Reading Notes
Chapter 5 – pgs 158-173
Troublesome
Issues of Class and Style
Taste –
interpretation informed by experiences related to one’s social class, cultural
background, education, etc.
The public appetite for style
was fueled by the Industrial Revolution.
Appearance emerged as a
commodity that could be bought and sold
The book kinda rags on style
and fads, saying they separate form from substance. What’s wrong with
sentimenting about the past? A lot of the past is beautiful.
Modernists despised style
(ironic now?)
“form follows function” –
Louis Sullivan
Modernists are very
anti-ornamentation
Modernism – less is more
The problem is probably the
majority of people like decoration and ornamentation. Sure it’s primitive, but
it’s how we are; why fight it?
Modernists weren’t concerned
with beauty.
Modern design shifted from
social agendas to political agendas
After WWII, design in America was
all about style. We romanticized products and sold the American Dream.
Suburbanization. Commerce and
therefore advertising booms. (less about social and political agendas, all
about capitalism?). advertising becomes a profession (madmen).
Media and technology have a major
influence.
They imply the potential
upward mobility through consumption.
