Podcasts by Design Essentials: are you sitting comfortably? - for iPod/iPhone
Theo Zamenopoulos, of the OU design faculty, offers a glimpse into the ideological and historical context of design ideas and principles. With Emma Curtis, curator of the Design Museum, and Nathaniel Hepburn, curator of the Mascalls Art Gallery, Theo looks at the key ideas that emerged as the driving force behind design using specific examples from the history of chair design.
This material forms part of The Open University course T217 Design Essentials.
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All episodes
Chairs – are you sitting comfortably? from 2014-08-26T16:01:48
What makes a good chair? Theo Zamenopoulos considers the factors that produce good design while sitting in his favourite place.
ListenTranscript -- Chairs – are you sitting comfortably? from 2014-08-26T16:01:47
What makes a good chair? Theo Zamenopoulos considers the factors that produce good design while sitting in his favourite place.
ListenNo chair is an island from 2014-08-26T15:50:21
No design is an island, entire in itself, they are all part of an ongoing conversation about what is good design Here Theo Zamenopoulos gives some examples of how design ideas and principles are no...
ListenTranscript -- No chair is an island from 2014-08-26T15:50:20
No design is an island, entire in itself, they are all part of an ongoing conversation about what is good design Here Theo Zamenopoulos gives some examples of how design ideas and principles are no...
ListenVorsprung durch Technik: Michael Breuer’s B33 from 2014-08-26T15:43:31
Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces the historical and ideological context of modernism in design. At the beginning of the 20th century new technology led to a growing optimism about the ...
ListenTranscript -- Vorsprung durch Technik: Michael Breuer’s B33 from 2014-08-26T15:43:30
Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces the historical and ideological context of modernism in design. At the beginning of the 20th century new technology led to a growing optimism about the ...
ListenProtest, provocation and social responsibility: Gerrit Rietveld’s Crate Chair from 2014-08-26T15:26:13
Designs don’t just have utilitarian or aesthetic functions they can also have economic, social and political ones. Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, discusses examples of designs that are dri...
ListenTranscript -- Protest, provocation and social responsibility: Gerrit Rietveld’s Crate Chair from 2014-08-26T15:26:12
Designs don’t just have utilitarian or aesthetic functions they can also have economic, social and political ones. Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, discusses examples of designs that are dri...
ListenSemantics and form: Tom Dixon’s Crown Chair from 2014-08-26T15:09:35
By the end of the 60s, modernist principles came under severe criticism. One aspect of this criticism of modernism was the narrow interpretation of ‘what is function’. Here the OU’s Theo Zamenopoul...
ListenTranscript -- Semantics and form: Tom Dixon’s Crown Chair from 2014-08-26T15:09:34
By the end of the 60s, modernist principles came under severe criticism. One aspect of this criticism of modernism was the narrow interpretation of ‘what is function’. Here the OU’s Theo Zamenopoul...
ListenProcess-driven design: Konstantin Grcic’s Myto Chair from 2014-08-22T16:54:01
Theo Zamenopoulos discusses design where the process of designing has been instrumental for the design output. According to this perspective, the quality of designs depends not only on the designer...
ListenTranscript -- Process-driven design: Konstantin Grcic’s Myto Chair from 2014-08-22T16:54
Theo Zamenopoulos discusses design where the process of designing has been instrumental for the design output. According to this perspective, the quality of designs depends not only on the designer...
ListenNature-inspired design: Frank Gehry’s Cross Check Chair from 2014-08-22T16:29:52
Nature has always been an inspiration for designers, both for its beautiful forms but also for the ways it solves problems. Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces the idea of using orga...
ListenTranscript -- Nature-inspired design: Frank Gehry’s Cross Check Chair from 2014-08-22T16:29:51
Nature has always been an inspiration for designers, both for its beautiful forms but also for the ways it solves problems. Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces the idea of using orga...
ListenLess is more: Jasper Morrison’s Air-Chair from 2014-08-22T16:03:31
Is it possible to ‘over-design’ – to design beyond the functional requirements of a design? Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces a very influential design principle, 'less is more', o...
ListenTranscript -- Less is more: Jasper Morrison’s Air-Chair from 2014-08-22T16:03:30
Is it possible to ‘over-design’ – to design beyond the functional requirements of a design? Here Emma Curtis, of the Design Museum, introduces a very influential design principle, 'less is more', o...
ListenForm follows function: Jerszy Seymour's PlayStation chair from 2014-08-22T15:38:57
Theo Zamenopoulos introduces arguably one of the most influential but also controversial principles in design – that idea that ‘form follows function’ – by looking at Jerszy Seymour's PlayStation c...
ListenTranscript -- Form follows function: Jerszy Seymour's PlayStation chair from 2014-08-22T15:38:56
Theo Zamenopoulos introduces arguably one of the most influential but also controversial principles in design – that idea that ‘form follows function’ – by looking at Jerszy Seymour's PlayStation c...
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