HART295 Design History 3 cr.

This course will provide an overview of one hundred and sixty years of American and European decorative arts and design theory, beginning with the English Aesthetic Reform movement, covering Le Corbusier’s modernist coat of whitewash and the international style, and ending with contemporary designers and thinkers. The class will analyze furniture, ceramics, silver, architecture, clothing, and textiles using the design theories of such seminal figures as John Ruskin, William Morris, Owen Jones, Henri Van de Velde, Walter Gropius, Adolf Loos, and Le Corbusier. The time frame will encompass the nineteenth century historicist revivals, the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, “purist” functionality, and the “modern.” Other themes that will be addressed are the art/craft divide, the origins of the unified interior, the dissemination of design theory to the broader public via the world’s fairs and the department store, and the attempt to develop “national” styles.

Prerequisites: HART100

Lecture/Seminar
Culturally Diverse Content
All College Elective

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