Designing Modern Germany
Jeremy Aynsley
German design and architecture reflects the country’s rich and fraught political history in its structure and aesthetic philosophy. Jeremy Aynsley now offers an in-depth study of this relationship between German history and design since 1870 and the complex principles underlying it.
Designing Modern Germany reveals how German attitudes toward national identity, modernity and technology are crucial to understanding German design. Aynsley traces the historical development of German design, beginning in the 1870s with the first dedicated Arts and Crafts schools and stretching through to the famous institutions of the Bauhaus and the Ulm Hochschule für Gestaltung. He analyses the works of leading figures such as Peter Behrens and Hannes Meyer, through to Ingo Maurer and Jil Sander, and many others in design specialties, including graphics, industrial products and furniture, fashion and architecture. He also offers the first consideration of the contrasting traditions of East and West Germany between 1945 and 1989. Whether examining the pre-First World War department store, the National Socialist fashion system or East Germany’s official design culture, German design significantly affected citizens’ daily lives.
An essential read for designers and scholars of German arts and history, Designing Modern Germany is a key text for understanding Germany’s major contribution to twentieth-century design.
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About Jeremy Aynsley
Reviews for Designing Modern Germany
Choice
Based on extensive research and a profound knowledge of German design history, this ambitious book covers the period between 1870 and 2005 . . . Jeremy Aynsley manages to focus on the main tendencies and thus makes this complex history accessible, especially for those who are not familiar with it. The research and the scope of this book are vast and inform the reader extremely well about all the relevant movements and debates of the period . . . All in all this is a much needed, excellently researched and well-documented book for various kinds of English-speaking readers, which will no doubt enhance the understanding of German culture and design.
Journal of Design History
Without a doubt, the book delivers a brilliant overview of the history of German design . . . The reader is impressed with Aynsleys capability to organize the complex material, and the book is simply a pleasure to read.
Technology and Culture
There are very few books that survey the complicated history of German design from the first stirrings of modernism in 1870 to the post-reunification Germany of today. More than a roll call of great designers, Aynsley provides a fully contextualised history with sections on design education, department stores and publishing, and throughout, a close examination of designs often uneasy relationship with politics and national identity.
ARLIS
An excellent summary of material from numerous sources with considerable new material in English about postwar design in East and West Germany.
Design Issues