design and antiquarians – 2

This is a comment on the seminar series currently running between Stanford and Bard Graduate Center. [Link] This week – the origins of the design museum in the nineteenth century. The history of design history.   The Victoria and Albert, South Kensington, London – original facade – established to improve British manufacturing

design and antiquarians – 1

This is a comment on the seminar series currently running between Stanford and Bard Graduate Center. [Link] Great discussion today about broad convergences between the world of the antiquarian collector and researcher of the seventeenth/eighteenth centuries and that of the designer of today. The notion of design involves questions of how we relate to objects,…

Antiquarians and the origins of design thinking

A seminar of conversation, experiment and exploration with guests from the design world and the academic humanities, hosted by Peter Miller and Michael Shanks Fall 2014 Tuesdays 2 – 5 pm PST – first meeting 23 September What have the Humanities and Liberal Arts to do with design? How can contemporary design be made more…

Scottish independence – heritage and the nation state

Scotland votes today. As everyone realizes, whether it is yes or no, independence or union, the nation state and body politic in Britain have changed. And the changes have been coming for quite a while. Is this all about nationalism? There has been little reference in the reporting I’ve followed to the old components of…

why antiquaries matter

There’s a great article by Peter Miller in the current Chronicle of Higher Education on How Objects Speak – [Link] Objects loom large as other gods seem to fail. The enormous global success of Neil MacGregor’s History of the World in 100 Objects, which started as a radio program, no less, spinning dramatic tales of…