Innovation: Made in France II - Design Exhibition
Innovation: Made in France I is an exhibition about important historical French design created between 1965 to 1975 - a period of fast technological advancement that shaped a distinctive new aesthetic in French public and domestic life. The exhibition will be on view at the Demisch Danant from May 3 through July 1, 2017.
Innovation is a continuation of the gallery's year-long exhibition program made in France, which reintroduces designers from the post-war period and brings to light the importance of their work. In France, Les Trente Glorieuses, the three-decade period following the end of World War II, was marked by explosive scientific, technological, economic, and social development.
These advances fueled exuberant public optimism in the 1960s, a time of national positivism that remained uninterrupted until the onset of the 1973 Oil Crisis. During this vibrant period, art, architecture, decorative arts, and fashion blossomed in step with the prevailing optimistic mood, marked by prosperity and rapid urbanization. As the industrial world turned its focus to all domains of creation, introducing new technologies and innovative materials, the forms were liberated and experimentation abundant.
The French government adopted policies to encourage innovative large-scale projects in the fields of aeronautics, transportation, information technology and telecommunications. As a result, some of the most iconic design initiatives of the 20th century were conceived in the 1960s and early 1970s, including the Concorde (the world's first supersonic passenger jet airliner, which took its first flight in Spring 1969); the Centre Georges Pompidou (the first 'hi-tech' Parisian public building, with a radical design selected by an international jury in 1971); and the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse, France's first intercity high-speed train, developed in the 1970s).
Meanwhile the tech-infatuated esprit du temps influenced French private life as well: Convenience, comfort, and novelty became priorities for a generation seeking to escape the rigidity of traditional French bourgeois life.
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