Taking as its point of departure Roland Barthes' classic series of essays, Mythologies, Rebecca Houze presents an exploration of signs and symbols in the visual landscape of postmodernity. In nine chapters Houze considers a range of contemporary phenomena, from the history of sustainability to the meaning of sports and children's building toys. Among the ubiquitous global trademarks she examines are BP, McDonald's, and Nike. What do these icons say to us today? What political and ideological messages are hidden beneath their surfaces? Taking the idea of myth in its broadest sense, the individual case studies employ a variety of analytic methods derived from linguistics, psychoanalysis, anthropology, sociology, and art history. In their eclecticism of approach they demonstrate the interdisciplinarity of design history and design studies. Just as Barthes' meditations on culture concentrated on his native France, New Mythologies is rooted in the author's experience of living and teaching in the United States. Houze's reflections encompass both contemporary American popular culture and the history of American industry, with reference to such foundational figures as Thomas Jefferson and Walt Disney. The collection provides a point of entry into today's complex postmodern or post-postmodern world, and suggests some ways of thinking about its meanings, and the lessons we might learn from it.

WALK INTO THE SECRET PLACE of the Most High and experience freedom from this present world darkness and you won't want to leave. Yet, Eunice, a single mother, is surprised at what she finds in that place. Her four-year-old son narrowly escapes a fatal accident only to disappear in small sleepy Candler. She has difficult colleagues at her new job and a troubled student with a mysterious past who insists on drawing her into the enigma. Add to the above an aging mother who lives with her, a decrepit car and long road trip, an adventure story of intrigue and you have In The Secret Place Of The Most High, a entertaining novel, packed with adventure, whimsical characters, and wisdom....a read that will draw you again and again into a secret place. "A talented writer with deep loyalties to the truth of God's Word creates both interest and biblical candor about the spiritual battles of life. Rebecca House's gifts as a writer of fiction enables her to compel our attention toward using biblical truth to defeat intrusive evil. Those who read this book will enjoy its wholesome entertainment while absorbing its spiritual message of the believer's victory in Christ." Mark I. Bubeck, president emeritus of Deeper Walk International and author of The Adversary, Overcoming The Adversary, Raising Lambs Among Wolves, and Fire From Heaven. In 1985, Rebecca House left a promising career in academia to rear two children who are now grown. She is currently working on her second novel, The Severed Silver Cord, which continues the tale of Eunice and her victory over the darkness. Check out her website at http: //rebeccahouseofficialsite.blogspot.com

1. This book provides the first extended study of heritage from the point of view of design history. 2. Demonstrating that design historical methods of inquiry contribute significantly to critical heritage studies, the book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and students engaged in the study of heritage, design history, material culture, folklore, art history, architectural history, and social and cultural history. 3. There are no existing titles which directly focus on the relationship between design (history) and heritage (studies).

This is the first anthology to address Design History as an established discipline, a field of study which is developing a contextualised understanding of the role of design and designed objects within social and cultural history. Extracts range from the 18th Century, when design and manufacture separated, to the present day. Drawn from scholarly and polemical books, research articles, exhibition catalogues, and magazines, the extracts are placed in themed sections, with each section separately introduced and each concluded with an annotated guide to further reading. Covering both primary texts (such as the writings of designers and design reformers) and secondary texts (in the form of key works of design history), the reader provides an essential resource for understanding the history of design, the development of the discipline, and contemporary issues in design history and practice. Authors include: Judy Attfield, Jeremy Aynsley, Reyner Banham, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, Christopher Breward, Denise Scott Brown, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Clive Dilnot, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Greenhalgh, Dick Hebdige, Steven Heller, John Heskett, Pat Kirkham, Adolf Loos, Victor Margolin, Karl Marx, Jeffrey Meikle, William Morris, Gillian Naylor, Victor Papanek, Nikolaus Pevsner, John Ruskin, Adam Smith, Penny Sparke, John Styles, Nancy Troy, Thorstein Veblen, Robert Venturi, John Walker, Frank Lloyd Wright.

1. This book provides the first extended study of heritage from the point of view of design history. 2. Demonstrating that design historical methods of inquiry contribute significantly to critical heritage studies, the book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and students engaged in the study of heritage, design history, material culture, folklore, art history, architectural history, and social and cultural history. 3. There are no existing titles which directly focus on the relationship between design (history) and heritage (studies).

Filling a critical gap in Vienna 1900 studies, this book offers a new reading of fin-de-siecle culture in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy by looking at the unusual and widespread preoccupation with embroidery, fabrics, clothing, and fashion - both literally and metaphorically. The author resurrects lesser known critics, practitioners, and curators from obscurity, while also discussing the textile interests of better known figures, notably Gottfried Semper and Alois Riegl. Spanning the 50-year life of the Dual Monarchy, this study uncovers new territory in the history of art history, insists on the crucial place of women within modernism, and broadens the cultural history of Habsburg Central Europe by revealing the complex relationships among art history, women, and Austria-Hungary. Rebecca Houze surveys a wide range of materials, from craft and folk art to industrial design, and includes overlooked sources-from fashion magazines to World's Fair maps, from exhibition catalogues to museum lectures, from feminist journals to ethnographic collections. Restoring women to their place at the intersection of intellectual and artistic debates of the time, this book weaves together discourses of the academic, scientific, and commercial design communities with middle-class life as expressed through popular culture.

Filling a critical gap in Vienna 1900 studies, this book offers a new reading of fin-de-siecle culture in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy by looking at the unusual and widespread preoccupation with embroidery, fabrics, clothing, and fashion - both literally and metaphorically. The author resurrects lesser known critics, practitioners, and curators from obscurity, while also discussing the textile interests of better known figures, notably Gottfried Semper and Alois Riegl. Spanning the 50-year life of the Dual Monarchy, this study uncovers new territory in the history of art history, insists on the crucial place of women within modernism, and broadens the cultural history of Habsburg Central Europe by revealing the complex relationships among art history, women, and Austria-Hungary. Rebecca Houze surveys a wide range of materials, from craft and folk art to industrial design, and includes overlooked sources-from fashion magazines to World's Fair maps, from exhibition catalogues to museum lectures, from feminist journals to ethnographic collections. Restoring women to their place at the intersection of intellectual and artistic debates of the time, this book weaves together discourses of the academic, scientific, and commercial design communities with middle-class life as expressed through popular culture.

Taking as its point of departure Roland Barthes’ classic series of essays, Mythologies, Rebecca Houze presents an exploration of signs and symbols in the visual landscape of postmodernity. In nine chapters Houze considers a range of contemporary phenomena, from the history of sustainability to the meaning of sports and children’s building toys. Among the ubiquitous global trademarks she examines are BP, McDonald’s, and Nike. What do these icons say to us today? What political and ideological messages are hidden beneath their surfaces? Taking the idea of myth in its broadest sense, the individual case studies employ a variety of analytic methods derived from linguistics, psychoanalysis, anthropology, sociology, and art history. In their eclecticism of approach they demonstrate the interdisciplinarity of design history and design studies. Just as Barthes’ meditations on culture concentrated on his native France, New Mythologies is rooted in the author’s experience of living and teaching in the United States. Houze’s reflections encompass both contemporary American popular culture and the history of American industry, with reference to such foundational figures as Thomas Jefferson and Walt Disney. The collection provides a point of entry into today’s complex postmodern or post-postmodern world, and suggests some ways of thinking about its meanings, and the lessons we might learn from it.

WALK INTO THE SECRET PLACE of the Most High and experience freedom from this present world darkness and you won't want to leave. Yet, Eunice, a single mother, is surprised at what she finds in that place. Her four-year-old son narrowly escapes a fatal accident only to disappear in small sleepy Candler. She has difficult colleagues at her new job and a troubled student with a mysterious past who insists on drawing her into the enigma. Add to the above an aging mother who lives with her, a decrepit car and long road trip, an adventure story of intrigue and you have In The Secret Place Of The Most High, a entertaining novel, packed with adventure, whimsical characters, and wisdom....a read that will draw you again and again into a secret place. "A talented writer with deep loyalties to the truth of God's Word creates both interest and biblical candor about the spiritual battles of life. Rebecca House's gifts as a writer of fiction enables her to compel our attention toward using biblical truth to defeat intrusive evil. Those who read this book will enjoy its wholesome entertainment while absorbing its spiritual message of the believer's victory in Christ." Mark I. Bubeck, president emeritus of Deeper Walk International and author of The Adversary, Overcoming The Adversary, Raising Lambs Among Wolves, and Fire From Heaven. In 1985, Rebecca House left a promising career in academia to rear two children who are now grown. She is currently working on her second novel, The Severed Silver Cord, which continues the tale of Eunice and her victory over the darkness. Check out her website at http: //rebeccahouseofficialsite.blogspot.com

This is the first anthology to address Design History as an established discipline, a field of study which is developing a contextualised understanding of the role of design and designed objects within social and cultural history. Extracts range from the 18th Century, when design and manufacture separated, to the present day. Drawn from scholarly and polemical books, research articles, exhibition catalogues, and magazines, the extracts are placed in themed sections, with each section separately introduced and each concluded with an annotated guide to further reading. Covering both primary texts (such as the writings of designers and design reformers) and secondary texts (in the form of key works of design history), the reader provides an essential resource for understanding the history of design, the development of the discipline, and contemporary issues in design history and practice. Selected authors: Judy Attfield, Jeremy Aynsley, Reyner Banham, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, Christopher Breward, Denise Scott Brown, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Clive Dilnot, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Greenhalgh, Dick Hebdige, Steven Heller, John Heskett, Pat Kirkham, Adolf Loos, Victor Margolin, Karl Marx, Jeffrey Meikle, William Morris, Gillian Naylor, Victor Papanek, Nikolaus Pevsner, John Ruskin, Adam Smith, Penny Sparke, John Styles, Nancy Troy, Thorstein Veblen, Robert Venturi, John Walker, Frank Lloyd Wright.