Auto-Opium: A Social History of American Automobile Design

ISBN-13: 9780415105729 / Angielski / Miękka / 1994 / 288 str.

David Gartman

Opis

This is a comprehensive history of the profession and aesthetics of American automobile design. The text reveals how the appearance of vehicles became an integral part of the system of mass production and mass consumption forged in the struggles of US society. It traces the development of automobile design, from the first utilitarian cars around the turn of the century to the most modern of symbol-laden cultural icons. The author shows how the demand of working Americans for beautiful, stylish and constantly improving cars was a response to the deprivations of mass production. Combining a unique blend of business, social, and cultural history, Auto-Opium connects the social struggles of designers within firms and the marketplace struggles between auto firms.

Spis treści

List of Illustrations (21) Preface 1. The Aesthetics of Fordism 2. Early Development of the Automotive Form 3. Diverging Paths of Design: Mass and Class Production 4. The Struggle for Styling, 1: The Twenties and the Birth of Automobile Styling 5. The Struggle for Styling, 2: The Depression and the Decade of Streamlining 6. Fifties Fins and the Triumph of Fantastic Styling 7. The Rise and Fall of Auto Individuality Epilogue. Design in the Wake of Fordism Notes

O autorze

David Gartman is Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of South Alabama.