The course aims to provide students with an insight into the historical conditions that were responsible for the emergence of industrial design as a profession. Moreover, it will introduce students with the major ideas, theories and arguments that have figured prominently in efforts to define the role of industrial design in modern societies, economies and the lives of individuals. Another objective is to help students develop a broader vision of design as an activity that takes place at the point of intersection between different spheres such as arts, crafts and industry, creativity and commerce, style and utility, material artefacts and human desires, ideology and utopia, production and consumption throughout history. Finally it aims to provide students with skills of inductive reasoning to connect an individual product of design to the historical context of its emergence, use and valuation.
Upon the conclusion of this course, students will be able to;
1. Identify and explain the historical circumstances that gave rise to the emergence of industrial design as a profession,
2. Compare and contrast craft and design with respect to their processes of production and aesthetic characteristics,
3. Summarize major aesthetic and philosophical ideas and theories that were put forward to specify standards and missions for industrial design throughout the history of modernity,
4. Illustrate the roles and contributions of different stakeholders and professions in giving shape to the activity of industrial design throughout history,
5. Decode visual and material clues on a designed product to place it in an appropriate historical context.
6. Extrapolate from the historical evolution of design movements into the social and cultural consequences of contemporary design trends,
7. Distinguish between different styles and periods in the history of industrial design.
| Workload | Hrs |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 42 |
| Course Readings | 30 |
| Hands-on Work | 14 |
| Report on a Topic | 15 |
| Poster Presentation | 24 |