Where's My Space Age?: The Rise and Fall of Futuristic Design [Paperback]

Sean Topham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

The author of "Blowup" goes back to the future to follow the evolution of space-age design: from its optimistic conception in the 1950s to its decline in the 1970s and its retro-revival today. The Soviet-American race to the moon ignited a world-wide obsession with outer space and futuristic living that was manifested in the era's architecture, design and popular culture - and reflected in everything from furniture to postage stamps, fashion to children's toys. With hundreds of illustrations, Sean Topham reveals the countless ways the galactic frontier invaded every aspect of daily life: in household objects and "haute couture", advertising and comic books, plastics and interior design, private homes and public buildings. He explains how artists' conceptions of the future influenced history and were in turn shaped by events for decades to come. As Topham charts the rise and fall of futuristic design through the work of Eero Aarnio, Joe Colombo, Verner Panton, Pierre Cardin, Courreges, Paco Rabanne, Archigram, Haus-Rucker-Co, Matti Suuronen, John Lautner and Adrian Frutiger, among many others, he reveals how the era's euphoric energy gave way to a more anxious uncertainty. He also questions whether today's passion for futuristic design is purely retro-chic or the dawning of a new fascination with space-age culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Prestel Publishing (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3791328441
• ISBN-13: 978-3791328447
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From outer space to inner space, June 10, 2010

By 

Marcello Malpighi "Marcello" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Where's My Space Age?: The Rise and Fall of Futuristic Design (Paperback)

I had this book for a while, I bought extra copies to give as gifts. We know we don't have flying cars and we haven't colonized space (it's just a bunch of rocks out there anyway...). But reading this book is like a trip to the past you forgot you had. Sure, you don't recognize most of it but once in a while you see something that is familiar. For me: the tulip chairs, the round TV set, the modular homes in France. The other fascinating piece is this journey from outer space where all is plastic-y, cold, functional, alienating and artificial, to these living spaces that feel organic, soft, suffocating and confining. I am glad we have neither, I look out my window and see my garden and the woods, I see my simple wood and leather furniture. The future in this book is frightening and inhuman: I am glad it did not happen.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unrealistic representation of futuristic design, April 22, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Where's My Space Age?: The Rise and Fall of Futuristic Design (Paperback)

This book was a bit of a disappointment, in that it takes a very simplistic view of the phrase "futuristic design." It begins with a brief explanation of the advent of the space age, from the history of the first satellites to a basic overview of human flight in space up through the Apollo program and the early establishment of the Soviet space station.
The focus then moves to the cultural response, in particular the areas of the arts and fashion. When the author uses the phrase "the rise and fall of futuristic design", the meaning is that so-called "futuristic design" is no longer being used in the arts. In many ways, this is incorrect, futuristic design is still being used in many daily products. The difference is that the klitsch element is largely gone. A great deal of it was minimally functional anyway. What has happened is that what was revolutionary is now commonplace.
Modern buildings now incorporate functionally futuristic design and humans now regularly wear permanent press clothing and nothing like the ridiculous items that are featured in this book. Other simple devices such as hearing aids, eyeglasses that automatically tint and cell phones that were once futuristic are now commonplace.
Therefore, the futuristic design that the author refers to is almost totally the absurd, mainly dysfunctional and even sometimes bizarre designs that somehow were placed under the "futuristic designs" umbrella. They were really nothing of the sort, and the world is better off that they have been dismissed.