Chinese industrial design from 1949 to 1979: The modernization foundation of Chinese design history

Abstract

Industrial design has been the main direction for the Chinese nation building since 1949, and is the centre of the modernization process of Chinese design history. In order to corroborate the timeline of Chinese modern design history and to reveal the real modernity of design history, this paper provides a perspective from physical evidence to corroborate the modern period of Chinese design history and to clarify the design works that can represent Chinese modern design. Based on this, 27 pieces of modern Chinese design works from the China Industrial Design Museum are selected as the corroborating objects for the case study, and the factors influencing the difference between Chinese and Western modernity are analyzed accordingly. The study concludes that Chinese industrial design from 1949 to 1979 can, to a certain extent, represents the historical direction of Chinese modern design history, and that the Chinese modern design style reflects the national characteristics of developing Asian countries. In addition, the context in which the modernity is located reflects a special modernity different from that of the Western world.

Keywords:

• Industrial Design
• China
• Modernization
• Design History
• Modernity

Acknowledgments

Warm thanks to colleagues at the China Industrial Design Museum and the Museum of Chinese Culture on Tiger-designed Ceramics, who have provided us with first-hand historical information to use in our research. They have supported our research in different ways. Our thanks also go to this article’s anonymous peer reviewers, for insightful suggestions for improvement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sihua Huang

Sihua Huang was conferred a Ph.D. in Integrated Design Studies from the Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is the curator of the Museum of Chinese Culture on Tiger-Designed Ceramics, an editorial board member of Art & Design Research, and a member of the Chinese Society for Aesthetics. His interests include Chinese and Western art history, design theory, fashion, art and cultural criticism.

Noor Azizi Mohd Ali

Noor Azizi Mohd Ali is a senior lecturer at the Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia. He was conferred a Ph.D. in Architecture from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia specializing in building typology, symbolism and architectural language. His fields of specialization are in architectural theory and design, landscape architecture design and design critique.

Mohd Sallehuddin Mat Noor

Mohd Sallehuddin Mat Noor is a senior lecturer at the Department of Landscape Architecture, University Putra Malaysia. He was a practising landscape architect and later turned into a researcher at the Public Work Department. His Ph.D. work mostly related to construction and the built environment, particularly in Green Procurement, environmental policy making, and knowledge management in construction project management.

Nazlina Shaari

Nazlina Shaari is an associate professor at the Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She graduated Master in Printed Textile from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, London and a Ph.D. Kansei in Artifact Design from Chiba University in Japan. Her specialization is in innovating new material design for textiles and fashion as well as in product design, developing natural dyes, batik, and printing design.