Lake Shore Drive Apartments

Sorry for the confusion guys. Here's my slide show. Hopefully it'll work this time.

Design in Context, Part A

Design in a way is an act of balance. Designers have to maintain a “balance between the permanent and the ephemeral, between nature and the consumer dominated culture” that we live in today(Raizman 363). This whole seesaw of balance believe it or not relies on us as designers to keep in check. One major thing that is throwing it off kilter is the over consumption of our society.
Our society has thrived on consumption throughout the past fifty years. We are a use and throw away society. It is mainly seen and studied in environmental awareness and the heath food industry. This is even seen through furniture sales. IKEA for example has had huge international success with its modern furniture designs. With consumption comes obsolescence, and with obsolescence also comes consumerism. In fact, “obsolescence remains the cornerstone of consumer-led design, involving the stimulation of desire through novelty on one hand and the effective management of production costs on the other”(Raizman 366).
Another driving force behind modern design is the means of miniaturizing technology. This is seen in all sorts of ways like cell phones and laptops. This can be a challenging aspect of design because so many constraints are placed on the designer which leads to a certain amount of conformity when it comes to miniaturization in electronic products(Raizman 372). In addition to this, graphic design has a huge impact on the modern designs of today. The fact that designs can be “soft” or easily changed in a digital format really makes it easy for designs to change with little effort. Finally some other influences are materials technology and craft.
If universal design is defined as “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible…”(Raizman 371) do you think that we are achieving this in our society as a whole? Also do you feel that this new technical society is straying too far away from the previous handmade society we used to live in? And what in your own life do you think as the largest effect on modern design today?

Postmodernity, Late Modernism, B

During this time we labeled as Post Modernism there were many political and economic changes as well as changes and advancements in design. "In present context of inclusiveness and relativity, notinos of reform, alienation, resistance and subversion have relinquished a measure of their power to define what has been a vital aspect of the history of modern design." (Raizman 354). Postmodernism is sometimes called post-industrialism or late capitalism, but all of these names refer to a culture where consumption is known as the 'common subtext, emerging first in the early years of postwar affluencein the United States and spreading to Europe and other developed nations." (Raizman 355). Some of the big names during this time that you might recognize are Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi ( who had a series of chairs manufactured by Knoll)and Neville Brody.



This time period was a time for expression and experimentation with shapes as well as materials and color. With these new ideas in mind new organizations started to emerge, creating companies that did more than your average designs. One of the major organizations that emereged was a company called Memphis. Memphis was made up of "industrial designers said to be "liberated" from their contracts with particular companies with freedom to pursue directions beyond the parameters of good design." (Raizman 355). They did everything from organizing group exhibitons in Milan to manufacturing furniture. The table in the picture above was designed by Ettore Sottsass Jr. produced by Memphis.
In this time of expression furniture design was not the only challenging aspect in postmodern culture. Behavior, dress and accessories associated with the punk movement were said to be aggressive, destructive, and uninhibited. This is were 'graffiti' began to become a real problem.

The postmoderism era had a huge affect on our culutre from political and economical issues as well as design and individual style. How do you feel about the push toward looking past average 'good' design? Do you think this was a step in the right direction? Also how do you feel about the epression of individualism with the newly found 'punk' style, changing not only they way people look at design but they way they express their own 'designs' through their dress and behavior?

Lake Shore Drive Apartments

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Union Station Power Point

Auditorium Building Power Point

Old Chicago Water Tower

The Charnley House Presentation

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dhg4t37z_8jpfcsxdk

Museum of Science and Industry

Postmodernity, Late Modernism, A

Post-Modernity is a mixture of many styles, thoughts, and concepts a time during the late 70’s through the 90’s.  As Raizman summarized it, “The term postmodernism is also often found in conjunction with others such as post-industrialism and late capitalism, all referring to a culture in which consumption is the common subtext, emerging first in the early years of postwar affluence in the United States and spreading to Europe and other developed nations.” One might wonder where modernism ends and postmodernism begins.  Well, there is a fine line between the two and with the mixture of so many concepts during this time it makes it hard to pin point the start.  According to Raizman, one group during this time had been very influential. The Memphis group comprised of Italian designers and architects who created a series of highly influential products in the 1980's. They disagreed with the conformist approach at the time and challenged the idea that products had to follow conventional shapes, colors, textures and patterns. The Memphis group was founded in 1981. One of the leading members of this group was Ettore Sottsass, Jr.  His furniture designs are very significant during this time.  The Memphis group also worked with the Formica Corporation to design furniture with their new material called ColorCore.  Other designers during this time also experimented with new materials and shapes. Some of those designers are, Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, and Frank Gehry.   According to the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: From the late 1970s through the '80s, many architects and designers, reacting against the dictates of modernism, looked to neoclassical forms and materials for inspiration. Visual references derived from art and architecture superseded functionalism. Overt historical references and decoration transformed architecture, furniture, tabletop accessories, and jewelry into objects of fantasy. Well-known architects Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, and others accepted commissions to design products for such diverse international companies as Knoll, Alessi, and Formica. Over a period of more than five years, beginning in the late 1970s, Robert Venturi designed his first furniture line. Knoll International initially asked for three seating types, to which Venturi added six more chairs, three tables, and a sofa. The collection included a variety of major historical furniture styles—Chippendale, Queen Anne, Empire, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Biedermeier, Gothic Revival, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. Frank Gehry is also well known for his work in deconstructivism that is also a connected concept to postmodernism.  Sparke also defines postmodernism as, “that single vision of modernity had been replaced by a notion of ‘postmodernity’, which was multivalent and complex, in a state of continual flux, and represented by a diverse and pluralistic material culture." 

What are some other forms that you recognize around campus and the state that were designed during this style? Do you feel that we were ready for a new style even though modernism was still a strong style? What to you is the biggest difference between the modernism style and post-modernism?  Also, Do you feel that post-modernism was a step in the right direction?