DOI article:
Wainwright, Shirley B: Introduction
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41872#0019
INTRODUCTION
LTHOUGH many adverse factors, economic and otherwise,
/ have hampered the activities of designers and craftsmen during
/ % the past year, there is encouraging evidence, in some direc-
JL. Jk. tions, of vigorous effort and sound accomplishment. It is
reasonable to assume that the difficulties which have persisted, during a
period of menace and anxiety, have to some extent acted as a tonic,
developing resources which, under easier conditions, might have
remained dormant and unsuspected. Fortunately the circumstances of
the last few years have created an atmosphere favourable for the reception
of new ideas and the evolution of sane and convincing standards. The
middle classes are probably more alert and accessible to fresh influences
than at any time within living memory and herein lies the best promise for
the future of domestic architecture and the applied arts. Technical
difficulties are never so obstructive or demoralizing as public indifference,
while a creative mind, if denied a reasonable degree of encouragement,
must, sooner or later, lose much of its stimulus and cease to function for
the benefit of the community.
There have lately been definite indications that the public are taking a
keen and discriminating interest in the decoration and furnishing of
the home. This is clearly evident from the increased attention paid to
the subject in the columns of the daily press, where critical and suggestive
articles of an illuminating character have appeared from time to time.
The majority of these writers agree in emphasizing the poverty of
invention conspicuous in the designs of modern commercial productions
and the absence of original and progressive ideas. These criticisms
indicate dissatisfaction with the existing order of things among a
section of the community, and one begins to hope that pressure of
public opinion thus ventilated may eventually succeed in dispersing the
enervating conservatism of manufacturers. It is disheartening to find so
many people concerned in the production and distribution of furniture
and decorative accessories still seriously advocating the continued repro-
duction of “ period ” models rather than the evolution of types appro-
priate to the conditions of modern life. In this connection one welcomes
the practical scheme recently promoted by the Royal Society of Arts for
the encouragement of a higher standard in industrial design. The aim of
this scheme is to deal with the designer rather than with the finished
product, and it is hoped, by establishing a number of travelling scholar-
ships and by awards and prizes of considerable monetary value, to discover
students of real ability and to ensure them an adequate course of study,
thereby creating an invaluable class of expert designers. The project is
receiving practical support from prominent manufacturers throughout the
country, and representative committees have been formed to deal with the
1
LTHOUGH many adverse factors, economic and otherwise,
/ have hampered the activities of designers and craftsmen during
/ % the past year, there is encouraging evidence, in some direc-
JL. Jk. tions, of vigorous effort and sound accomplishment. It is
reasonable to assume that the difficulties which have persisted, during a
period of menace and anxiety, have to some extent acted as a tonic,
developing resources which, under easier conditions, might have
remained dormant and unsuspected. Fortunately the circumstances of
the last few years have created an atmosphere favourable for the reception
of new ideas and the evolution of sane and convincing standards. The
middle classes are probably more alert and accessible to fresh influences
than at any time within living memory and herein lies the best promise for
the future of domestic architecture and the applied arts. Technical
difficulties are never so obstructive or demoralizing as public indifference,
while a creative mind, if denied a reasonable degree of encouragement,
must, sooner or later, lose much of its stimulus and cease to function for
the benefit of the community.
There have lately been definite indications that the public are taking a
keen and discriminating interest in the decoration and furnishing of
the home. This is clearly evident from the increased attention paid to
the subject in the columns of the daily press, where critical and suggestive
articles of an illuminating character have appeared from time to time.
The majority of these writers agree in emphasizing the poverty of
invention conspicuous in the designs of modern commercial productions
and the absence of original and progressive ideas. These criticisms
indicate dissatisfaction with the existing order of things among a
section of the community, and one begins to hope that pressure of
public opinion thus ventilated may eventually succeed in dispersing the
enervating conservatism of manufacturers. It is disheartening to find so
many people concerned in the production and distribution of furniture
and decorative accessories still seriously advocating the continued repro-
duction of “ period ” models rather than the evolution of types appro-
priate to the conditions of modern life. In this connection one welcomes
the practical scheme recently promoted by the Royal Society of Arts for
the encouragement of a higher standard in industrial design. The aim of
this scheme is to deal with the designer rather than with the finished
product, and it is hoped, by establishing a number of travelling scholar-
ships and by awards and prizes of considerable monetary value, to discover
students of real ability and to ensure them an adequate course of study,
thereby creating an invaluable class of expert designers. The project is
receiving practical support from prominent manufacturers throughout the
country, and representative committees have been formed to deal with the
1