German Design 1949-1989

Two countries, separated by the Iron Curtain, but sharing a common history¿this was the historically unique situation of German design in the era of the country¿s division between 1949 and 1989. This book presents Germany¿s double design history for the first time in a comprehensive overview. With numerous examples from industrial, automotive, and furniture design to fashion, graphics, and interiors, it shows the significant role design played in daily life on both sides of the Berlin Wall, the part it played in reconstruction, and its role as an instrument of political propaganda during the Cold War. Key objects and protagonists¿from Dieter Rams or Otl Aicher in the West to Margarete Jahny or Karl Clauss Dietel in the East¿are presented alongside formative factors such as the Bauhaus legacy and important institutions such as the Ulm School of Design (HfG) and the University of Fine and Applied Arts in Berlin-Weißensee. GDR design of colourful, cheap plastic or the cool functionalism of the FRG: The book dispels such clichés, and reveals¿in addition to all the differences in industry, politics, and society¿the many parallels and links that connect design in East and West.