Designing for Socialist Need: Industrial Design Practice in the German Democratic Republic

Author:   Katharina Pfützner (National College of Art and Design, Ireland)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9780367434571


Pages:   264
Publication Date:   28 November 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Designing for Socialist Need: Industrial Design Practice in the German Democratic Republic


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Full Product Details

Author:   Katharina Pfützner (National College of Art and Design, Ireland)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.453kg
ISBN:  

9780367434571


ISBN 10:   0367434571
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   28 November 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of figures Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction Part 1 – The fundamentals of GDR design 1 – Aims and priorities 2 – Institutional support Part 2 – Exemplary ideas and practices 3 – Designing for complex functionality 4 – Designing for appropriate product lifespans 5 – Designing systems Part 3 – Resistance encountered by GDR designers 6 – Cultural-political resistance 7 – Obstacles in the spheres of production and distribution Conclusion Index

Reviews

""Designing for Socialist Need allows us to peer behind the iron curtain in an engaging account of how the industrial design profession operated within the planned economy of the German Democratic Republic. At a time when imagining alternatives to the capitalist consumer market as the default setting for design has become more difficult, yet at the same time more pressing than ever, Pfützner’s study is a poignant reminder that the future once held different possibilities - and still does."" Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo, Norway - author of Designing Modern Norway By zooming in so closely Pfützner is able, somewhat counterintuitively, to articulate the wider relevance of the GDR beyond the dates of the country’s existence or the narrow sphere of East German or even Cold War culture. As a result Designing for Socialist Need is not a postmortem on a doomed experiment that survives only in flea markets, but a vital history of industrial design in the GDR that offers fresh insights on the design culture of our own era. Emily Pugh - Principal Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute


Designing for Socialist Need allows us to peer behind the iron curtain in an engaging account of how the industrial design profession operated within the planned economy of the German Democratic Republic. At a time when imagining alternatives to the capitalist consumer market as the default setting for design has become more difficult, yet at the same time more pressing than ever, Pfutzner's study is a poignant reminder that the future once held different possibilities - and still does. Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo, Norway - author of Designing Modern Norway By zooming in so closely Pfutzner is able, somewhat counterintuitively, to articulate the wider relevance of the GDR beyond the dates of the country's existence or the narrow sphere of East German or even Cold War culture. As a result Designing for Socialist Need is not a postmortem on a doomed experiment that survives only in flea markets, but a vital history of industrial design in the GDR that offers fresh insights on the design culture of our own era. Emily Pugh - Principal Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute


"""Designing for Socialist Need allows us to peer behind the iron curtain in an engaging account of how the industrial design profession operated within the planned economy of the German Democratic Republic. At a time when imagining alternatives to the capitalist consumer market as the default setting for design has become more difficult, yet at the same time more pressing than ever, Pfützner’s study is a poignant reminder that the future once held different possibilities - and still does."" Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo, Norway - author of Designing Modern Norway By zooming in so closely Pfützner is able, somewhat counterintuitively, to articulate the wider relevance of the GDR beyond the dates of the country’s existence or the narrow sphere of East German or even Cold War culture. As a result Designing for Socialist Need is not a postmortem on a doomed experiment that survives only in flea markets, but a vital history of industrial design in the GDR that offers fresh insights on the design culture of our own era. Emily Pugh - Principal Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute"


Author Information

Katharina Pfützner is Lecturer in Industrial Design at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, where she also contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the school’s Faculty of Visual Culture. Her primary interest is in socially responsible design. She has a background in design practice and a PhD in design history. Her research on design in the GDR has been presented in numerous conference papers and publications.

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