Design and Heritage

Design and Heritage provides the first extended study of heritage from the point of view of design history. Exploring the material objects and spaces that contribute to our experience of heritage, the volume also examines the processes and practices that shape them.

Bringing together 18 case studies, written by authors from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Norway, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, the book questions how design functions to produce heritage. Including provocative case studies of objects that reinterpret visual symbols of cultural identity and buildings and monuments that evoke feelings of national pride and historical memory, as well as landscapes embedded with trauma, contributors consider how we can work to develop adequate shared conceptual models of heritage and apply them to design and its histories. Exploring the distinction between tangible and intangible heritages, the chapters consider what these categories mean for design history and heritage. Finally, the book questions whether it might be possible to promote a truly equitable understanding of heritage that illuminates the social, cultural and economic roles of design.

Design and Heritage demonstrates that design historical methods of inquiry contribute significantly to critical heritage studies. Academics, researchers and students engaged in the study of heritage, design history, material culture, folklore, art history, architectural history and social and cultural history will find much to interest them within the pages of the book.

Author Biography

Grace Lees-Maffei is Professor of Design History and Programme Director for DHeritage, the Professional Doctorate in Heritage, at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, and Chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Design History. She researches the mediation of design, design discourse, domesticity, national identity and globalization in design and the interplay of design and heritage.

Rebecca Houze is Professor of Art and Design History at Northern Illinois University, USA and General Editor of the Bloomsbury Design Library. Her research examines cultures of collection and display in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She writes about the built environment in Europe and North America with a focus on women designers, international exhibitions, and national parks.