Trained originally as an architectural and design historian, Dennis Doordan is now a design educator, critic, museum consultant and editor of Design Issues, a journal devoted to the history, theory, and criticism of design and recognized as one of the leading academic journals devoted to design studies. Doordan has published books and articles on a wide variety of topics dealing with modern and contemporary architecture and design. His most recent publication addresses issues and models for sustainable design.
Page 1. Design History An Anthology A Design Issues Reader edited by Dennis P. Doordan Page 2. Pa... more Page 1. Design History An Anthology A Design Issues Reader edited by Dennis P. Doordan Page 2. Page 3. Design History: An Anthology Page 4. Page 5. Design History: An Anthology edited by Dennis P. Doordan The MIT Press ...
The Climate Book is a primer on climate change filled with analyses of its causes, assessments of... more The Climate Book is a primer on climate change filled with analyses of its causes, assessments of its impact, and prescriptions for dealing with it. It consists of 102 short essays (average length 2–3 pages) written by a collection of distinguished scientists, engineers, economists, geophysicists, historians, philosophers, and Indigenous leaders.
Page 1. Design History An Anthology A Design Issues Reader edited by Dennis P. Doordan Page 2. Pa... more Page 1. Design History An Anthology A Design Issues Reader edited by Dennis P. Doordan Page 2. Page 3. Design History: An Anthology Page 4. Page 5. Design History: An Anthology edited by Dennis P. Doordan The MIT Press ...
The Climate Book is a primer on climate change filled with analyses of its causes, assessments of... more The Climate Book is a primer on climate change filled with analyses of its causes, assessments of its impact, and prescriptions for dealing with it. It consists of 102 short essays (average length 2–3 pages) written by a collection of distinguished scientists, engineers, economists, geophysicists, historians, philosophers, and Indigenous leaders.
The English artist, typographer and social critic Eric Gill did not wear trousers. This paper exp... more The English artist, typographer and social critic Eric Gill did not wear trousers. This paper explores the political dimension of Gill’s choice of dress in terms that link it to his response to industrialization and alienation, conditions he perceived as constituent features of modernity. Systems of production and distribution rather than questions of gender identity occupied a central position in Gill’s discussion of clothes. In his choice of homespun tunics in place of trousers Gill sought to actively demonstrate his resistance to the industrial system of manufacturing clothing. Gill’s position was clearly articulated by him in his writings. In his 1937 pamphlet Trousers he wrote: This essay is neither a plea for sexual exhibitionism nor sexual absolutism. It is not a plea for anything except a frank recognition that … our clothes & our commercial-industrialism exactly go together. Focusing on the political dimension of his choice is not to deny the subjective and psychological dimensions of Gill’s life. Indeed one goal of this presentation is to consider how design historians confront the issue of the integration of political ideologies and personal histories when the subject of historical inquiry is a single artist or designer.
Designers, along with everyone else, should welcome advice on how to avoid disasters brought on b... more Designers, along with everyone else, should welcome advice on how to avoid disasters brought on by a changing climate. But Bill Gates’s new book will generate mixed reactions within the design community; and, as I suggest, it poses a serious challenge to those who argue that design and designers have a major role to play in shaping a healthier and more sustainable future.
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Papers by Dennis Doordan