Retrospective
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Retrospective This chapter can in no way substitute for a comprehensive history of design. Instead, it outlines the developments that have shaped the history of industrial design, briefly covering the products, companies, and designers that mark the significant events and their repercussions. Readers seeking greater depth and detail are encouraged to turn to the many standard works on the history of design. These include John Heskett (1980), Guy Julier (2000), Penny Sparke (1986), History of Industrial Design (1990/1991), Gert Selle (1978, 1987, 1994), John A. Walker (1992), Jonathan M. Woodham (1997), and Thomas Hauffe (2014). From the perspective of design theory, Walker’s contribution is especiallysignificant. He argues for a “disciplinary” development of design history that places the meaning of objects (semantics) front and center: “Designers can, there-
fore, be said to be engaged in ‘a discursive practice’.” Semiotics (↗ p. 83 ff) is particularly important here. Victor Margolin’s World History of Design (vols. 1 and 2: 2015; vol. 3: 2016), which spans an arc from the very beginnings of human history through to the present day, must also be mentioned: it is without doubt the ultimate work in the twenty-first century on the history of design.
The Beginnings of Design The origins of functionally optimized product design can be traced all the way back to classical antiquity. The writings of the Roman artist, architect, and military engineer Vitruvius (ca. 80–10 BC) are among the oldest surviving architectural documents. His comprehensive De architectura libri decem (Ten Books on Architecture) comprised the first handbook of planning and design. Here, Vitruvius describes the close relationship between theory and practice, saying that an architect has to be interested in art and science, as well as being versed