20th Century Design: The 1960s

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The 1960s were years of both political and cultural instability. In architecture and design, the decade was dominated by two themes--outer space and rebellion against authority. The space race began with the U.S.S.R.'s launch of its Sputnik satellite in 1957, continued with the orbit of the first manned spacecraft (U.S.S.R., 1961), and ultimately landed men on the moon (U.S., 1969). These events had a profound impact on popular culture. The theme of the Seattle World's Fair was "Man in the Space Age" (1964), and many of the pavilions at Montreal's Expo '67 and San Antonio's Hemisphere (1968) were of space-age design. Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) became a cult classic. Just as the space race gave individuals and things a sense of freedom and power, so too did lashing out against tradition and the establishment. In the United States, antiwar and anti-discrimination protests were widespread throughout the decade. The increasing use of contraceptive pills (invented 1954) and illegal drugs moved American society toward the freer, more casual lifestyle that was initiated after World War II and reached a climax in events like the Woodstock festival of 1969. Even relatively conservative individuals imbibed this new spirit, wearing psychedelic clothes and miniskirts (introduced 1964) and buying unconventional furniture like the Gyro and Sacco chairs (both designed 1968).

Excerpt from
Dallas Museum of Art, Hot Cars, High Fashion, Cool Stuff: Designs of the 20th Century (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1996).

NOTES

ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS  

IMAGE ASSETS 

WEB RESOURCES 

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES

FUN FACTS 

TEACHING IDEAS 

RULES
apply to objects where department_id equals 60
apply to objects where date_end lte 1969
apply to objects where date_begin gte 1960

Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
The 1960s were years of both political and cultural instability. In architecture and design, the decade was dominated by two themes--outer space and rebellion against authority. The space race began with the U.S.S.R.'s launch of its Sputnik satellite in 1957, continued with the orbit of the first manned spacecraft (U.S.S.R., 1961), and ultimately landed men on the moon (U.S., 1969). These events had a profound impact on popular culture. The theme of the Seattle World's Fair was "Man in the Space Age" (1964), and many of the pavilions at Montreal's Expo '67 and San Antonio's Hemisphere (1968) were of space-age design. Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) became a cult classic. Just as the space race gave individuals and things a sense of freedom and power, so too did lashing out against tradition and the establishment. In the United States, antiwar and anti-discrimination protests were widespread throughout the decade. The increasing use of contraceptive pills (invented 1954) and illegal drugs moved American society toward the freer, more casual lifestyle that was initiated after World War II and reached a climax in events like the Woodstock festival of 1969. Even relatively conservative individuals imbibed this new spirit, wearing psychedelic clothes and miniskirts (introduced 1964) and buying unconventional furniture like the Gyro and Sacco chairs (both designed 1968).

Excerpt from
Dallas Museum of Art, Hot Cars, High Fashion, Cool Stuff: Designs of the 20th Century (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1996).

Fun Facts
 
Archival Resources

Web Resources
 

Notes

rules
Apply To
Objects
department_id
Equals
60
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
*Decorative Arts and Design
decorative arts: AAT: 300054168
@bartsch-allen
spacecraft: AAT: 300212528
world's fairs: AAT: 300054778
Woodstock (New York/United States): TGN: 7014644
space age (hierarchy name): AAT: 300266744
Soviet Union (former nation/state/empire): TGN: 6006211
Kubrick_Stanley (American film director 1928-1999): ULAN: 500044493
259424111: UMO
259424259: UMO
source file
time_and_place-0101.xml.nores