Connoisseurship and Culture as a Design - Essay Example

Approaches to design Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 15th January, 2013. Introduction In the essay to be discussed, different designs have been created but to be specific, the discussion will have major emphasis on two designs being: Connoisseurship and culture as a design. A conclusion will thereby be given to make a summary of what has been discussed issues have been presented. Connoisseurship discusses on key aspects like expert knowledge and subjective product materials while culture as a design focuses on ethnicity and the value of the society (Fry 1988). Connoisseurship This design is taken for two particular reasons where it is said to be the most ancient way to present a design and ii is important in the explanation of modern capitalism in form of a design. This historical design is aesthetic where it can be said to be good or bad. One book that explains what connoisseurship is Stephens Bayley “In Good Shape-Style in Industrial Products1900-1960” where there is empirical evidence to the historical designs used. His book explains the history of architecture and design that gave birth to contemporary designs and helped in the creation of space and education attributed to historical designs. In his book is the explanation of materials that are the main objects used in designing and through the designs comes style and quality (Bayley1979). To make a qualitative interpretation of designs, the author states that good shape is an s a result of good style which in turn gives good designs as products in the society. This brings forth to an aesthetic value gotten from a combination of economic and social values. In his explanation of the history of culture and design, he stated that there were conditions that enhanced the birth of a specific history of designs and through its birth was the formation of space. Bayley in his book concentrates much on culture where and loses focus on his understanding on design and is challenged by other authors where in his argument of the history of design, he claims to appreciate modern architecture and design but on the other hand he relates the design with a historical aspect. Out of his explanation, three issues are derived where in his presentation of photographs is an image presented that give s an autonomous design which is seen to be a representation of a modern object. Secondly Bayley view of design shows a capitalist view of development in shaping industries. Third, gives a different opinion of the Morris dictum through the inclusion of designs that are not popular. Bayley acknowledges that the Chrysler Airflow of 1934 was unpopular and a commercial failure. In the above three issues, Baileys view of history can be criticised where he claims that in the 1900, there was no existence of product design. In the formation of product design, Factors that he should have considered in product design is the effects of machinofacture and the mass production development that impacts on the system of distribution. Bayley sees industrial designs to be as a product of timeless shapes and designs. In his description of timelessness, he describes it to be a shift of period I different societies through their appearances which give birth to an exposition of many diverse designs and products. The representation of different products is seen through different fields which are occasionally subject to diversity and which shift to social interactions in the society. In his view of a good design, Bayley sees a come up with an approach to re-modernise connoisseurship and tries to closely relate it to both cultural and economic factors. Design as a culture Design as culture is also another approach to researching history design where this design uses an anthropological approach which is a further explanation of manufactured material and the materials are sediments from a specific culture. Though this approach have been poorly explained in various texts of design, parts the author of “An Introduction to Design and Culture in the Twentieth Century”, describes culture as an approach to design as the ideas and values generated in the society that embraces the human understanding of what is around them(Sparke 1986). In the society there is the existence of differences ranging from gender and different tastes and that is what makes a unique design in the society. As he latter states, culture is a definition of design that indicates the creativity and interaction of useful objects and the social functions in the native appearance. There are however limitations that do not concur with culture being an appropriate approach to design as taking the example of human labour, it does not clearly define that there is the existence of a cultural state. Also a design cannot be said to be a creative act as actions done by people in the society can either be creative or non creative. Through the use of social function of useful objects, there can be determination of a design though at times it cannot be used as a support to approaches of design. Marshal in his book."All that is Solid Melts into Air", stipulates modernisation to be to be the key concept to design. In his explanation to modernist culture, he says that in the modern world, there has to be formation of modern objects as it is the bridge towards making a home in a complex world of many cultures (Berman 1988). He uses the external world to explain the urban space which is experienced by a social context of culture and economy and through these two features there is a designed environment consisting of both internal and external space. In a cultural approach, Berman Marshall seeks to get an understanding of what design is attributable to cultural processes and which at the same time face the world. In answering the question, Berman views the designed world to be an exposure of power which has the ability to immobilise future action. Two other authors take a different perspective on culture as an approach to design as Stuart in his book" Captain of consciousness", and W. Hamish Fraser in his book "The Mass Market 1850-1914", state that the theories formulated by Theodor and Mac on cultural industries show the features of modern markets where there is a changing relation in the way consumption is developed through the adverts in the media and the states represented (Fraser 1982). Through this there is the explanation of different patterns of culture in different societal designs. Two other authors Ronald and Jeffry see consumption to be as a result of a design where through different design practices is the development of different industries and different approaches in advertising. To further explain their view of culture as a way of design, they studied the advertising approach in the US for a period of 1920 to 1940 where they found out there was an improvement in their advertising design which was a as result of expansion of modernity. Jeffery in his explanation carried out an investigation of the industrial designs in the 1930 where he concluded that there was a great relationship between the designs and different economic situations in the country (Ewen 1976). In their explanation of culture and design, it has been found that design is closely related to design which in turn relate to the cultural form people take. It is through consumption that different markets get an experience of a cultural sphere which now makes culture to be viewed as a commodity. Through culture being a commodity, it becomes a material to different societies on the designs to be developed. Conclusion To make a conclusion of the above discussion on designs, it has been noted that Connoisseurship design is aesthetic where it can be said to be good or bad. One book has given an explanation on what connoisseurship is where Stephens Bayley “In Good Shape-Style in Industrial Products1900-1960”states that there is empirical evidence to the historical designs used. His book explains the history of architecture and design that have given birth to contemporary designs and have helped in the creation of space in historical designs. In his book, there has been an explanation of materials that are the main objects used in designing and through the designs; there has been creation of style and quality. Also a design cannot be said to be a creative act as actions done by people in the society can either be creative or non creative. Through the use of social function of useful objects, there can be determination of a design though at times it cannot be used as a support to approaches of design. Marshal in his book."All that is Solid Melts into Air", stipulates modernisation to be to be the key concept to design. In his explanation to modernist culture, he says that in the modern world, there has to be formation of modern objects as it is the bridge towards making a home in a complex world of many cultures. In a cultural approach, Berman Marshall seeks to get an understanding of what design is attributable to cultural processes and which at the same time face the world (Protzen et al 2010). With these two designs, there is a clear understanding of design and its history. References Bayley, S 1979, In Good Shape: Style in Industrial Products, 1900 to 1960, Sydney: Design Council. Berman, M 1988, All That Is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity, New York: Penguin Books. Ewen, S 1976, Captains of Consciousness, New York: Mc-Graw-Hill. Fraser, WH 1982, The Coming of the Mass Market, 1850-1914, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Protzen, Jean-Pierre; Harris, David J 2010, The Universe of Design: Horst Rittel's Theories of Design and Planning, London: Routledge. Sparke, P 1986, An Introduction to Design and Culture in the Twentieth Century, London: Routledge. Fry, T 1988, Approaches to the historical study of design, electronic source Read More