The State of Design History, Part I: Mapping the Field

Abstract

1) The most obvious example of history's relation to practice is in architecture. The confusion surrounding the demise of Modernism and the rise of varieties of Post-Modernism have all been accompanied by feverish historical writing. Special issues of Architectural Design illustrate the current use of history. 2) Letter from Victor Margolin to the author setting out the brief for this article, July 1983. Introduction The history of design as one aspect of a more general rise in the study and practice of design is an important and rapidly developing area of design studies. In Britain, it has a firm institutional base in the highly developed system of degree and subdegree design education. In the United States, acknowledgement of the important pedagogic role of design history and the enthusiam of some studio design instructors is leading to similar developments, despite some initial recognition problems from bodies such as the College Art Association.