2016), ISBN 1785331558. Designing Worlds: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization edited by Kjetil Fallan and Grace Lees-Maffei is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
“Beyond national design histories: Some reflections"
The nation has been a central feature in the construction of modern states, the so-called nation-states. The institution of the nation has enabled the unifcation of diverse populations, sometimes through force, and the development of a collective sense of national identity. 2 Negative aspects of this process have repeatedly been emphasized, but it would be unwise to ignore the respective positive aspects, such as the feelings of belonging and pride that accompany the formation of national entities. Following recent manifestations of globalization, certain analysts have declared the end of the nation and argued that it has become irrelevant; however, complex globalization processes have also ushered a renewed rise of nationalisms. 3 Instead of the predicted death of the nation-state, contemporary reality suggests that the idea of the nation remains strong: "[...] despite appearances to the contrary, [...] the nation persists as a pre-eminent constituent of identity and society at theoretical and popular levels." 4
Mobilising the Empirical: Three Challenges to National Histories of Design
The necessity of accounting for transnational flows in national histories of design is generally accepted in design scholarship. Equally acknowledged, however, is the lack of established frameworks. Based on the premise that the relevance of theoretical frameworks lies in the effects they enable, this panel advances from a re-engagement with the empirical. This allows us to reflect on how our research materials challenge assumed categories of ‘national’ and ‘design’ and suggest possibilities of co-producing alternative national design histories. Each paper in this panel tests the potentialities of one modality of empirical material—respectively, objects, subjects, and infrastructures—in rearticulations of national histories of design in times of globalization: Lightweight, Compact and Tropic-Proof: Dutch Design as Global Infrastructure by Joana Meroz Inquiries into national design often stop at the borders of the nation-state. By tracing the transnational infrastructures involved in the making of ‘Dutch Design’, this paper discusses Dutch Design as a global assemblage comprising diverse political agendas, technological innovations, global transport systems, and climatic circumstances. Shaping Belgian, European and International Design Policies: The Transnational Trajectory of the Belgian Policymaker Josine des Cressonnières (1925-1985) by Katarina Serulus When studying national design promotion, the nation-state pops up as a self-evident category that precedes all others. Instead, this paper examines Des Cressonnières’ transnational pursuits to account for the mutual shaping of national, supra-national and international policies. Immigrant Design: Citizenship and Practical Nationality by Javier Gimeno Martinez. National histories of design tend to be flexible in what designers or manufacturers to include, but less so concerning the artefacts. This paper explores an inclusive approach focused on the artefacts that shape a given national design landscape, regardless their authorship.
Real Imagined Communities: National Narratives and the Globalization of Design History
Design Issues, 2016
Contemporary design is global. Along with international developments in higher education, the influence of post-colonial theory, and intellectual endeavours like ‘world history’, design historians are now writing Global Design History (to use the title of a 2011 edited collection). While the nation state is no longer the only socio-cultural or political-economic unit forming our identities and experiences—if it ever were—this article examines the value of national frameworks in writing design history and asks whether moves to discard them are premature. Are national histories of design dependent upon outmoded generalisations and stereotypes? Or do they demonstrate cogent frameworks for the discussion of common socio-economic and cultural conditions and shared identities? Globalizing design history involves writing new histories of neglected regions and nations and revisionist histories informed by the findings and methods of new comparative and global histories, of celebrated indust...
Beyond the nation? Reflections on design history
Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, 2014
The concepts of the nation and national identity are analytical categories extensively used in design history. This paper highlights the complex and elusive nature of these concepts and suggests that their re-evaluation would be fruitful for the development of the design history discipline. In this respect, the idea of cosmopolitanism is proposed as as a key idea to be explored by design historians.
Design as Ideology: An Analysis of the Opposition of Global and Local in South Korean Design
The Design Journal, 2014
In Empire, their influential analysis of globalization, political theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri describe the present stage of modernity as characterized by the transition from imperialism based on the sovereignty of the nation-state to an emergent construct based on the supranational sovereignty of global capital. This new form of sovereignty they term Empire, and posit that the "declining sovereignty of nation-states and their increasing inability to regulate economic and cultural change is in fact one of the primary symptoms of the coming of Empire" 1 .
Navigating Design History with a More Culturally Calibrated Compass
Journal of New Zealand Art, Media and Design History, Backstory , 2017
It seems remiss that while New Zealand’s design prowess continues to impress globally, that the indigenous and cultural knowledge that has for centuries inspired and informed aesthetic languages worldwide has not been recognized for its contribution. Forgotten, or perhaps conveniently ignored, is the praise of both the New Zealand Māori and Pacific people’s use of nature’s harmonies to achieve beauty in aesthetics made in 1852 by education and aesthetic reformist, Owen Jones (1809 -1874) in his seminal and determinative work, The Grammar of Ornament. In order to reinstate Jones’ claim, this paper asserts it is critical that we revisit design’s history from a less Eurocentric perspective. This offers an opportunity to debunk the counter-claim that indigeneity was counter-productive to the development of modernity. By recalibrating design’s history with a more accurate and culturally orientated compass, the contributions made by indigenous knowledge to the endeavours of some of design history’s most iconic contributors becomes tangible. Having made these connections, this study will introduce Māori and Pasifika ideologies of time, space and connectivity to demonstrate a pathway forward in which this knowledge can be understood, acknowledged, respected and most importantly appropriately included within design’s histories, current practices and future endeavours.
Theories of History
This chapter critically explores the place of history as concept and practice within the field of design research, past and present. Design, today, refers to a spectrum of practices varying widely in medium, scale, and application. Alongside familiar forms such as architecture, fashion, interiors, graphic, product, industrial, textile, engineering, and systems design and urban planning, practices such as interaction design, service design, social design, and speculative critical design have emerged in the past decade, alongside new forms of technology, new interfaces, new economic and political landscapes, and new ideas about the roles that design can play in society and the economy. 1 In its expanded practice, design shapes, creates, and implements material and immaterial artefacts, not only the buildings, chairs, and garments familiar to us as "design" but public policy, corporate strategy, and social behavior. 2 On a more abstract level, design is both verb and noun, both action and the product of action. As such, design can be codified as a set of specific actions that, if undertaken, can lead to solutions for particular challenges. Design can also be framed-or reframed-as everyday practice. So the identity of "the designer" may be widened or "democratized" from a narrow professional sphere to include "Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones. " 3 Together, these reframings afford practices such as codesign and social design/ design for social innovation, in which designers work as facilitators and enablers, supporting communitiesincluding professional communities such as groups of civil servants or medical practitioners-to use design techniques to address a particular situation, 4 or in