Design (History) and Heritage (Studies)

Abstract

This introduction makes the case for bringing design history and heritage studies together as timely and relevant to the current state of the art in each field. It provides contextual accounts of design history and parallel developments in heritage studies and critical heritage studies. It explains the structure for the book in six sections addressing design fields and introduces the chapter contributions and links between them. It offers alternative reading routes attentive to chronology and geography. Three core themes of the book are: interrogating conceptual models and definitions of heritage; examining the significance of intangible cultural heritage for the understanding of design past and present; and questioning structures of ownership, belonging and identity politics at the intersections of design and heritage. The limitations of this book are considered, as is the potential for future work in and between design history and heritage studies, to the benefit of both. Above all, Design and Heritage demonstrates that heritage is designed and design has a heritage. The chapters show how we can better understand heritage by considering the social, cultural and economic roles of design in producing heritage.