Designing Worlds: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization(24 Making Sense of History)

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.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Introduction: National Design Histories in an Age of Globalization Grace-Lees-Maffei and Kjetil Fallan Chapter 1. Designs on/in Africa Dipti Bhagat Chapter 2. Does Southern African Design History Exist? Deirdre Pretorius Chapter 3. Designing The South African Nation: From Nature To Culture Jacques Lange and Jeanne van Eeden Chapter 4. Resisting Global Homogeneity but Craving Global Markets: Kiwiana and Contemporary Design Practice in New Zealand Claudia Bell Chapter 5. Creativity within a Geographical-National Framework: From Modern Japanese Design to Pevsner’s Art Geography Ariyuki Kondo Chapter 6. Imagining the Indian Nation: The Design of Gandhi’s Dandi March and Nehru’s Republic Day Parade Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan Chapter 7. Troubled Geography: Imagining Lebanon in 1960s Tourist Promotion Zeina Maasri Chapter 8. Czech Glass or Bohemian Crystal? The Nationality of Design in the Czech Context Marta Filipová Chapter 9. The Myth of Danish Design and the Implicit Claims of Labels Stina Teilmann-Lock Chapter 10. Altering a Homogenized Heritage: Articulating Heterogeneous Material Cultures in Norway and Sweden Kjetil Fallan and Christina Zetterlund Chapter 11. A Special Relationship: The UK-US Transatlantic Domestic Dialogue Grace Lees-Maffei Chapter 12. Surveying the Borders: Authenticity in Mexican-American Food Packaging, Imagery and Architecture Nicolas P. Maffei Chapter 13. An Empire of One’s Own: Individualism and Domestic Built Form in 21st Century Jamaica Davinia Gregory Chapter 14. The Quest for Modernity: A Global/National Approach to a History of Design in Latin America Patricia Lara-Betancourt Chapter 15. Of Coffee, Nature and Exclusion: Designing Brazilian National Identity at International Exhibitions 1867 & 1904 Livia Rezende Index

About the Author :
Kjetil Fallan is Professor of Design History at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Designing Modern Norway: A History of Design Discourse and Design History: Understanding Theory and Method, editor of Scandinavian Design: Alternative Histories, and co-editor, with Grace Lees-Maffei, of Made in Italy: Rethinking a Century of Italian Design.

Review :
“This highly interesting volume provides varied methodological approaches and contributions to new national design histories that will undoubtedly enhance research in global design studies.” • National Identities “…the contributions are valuable beyond question and the cases studied original. This book will therefore be a referent for future studies on national design histories.” • Journal of Design History “This is a lively, spirited, and imaginative volume whose editors have assembled an impressive range of contributions. It is likely to be embraced not just within design history but also by scholars working in comparative history, art history, spatial theory, and material culture.” • Peter McNeil, University of Technology, Sydney