Lecture 1: Summary

 

Mass production and mass consumption were made possible by the development of new technologies, the introduction of large factories and new patterns in urban living. The 18th century brought theatres, pleasure gardens, and intellectual freedom. Luxuries like tea, tobacco, imported textiles and lace became available for the first time.

 

In December, 1791 Mr. Kendall of Charing Cross patented the washing machine. Imported cheeses, German sausages, French mustard, beauty products, books, magazines, and newspapers became available to large populations. Printed information on design became available.

 

By the 1750's it was possible to make a living publishing books of new designs. Thomas Johnson proved this. Thomas Chippendale opened shop across from slaughter's coffeehouse, a very famous establishment frequented by artists and intellectuals. In 1794 Chippendale published , The Gentleman and Cabinet makers Director. It went everywhere.

 

Inventions:
Spinning, then weaving, then calico printing machines became realities. Josiah Wedgwood introduced steam power into his factories and broke ceramic production into separate activities, thus creating the fundamental principle of the Industrial Revolution - the division of labor. It was a simple but profound change, which overturned the practice of individual workers controlling the complete process of production. This led to the assembly lines of Henry Ford in the early 20th century.

 

In the 19th century:

 

Scholarship: Darwin, Ruskin, a century of repression and intellectual

experimentation.

 

Progress: railways, photography, telegraph, cars, telephones, electricity, airplanes.

 

The industrial revolution, which started in the 18th century did not develop in a planned way, but rather gradually, almost randomly by trial and error and survival in the marketplace. The idea of standardization took hold in the 19th century.

 

People began to feel that not enough attention had been paid to design and that aesthetic standards were dropping. In 1835 the Select Committee on Arts and Manufactures was formed. They decided to invest in design education and trade exhibitions as a way of promoting design. In 1798, the French had already organized the 'Exposition de l'Industrie' and there were 11 more over the next 50 years.In 1899 the international exposition opened in Paris with the Eiffel Tower as its centerpiece. In 1876 there was an exhibition in Philadelphia and in 1901, a huge one in Turin, Italy.

 

The greatest of all however was the Great exposition of 1851. this is where the famous Crystal Palace was constructed by Joseph Paxton.

 

Popular design was large scale, confident and ornate. The critics felt the standards had fallen and that education was even more in order. An interesting thing that happened because of the Crystal Palace exhibition was the formation of the Museum of Manufactures, that later became the South Kensington Museum and eventually the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

They did start design schools but everyone argued over the syllabus and these reflected deep divisions in society. It seems the argument was over what style of ornament design should use. Owen Jones 'Grammar of ornament shows the obsession of the century with historicism (borrowing from the past). It was integral to design.The school of design believed that design should have a geometric basis. Islamic art became important because it used these principles.

 

In 1842 other voices began to be heard which said that plant structure and botany provided a rational way forward for design. The Ecole de Beaux Arts and the School of Design in Britan argued that nature was a laboratory, which should be investigated by scientific methods and then applied to design. They thought that simple design developed the hand and eye and manipulative skills needed for the modern industrial world.Frederick Froebel created building blocks for children. Think about Legos, which works this way. Even the Bauhaus reintroduced simple geometric exercises for the students.

 

A counter position saw these ideas as cold and rational and barbaric. They ignored religion, nature and the human spirit. A group of these reformers saw the Gothic style as a way forward and we saw the Gothic revival in the 1860's. Even in the 1840's there was a Gothic protest that was against the principles of industrial change and mechanization. Pugin, among others argued that the medieval past showed a level of achievement and simple beauty that the 19th century could not rival.

 

Ruskin despised the industrial world England had pioneered, reserving particular dislike for machine-made ornament. He defended the Gothic in his 'Seven Lamps of Architecture' and in 'The stones of Venice'. Actually, it wasn't the specific Gothic details of design that were championed, it was the spirit of the attitudes about vernacular form, truth to materials and the role of design in society. It's hard to understand that now, but it did provide the vitality of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

 

England, the first county to experience the industrial revolution, was the country that also developed an anti-industrial faction (Arts 7 Crafts movement). William Morris, a writer, socialist and design thinker led the way. He was wealthy and was able to have access to the Pre-Raphaelities as designers for his firm.

 

TRUTH TO MATERIALS.
Every material had its own value, the natural color of wood, and the glaze of a well-made pot. He researched naturalistic patterns from Elizabethan plasterwork to Islamic tiles. He saw himself as a revolutionary. He did however spend his life catering to the 'swinish luxury of the rich.'

 

He believed that beautiful design enriched the quality of life and that the designer had a moral responsibility in his or her work to the greater good. His ideas remain relevant despite his categorization for a long time as a dreamer. He did foster a flowering of design that left Britian as a world leader in design at the turn of the century.