Connecting biography to history of design

I would like to think that most designers would respond to the call for more social and environmental responsibility and that more clients from business, government, and social organisations would develop a greater understanding of how design can help them in socially positive ways. RK: Will design be the next driving force for social, economic, environmental and cultural development?

VM: Designers have the capacity to change the world because they have the expertise to design it. But the history of design has been one of skewed power relations where clients have had most of the power and designers have responded to their briefs rather than proposing their own projects. Of course, the problem is capital. Someone has to pay for design and that has been the biggest issue in the attempt to foster a more proactive role for designers.

Who will pay for the work? I have argued elsewhere that designers have to be much stronger advocates for what they believe should be designed and they have to work harder to persuade those with capital to invest in their projects.

Connecting biography to history of design

RK: How do we the design community get the message out to the broader community about the value of design and its potential to improve the human condition. VM: First the community has to agree on a message. Thus far, designers have been unable to forge a collective statement about what their profession stands for. This is a considerable undertaking but one worth attempting.

There have been numerous manifestos whose authors have argued for strong design positions but none of these have been embraced by an entire profession. It is also the case that designers are separated in different associations so that it would take an extraordinary action to have groups like Icograda, icsid, and IFI agree on a document that stated the purpose and ethics of design.

Such a document would not be easy to write because defining design's purpose while also taking into account how that purpose can be achieved is a complicated matter. RK: Do you think governments need to be developing formal design policies? VM: Design should be embedded in all aspects of public policy. The problem with design policies and design councils is that they isolate design from the rest of life and create the impression that by establishing a design council the question of design's contribution to society has been addressed.

RK: What are the best methods to deliver government design policy design centres, promotion agencies or other methods? VM: Design centers are fine for promoting trade and cultural ideas but they are limited in their ability to encourage design thinking across a broad range of social activities. More dialogue needs to occur between design associations and government agencies on the topic of how design can be part of lots of other activities.

RK: How do you see the importance of design history from the general public's perspective. VM: The history of design is actually central to the history of the world. The public will be attracted to it to the degree that it speaks to their experience. When it is written from a point of view where it seems more relevant to designers than to a wider audience, it is marginalised.

But people encounter design every day and design history has to make that evident by dealing with a broad range of objects, systems, and so forth and not just a few designer icons. Design history should include such topics as the history of prosthetics, can openers, weaponry, public signage, automated answering systems, and many other topics. But it rarely does.

RK: Do you see need for dedicated design museums to explain its historical contribution or should traditional museums have a greater focus on design. VM: Design museums are important but they have to do more than showcase iconic aesthetic objects as most museums do now. When Dianne Pilgrim was the director of the Cooper-Hewitt in New York, she added the title National Design Museum and tried to broaden the museum's mission by presenting design as part of everyday life.

Her first major exhibition was on maps. There is a great need for design museums to explain design to the public and make people aware of how design is part of their everyday life. The largest obstacle to this is that curators tend to showcase privileged objects and exhibit things that are not part of people's everyday experience. RK: How do you think design theory, design thinking and design history should be taught?

VM: Design history, theory, and criticism should be taught as integral parts of design practice. The same gap between reflection and practice often exists in design education as it does in professional circles. Those who teach design history and theory don't necessarily have a strong feel for practice and practitioners who teach history and theory are often not trained in those subjects.

There is a need to bring practitioners and researchers together to discuss issues of design education so that curricula can be more integrated then they now are. RK: In your book, 'The politics of the Artificial', you state that, "Design is too important to remain a fragmented subject of study as it is. VM: I mean that design is a comprehensive phenomenon that touches every aspect of life.

It needs to be viewed in the big picture in order to understand its significance. RK: Does your statement extend from the study of design to the professional practice and the promotion of design? Practitioners also need to understand just how integral design is to the conduct of life and what a responsibility they have as professionals.

They are shaping the world we live in and often creating its values through the technologies they introduce and projects they complete. RK: Should the design profession be represented and promoted as a unified voice? VM: I think there should be more discussion among the design associations about the aims and values of design professionals across the board.

VM: People come together in diverse fora. At the top of the pyramid are the international meetings of the design associations where summits can take place and pronouncements can be made. These can then ripple down to national, regional, and local design organisations. RK: What is the best forum to deliver a united design message? VM: Design associations should think more about what they can contribute to the work of other organisations.

I think designers and design organisations need to develop propositions, which they can offer to others who might act on them. Since then Icograda has evolved with the profession to reflect the multidisciplinary nature of communication design and the broader appreciation of design and design thinking. How do you think Icograda has responded to the changing nature of the profession and how do you think it should position itself going forward?

VM: Icograda has changed a lot since its founding but greater unity among the existing design associations would be helpful, especially when speaking to international bodies like the United Nations or even to individual governments. Historian Judith Tankard illuminates the life and works of landscape designer Beatrix Farrand in this biography. Raised in rural Kansas, Luckman studied architecture at the University of Illinois before falling into work as a soap salesman during the Great Depression.

With a keen eye toward merchandising and business psychology, Luckman was able to rise through the ranks of the Pepsodent company before becoming its president at age From there, Luckman went on to work as an architect, first with William L. Pereira, and then, as the head of Charles Luckman and Associates. Antonio is a Los Angeles-based writer, designer, and preservationist.

He completed the M. Louis in Antonio has written extensively She was amazing. And look at that gorgeous house on the cover - I think it's called Pergola House? That's the prototype building of the Anthropocene, IMO. I honestly got a lot out of Franz Schulze's biography of Mies van der Rohe. For those interested in someone who tried to eschew politics for all his life despite being steeped in it trying to court Nazis - failing - and then finding favor and success in America as Germany fell into fascist neoclassicism , this biography is very interesting.

Such an dynamic, important period of time if we want to learn lessons from politically agitated periods and their impact on architecture. Also the biography on Walter Gropius by Fiona McCarthy is a good companion, given the two protagonists' overlap. ALSO timely for Bauhaus I can't believe 35 years later I'm finally realizing the magical heh and quintessential '80s video for "Magic" by The Cars was filmed at a Paul Revere Williams project!

This video, and its setting, deeply influenced me as a kid. Lina Bo Bardi is one of my favorite architects i know almost nothing about. Looking forward to getting this one. Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site? This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.

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