Design and Post modernity,1940 to the Present

Barbara Van Stigt, Maria Eugenia Errobidarte, Olivia Llagostera

TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGNA new Alliance

The Materials of Abundance

The Materials of Abundance After World War II

- Consumer demand and technological change made possible thenew understanding of material culture

Mass production adapted to consumer needs and tastes

Large number of goods at low prices Many options

E.g: There was accessibility

-An era in need of novelty

- Technology + Design = NewMaterials in order to satisfyconsumers

The Materials of Abundance After World War II

- Industrial expansion in Western world

-This period distinguished due to the growth of Americancompanies which began to take over Europe.

-General Motors

- DuPont

- General Electric

The Materials of Abundance Tradition to Modernity

- As a repercussion of this, manyindustries as Chrysler, Ford,Tupperware Co. followed thecorporation’s strategy.

- What all of these multinationals didwas:

- Standardize mass production- Be consumer orientated

- DuPont manufactured synthetic fabrics: Dacron, Orlon andNylon

The Materials of Abundance Tradition to Modernity

- Became extremely design-oriented, providing the public with alarge level of choice.

- This was possible because many of them provided their services tothe military, giving them a stable financial status

- From 1945-1950 there was a time of economic firmness.

The Materials of Abundance Europe and America

-America helped Europe resurrect during post-war by providingthem with funds thanks to the Marshall Plan.

- America was pioneer in mass-production, as many companiesfollowed Henry Ford’s and Alfred J. Sloans steps.

- This method got to Europe later on and countries began toinclude mass manufacturing in companies

E.g: Italy Fiat and Olivetti

Holland Phillips

Germany AEG

-General Electric and Westinghouse Moved to Europe in orderto have the option to manufacture locally.

The Materials of Abundance 50s and 60s

-This new form of design was blending art skills with technology andfocusing on design as the major factor. Giving the word art anadditional name or term, design.

- This supplementary description of the word art was seen commonlyin Spain and Japan.

The Materials of Abundance 50s and 60s

-Aimed to the American market, the main aim ofthis mean was add to design an “added value”.As in the case of Haute Couture in France or

Italy’s ceramics

-They achieved to fill the missing gap in America, which wasproviding consumers with a “luxury” products, as in the case of Italy’scars. America became their number one customers, providing manyEuropean countries with the possibility to design high-quality andcultural movements and design.

- Europe provided America with the sophistication of technology

The Materials of Abundance New Decade

-Europe established in their own market, looking less towardsAmerican cities

-Emergence of new materials (plastics, metal, wood)

E.g: Charles Eames

- Moulding furniture was easily mass produced it became verycommon among schools and other public areas

-PVC, latex… common especially in Italy - interested to work withregarding design

- Famous architects (Vico Magistretti, Marco Zanuso, Joe Colombo)used “non-natural” materials.

- Used for all types of products

The Materials of Abundance New Decade

-Designers which were against design movement began working withsoft plastics in order to create new ideas of flexibility

- As soon as plastics hit the mass market, everyone could afford newmodern luxuries as the prices of the products were so low.

E.g: Scandinavia “stainless steel became the new Silver”

-Glass turned into a new technology as soon as oven-to-tableware glass came out.

- Attractive products to persuade housewives

The Materials of Abundance Today

-Zara (Fashion)

- McDonalds (Food)

- Frenadol (Medicine)

- Louis Vuitton (Luxury Fashion)

- L’Oreal (Beauty Products)

TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

Technology and Lifestyles.

A New Alliance

Technology and Lifestyles

“The emphasis through the 1970s, 80s and 90s on consumptionand consumerism tended to eclipse the important relationshipthat design continued to have with the worlds of production andtechnological innovation.”

Technology and Lifestyles 1970-Impact of high technology Japanese consumers on Westernmarkets.

- Concentration on the concept of lifestyle (hi-fi equipment)

- Stereotypical gendering (silver/black phone)

- Looks + multiple functionalities

-Stopwatch + alarm clock

Technology and Lifestyles 1970

- Aesthetic language born = High-Tech aesthetics

- Technology became part of their lifestyle

-Electronic goods and architectural constructions

Technology and Lifestyles 1980

-Machine aesthetic “LateModernism”stylistic option in aestheticfree of all that was Postmodernism

- New technological gadgets (Laptop,walkman, minidisk, digital camera, mobilephone)

-Technological extensions of the body WALKMAN

New behaviour patterns

Technology and Lifestyles 1980

- Shift in conventional boundaries between work leisure, private andpublic sphere.

- Technology leads designers

- Transformed nature of images, consumer goods and services that itbrought with the reach of consumerism

E.g: Apple in the 80s started to be user friendly mixing technology and design

-Showed that feel and look of object is just as important as theperformance.

- Search for novelty

Technology and Lifestyles End of 20th Century

- “Shift away from Fordist mass productionto ‘flexible mass production’, reinforced theimportance of design in insuring productsdiversity and the niche marketing that flowsfrom it.”

-Importance of diversity in relation to massproduction

- New manufacturing more diversity of goodsavailable

E.g: SWATCH

Technology and Lifestyles End of 20th Century

- “While technological advances affected the way in which thedesign profession redefined itself and the method of manufacturethat suited changing global consumption patterns, also had culturalramifications which influence the way in which design was perceivedby society at large.”

-Start to adapt:

- Female designers: different approach to automobiles

E.g: Exterior more comfort / functionality (drink holder in Renault Scenic)

Technology and Lifestyles Mid 20th Century

-Designers started to play around and mix materials which werediscovered in early 20th Century, and therefore created newadvances

- Big gap in knowledge between makers and users providingopportunity for designers

- Consumers had no idea what technological advanced products areactually made of

- Smart materials discussing whether or not to use for monitoringhealth and helping disabled (1990)

Technology and Lifestyles Mid 20th Century

- New materials made designers find new visual expressions for thematerials = level of aesthetics freedom which was unavailable withinmodernism (concrete, steel, glass)

- Golden rule of modernism = “Forms follows function” lost itsrelevance

- Time for new opportunity

- Designers had to start creating products depending more onculture than technology.

Technology and Lifestyles Mid 20th Century

- New simplicity started using old materials again

E.g: Aluminium - Audi TT (1999)

“While one aspect of materials research focused on thefunctionalities of new innovations - designers also set out to exploittheir aesthetic and symbolic potential.”

Importance of consumers to understand and to be interested inworld of materials

- Technology becoming culture

Technology and Lifestyles 21st Century

Technology moving faster and designers are in constant process ofinnovations trying to find products that can be meaningful to their

consumers.

CONCLUSION

Today, could you imagine living without your Blackberry? Laptop?Ipod? TV? Water boiler? Toaster? Microwave and all other thingsused daily without even realising how technologically advanced

our lives are.

Mass production has become to a necessity in life today, due tothe fast turn over businesses are willing to make.

Fast-moving consumer goods have become more than necessaryin today’s life.

Thank You