International Design Organizations

This innovative volume brings together international design scholars to address the history and present-day status of national and international design organizations, working across design disciplines and located in countries including Argentina, Turkey, Estonia, Switzerland, Italy, China, and the USA.

In the second half of the 20th century, many non-governmental organizations were created to address urgent cultural, economic, and welfare issues. Design organizations set out to create an international consensus for the future direction of design. This included enhancing communication between professionals, educators, and practitioners, raising standards for design, and creating communities of designers across linguistic, national, and political borders. Shared needs and agendas were identified, and categories of design were constantly defined and re-defined, often with overt cultural and political intents.

Drawing on an impressive range of original research, archival sources, and oral testimony, International Design Organizations questions the aims and achievements of national and international design organizations in light of their subsequent histories and their global remits. The Cold War period is central to the book, while many chapters draw on post-colonial perspectives to interpret how transnational networks and negotiations took place at events and congresses, and through publication.