Lara Allison

This lecture course grounds students in basic critical themes in the history of design and design objects. Through lectures, demonstrations, and readings students study the material and discursive conditions of the history of design. Through lecture, readings, discussions, and museum visits, the class highlights a broad range of objects and formats in graphic design, object design, fashion design, and architectural design. Course works includes object analysis assignments, short research paper, and mid-term and final exams.

The course examines the history of designed objects and their place in a variety of material contexts. Even within our increasingly digitalized existences today, physical objects continue to play a key role in determining our experiences as humans. Our objects are designed by us and at the same time design us by extending the possibilities of what it means to be human and exist in a world. The designed object will be considered under the conditions of global exchange, in relation to questions of health, disease, and the body, as well as urbanism. We will also reflect on the designed object through the lenses of craftsmanship, technology, materials, activism, identity, and cultural heritage. Course participants will read texts relevant to the theoretical and historical aspects of the designed object and its representations, contribute to weekly discussions, conduct object-based analyses, and engage in a series of team and individually written critical writing assignments.

This course surveys decorative and industrial arts and design in Europe and America from 1920 to 1949, in cities including Paris, London, Berlin, Munich, Prague, Budapest, Milan, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Styles ranging from Art Deco to Art Moderne are covered, with special focus on the impact of the Bauhaus and Cranbrook, as well as on the contributions of Mies van der Rohe, Gropius, Saarinen, Wright, and Loewy, et al. Textiles, furniture, ceramics, glass, interiors, and automobiles are among the topics discussed.

This lecture course surveys design history, from 1750 to the present day. It introduces the ideas that have driven design in the modern era. Critical and interdisciplinary investigations of artifacts, built environments, and texts throughout the course seek to establish essential links between designers, objects, and users in the history and culture industry of design. Representative texts of design criticism, design theory, and design history supplement lectures, and are starting points for material analysis. The course emphasizes creative ways of probing material sources to introduce the relationship between design history and current design practices. Students spend one hour participating in discussion labs that investigate and elaborate on use and function in relation to an object introduced by a student in the group. Students Are asked to develop 'scripts' for interpreting meaning from design examples discussed in group. In addition to in class assignments, students are required to write a graduate level research paper.