The Politics of Furniture: Identity, Diplomacy and Persuasion in Post-War Interiors

ISBN-13: 9781472453556 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 214 str.

Fredie Flore; Cammie McAtee

Opis

In many different parts of the world modern furniture elements have served as material expressions of power in the post-war era. They were often meant to express an international and in some respects apolitical modern language, but when placed in a sensitive setting or a meaningful architectural context, they were highly capable of negotiating or manipulating ideological messages. The agency of modern furniture was often less overt than that of political slogans or statements, but as the essays in this book reveal, it had the potential of becoming a persuasive and malleable ally in very diverse politically charged arenas, including embassies, governmental ministries, showrooms, exhibitions, design schools, libraries, museums and even prisons. This collection of essays examines the consolidating as well as the disrupting force of modern furniture in the global context between 1945 and the mid-1970s. The volume shows that key to understanding this phenomenon is the study of the national as well as transnational systems through which it was launched, promoted and received. While some essays squarely focus on individual furniture elements as vehicles communicating political and social meaning, others consider the role of furniture within potent sites that demand careful negotiation, whether between governments, cultures, or buyer and seller. In doing so, the book explicitly engages different scholarly fields: design history, history of interior architecture, architectural history, cultural history, diplomatic and political history, postcolonial studies, tourism studies, material culture studies, furniture history, and heritage and preservation studies. Taken together, the narratives and case studies compiled in this volume offer a better understanding of the political agency of post-war modern furniture in its original historical context. At the same time, they will enrich current debates on reuse, relocation or reproduction of some of these elements.

Spis treści

Introduction: The Politics of Furniture (Fredie Floré and Cammie McAtee), Part I: Furniture and Identity Politics, 1.Nomadic Furniture in the "Heart of Darkness": Colonial and Post-Colonial Trajectories of Modern Design Artifacts To and From Tropical Africa (Johan Lagae), 2.Modernism on Vacation: The Politics of Hotel Furniture in the Spanish Caribbean (Erica N. Morawski), 3.When Modernity Confronts Tradition: Conflicting Visions for Post-War Furniture Design in Québec (Martin Racine), 4. The Belgian Royal Library: An Expression of National Identity with an International Imprimatur (Fredie Floré and Hannes Pieters), Part II:　Spaces of Persuasion, 5. Exhibitions for Modern Living: Lifestyle Propaganda and the Promotion of Modern Furniture and Furnishings in the United States, 1930s-1950s (Margaret Maile Petty), 6.Knolling Paris: From the "New Look" to Knoll au Louvre (Cammie McAtee and Fredie Floré), 7. Correction Fairs and Japanese Furniture Made in Prison (Yasuko Suga), Part III: The Diplomacy of Furniture, 8.National Identity and Modern Furniture in Brasilia’s Itamaraty Palace (Luciana Saboia, Elane Ribeiro Peixoto, and José Airton Costa Junior), 9. All-Over Inside and Out: Eero Saarinen’s United States Embassy in London (Cammie McAtee), 10. Designed Diplomacy: Furniture, Furnishing and Art in Australian Embassies for Washington DC and Paris (Philip Goad)