The Nature of Design
David Pye(Author)
Ezra Shales(Editor)
Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 17. June 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-350-00446-7 (ISBN)
Description
In his classic work, first published in 1964, David Pye considers the varied elements that go towards good design, and investigates the scientific nature of function and its tenuous relationship to form. He explores the priority of economy, physical components, and manufacturing technique, and he clarifies the relative utilitarian and aesthetic roles of design.
In his introduction to this second edition, craft scholar Ezra Shales revisits Pye's brilliant refutation of "form follows function" and functionalism - battles that he dropped in 1978 because they seemed settled. Today's enduring interest in Modernism makes Pye's 1964 text seem more prescient and even postmodern, because in it he questions industrialization and positivism.
The second edition is illustrated with new images, including several of Pye's own work as a maker, and of artists and makers who have been influenced by Pye's practice.
In his introduction to this second edition, craft scholar Ezra Shales revisits Pye's brilliant refutation of "form follows function" and functionalism - battles that he dropped in 1978 because they seemed settled. Today's enduring interest in Modernism makes Pye's 1964 text seem more prescient and even postmodern, because in it he questions industrialization and positivism.
The second edition is illustrated with new images, including several of Pye's own work as a maker, and of artists and makers who have been influenced by Pye's practice.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
45 bw images
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 189 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-350-00446-7 (9781350004467)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
David Pye OBE (1914-1993), was Professor of Furniture Design at The Royal College of Art, 1964 - 1974. Pye was an accomplished wood-turner and carver, as well as an important writer on the theory of design and handcraft. The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, first published in 1964, and The Nature and Art of Workmanship, first published in 1968, were both hugely influential for the development of craft studies and design history.
Ezra Shales is Associate Professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and the author of Made in Newark: Cultivating Industrial Arts and Civic Identity in the Progressive Era (2010).
Ezra Shales is Associate Professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and the author of Made in Newark: Cultivating Industrial Arts and Civic Identity in the Progressive Era (2010).
Content
Introduction
1. Art and Science
2. Invention and design distinguished
3. The six requirements of design
4. The geometry of a device
5. Techniques
6. Invention
7. We can wish for impossibilities
8. The requirements conflict
9. Useless work
10. Architecture
11. 'Function' and fiction
12. The designer's responsibility
13. The aesthetics of design
14. Perception and looking
15. Taste and style
16. Originality
17. The common ground between visual art and music
Index
1. Art and Science
2. Invention and design distinguished
3. The six requirements of design
4. The geometry of a device
5. Techniques
6. Invention
7. We can wish for impossibilities
8. The requirements conflict
9. Useless work
10. Architecture
11. 'Function' and fiction
12. The designer's responsibility
13. The aesthetics of design
14. Perception and looking
15. Taste and style
16. Originality
17. The common ground between visual art and music
Index