Preliminary communication
The Term "Shaping" in the Croatian Culture of the Fifties
Feđa VUKIĆ
Abstract
Planning for mass machine production, or design, the
standard term used in Croatian language today, appeared in
the Croatian culture of the fifties as part of the general trend
of modernisation and development of industrial production.
However, in the theoretical and critical literature of the fifties
the term "shaping" (oblikovanje) is used, and not design. In
order to define more precisely the roots of the concept of
design in the Croatian cultural context, and to create the
foundation for further research of theoretical precepts of
design, the author presents in the article the most important
ideas on design for mass production in the fifties. Thus given
in the article are some initial analyses of the texts of
Bernardo Bernardi and Zvonimir Radi}, the most important
writers on the topic, who established the term "shaping" as a social philosophy but also as a methodological conception.
In terms of social philosophy Bernardi conceives the term
"shaping" as a kind of romantic activism, in other words as
an attempt at rational articulation of private space in the
general sphere of collectivisation. In terms of methodological
conception Radi} elaborates "shaping" as a discipline of
controlling the machine, in other words as the integration of
the symbolic and utilitarian functionality in the final product.
The article should serve as a basis for further research,
especially with regard to defining the terminological and
methodological shift from "shaping" to "design" in the
Croatian cultural context.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
19695
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2002.
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