Publications on diverse aspects of Swiss culture
Passages - The Cultural Magazine of Pro Helvetia
CD-ROM Swiss Dance Selection 2004
Cultural information
Publications on diverse aspects
of Swiss culture
As part of its foreign information service, Pro Helvetia, the Arts Council of Switzerland, publishes a series of brochures which provide basic information on Switzerland’s social, political and cultural life.
Each brochure is the work of an individual author and reflects his/her personal opinions and point of view. It is intended as a basic introduction to a subject, providing a general survey – in keeping with the allotted space – rather than aiming at scholarly thoroughness.
Just aut:
Designland Switzerland
The Culture of Consumer Durables in the Twentieth Century
Lotte Schilder Bär, Norbert Wild
215 pages
with pictures
21 x 13,5 cm
paperback
ISBN 3-907622-48-0
CHF 24.- / € 13.80
When Swiss snowboards, stickboards, precision instruments, colourful textiles, minimalist furniture, cheese, chocolate and watches meet on the world market, certain of these products automatically awaken associations with their country of origin. The present publication is devoted to their common denominator – the overarching principle that transcends the well-known facts to connect them all: Swiss Design. Design, not in the super•cial, purely visual sense popular since the Eighties, but as the convergence of styling, function, marketing and success. An expanded historical view places the development of Swiss products and product design, from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, into an economic, technological, sociocultural and ecological context. With information and visual impressions complementing one another, this richly illustrated publication showcases the Swiss design mentality and the notion of design as part of the national and international cultural heritage.
Lotte Schilder Bär studied art history and German in Zurich. She was curator of the Museum of Design Zurich from 1987 to 2001, during which time she was responsible for assembling and running the Design Collection. She has put on exhibitions and authored numerous publications on twentieth-century design.
Norbert Wild studied ethnology and Romance languages in Zurich and Paris. Curator of the Design Collection of the Design Museum Zurich since 2001, he has been involved in mounting exhibitions, has written about twentieth-century design and has taught at the University of Art and Design Zurich and the Lucerne School of Arts and Design.
