U.S. Involvement in the Development of Design in the Periphery: The Case History of Industrial Design Education in Turkey, 1950s―1970s

摘要

Three main conclusions can be drawn from the study which reflect three viewpoints. First of all, from the viewpoint of the periphery, the attempts at initiating industrial design education in some peripheral countries such as Turkey and Korea in the late-'50s and '60s appear to be a result of aid programs which were instrumental in U.S. foreign policy, which aimed at containing the Soviet threat during the Cold War. The use of industrial design in the service of the U.S. national interests led to the early emergence of industrial design education in some peripheral countries with significant implications for the development pattern of industrial design in the periphery. Secondly, from the viewpoint of the center, it is evident that, during the Cold War, especially in the second half of the 1950s, the U.S. Government became a major client of American designers and design companies through trade fair an'd ICA contracts. The American industrial design profession, while serving the political and economic interests of the U.S. within the context of international politics at that time, assumed a new ideological identity and role. And finally, from a global perspective, the history of industrial design education in Turkey reveals that an analysis of the interactions between the center and the periphery is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of global design history. The role of the American industrial design profession in the U.S. foreign aid programs is a relatively overlooked chapter of the design history in the center. Nevertheless, it had a significant impact on the development of industrial design in the periphery. The case presented in this paper reveals a good example of the political dimension of the world design history as part of general world history. It also confirms the interconnectedness of the national design histories of central and peripheral countries.