DESIGN/ HISTORY/ REVOLUTION: How Design Has Changed the World
Can design drive a revolution?
On April 27 and 28, writers, researchers and critics from around the world will gather at The New School to consider this question. DESIGN/HISTORY/REVOLUTION, an interdisciplinary conference exploring how design has shaped cultural, political, and scientific upheaval. will welcome an international cohort of scholars in design, history, politics and art.
“This conference represents The New School at its interdisciplinary and interdivisional best,, said Laura Auricchio, chair of Humanities at The New School for Public Engagement and associate professor of Art History at Parsons The New School for Design. Colleagues from Lang, Parsons, NSSR, NSPE, and the university-wide Global Studies program will pool our resources and expertise to examine the question of how design has changed the world.”
The conference, which also celebrates the launch of a new Master of Arts program in design studies at Parsons The New School for Design, will feature a keynote address by Barry Bergdoll, Philip Johnson chief curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art, and Professor of Architectural History, Columbia University. Bergdoll will examine the historiography of design, particularly in relation to its influence on social and political movements.
In addition, more 30 scholars from the world’s leading universities will present research on the historical intersections of design and social change. On April 27th, the conference will open with panels on Design and Public Spaces and Revolutions In/And Architecture. The following day will feature panels on Designing Nations and Empires, Designing the Russian Revolution and Soviet History, Design and Identities, and Designing for the Body and the Senses.
The free conference will be held at the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 66 Fifth Avenue. For a complete program schedule as well as speakers’ bios, and abstracts, visit http://designhistoryrevolution.wordpress.com/.