Every political system makes use of design and architecture to establish its values, and its beliefs. It’s both a cultural issue, a question of projecting identity, as well as a commercial one. Deyan Sudjic looks at how this long term relationship between power and design has evolved, and its lessons for contemporary society.
The so called creative industries are now citied by governments from Beijing to Edinburgh as the only economic future for a modern economy. The way that a society presents itself is not a mere cosmetic, but a reflection of its values and its cohesion.
Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum in London. Founded in 1989, the Design Museum is the UK’s cultural champion of design and wins international acclaim for exhibitions of modern design history and contemporary design. Before joining the Design Museum in 2006, Deyan was Dean of the Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design at Kingston University, visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art. He was Director of Glasgow 1999, UK City of Architecture and Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002.