May 20, 2025 | 1960s, 2020s, Week 8
Reading Summary/Takeaway
In “The Lens of Race: Whiteness and Architectural Photography at Case Study House #22”, the author, Dianne Harris, studies Julius Shulman’s photograph of Case Study House #22 from 1960. Because of the image, Harris argues that many projects reinforce racial hierarchies by presenting an idealized vision of white domesticity. She also states how the repetition of white families and/or people in a home enforce the idea that other races are basically invisible. The women dressed in elegant dresses inside a rich, modern house also represent an idea of exclusivity that only white people can afford to be a part of. By dismissing the inclusion of any racial diversity, the image holds a narrative that relates modernist architecture to white people which marginalizes other racial and cultural experiences.
Application
Figure 1 shows an installation at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. is shown as a call for justice flowing “like a mighty stream.”
Stay Arlington
One current case that relates to “The Lens of Race: Whiteness and Architectural Photography at Case Study House #22” is the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., designed by David Adjaye. The museum actually challenges the narratives of Harris’s piece as its architecture incorporates elements that reflect African American heritage. By including cultural aspects into its design, the museum counters against the narrative of exclusion towards other races and instead holds a narrative emphasizing inclusivity and the significance of African American contributions to the nation’s history.This case instead aligns with Harris’s want for more critiques of how architecture and its portrayal can either encourage or challenge societal power structures.
This argument connects to the November House Beautiful article shown. The article “Especially Recommended… 6 Heavenly Rooms” shows 6 rooms; one with no people at all, 4 with white families and/or people, and one with a cat which also happens to be white. With every person pictured being white, it reinforces the same racial and cultural ideal Harris critiques. These 1960s interiors are all colorful and put together but essentially represent cleanliness and domestic happiness that only the white middle class are able to enjoy. Just like Shulman’s photo, the women shown in each room are framed as women who are effortlessly living with no cares or troubles in the world.
Comparison
The House Beautiful article and the National Museum of African American History and Culture represent two different approaches to architecture, design, and cultural representation. One is associated with midcentury whiteness while the other represents historical visibility and cultural reclamation. The House Beautiful article shows domestic interiors designed in order for the audience to feel a sense of modernity and comfort. Unfortunately every model shown in the pictures is white, idealizing the image of white domestic life. On the other hand, the National Museum of African American History and Culture specifically focuses on Black identity, culture, and history in its architecture. The museum draws from African architectural traditions and its exhibitions highlight centuries of African American experience and achievements. Rather than excluding, the National Museum of African American History and Culture creates a cultural monument challenging the assumptions made in the House Beautiful article and Julius Shulman’s photograph.
May 16, 2025 | 1960s, 2020s, reaction paper, Week 7
Tom Fisher’s article from 2013, “A World of Colour and Bright Shining Surfaces: Experiences of Plastics after the Second World War,” examines the evolving perceptions and applications of plastics from the conclusion of World War II through the mid-1970s. He discusses how plastics were marketed for their “wipe-clean” hygiene and vibrant, colorful surfaces, which were symbolically linked to a hopeful post-war future, distracting from the war’s impact. Advertisements diligently emphasized these qualities, showcasing plastics to brighten environments and promote a carefree lifestyle. However, by the mid-1960s, consumer attitudes began to shift as awareness of the environmental consequences associated with these materials grew increasingly apparent.
Fisher describes a new phenomenon known as the “Plastic Man, who lives in a “plastic” age. This new age of man is constantly surrounded by plastic surfaces and their colorful and shiny surfaces, going as far as to say that even their coffin will be plasticized. Gender roles have even been affected by this new age of plastic, as women have become the key role of plastic consumption. With every development in plastic came more information about the material. People quickly became skeptical and fearful of plastic’s mobility: PVC and Surfacin, which were vital to the aesthetics of plastics, were in the middle of public outcry.
Historical Case:
An advertisement for a plastic coating that can be used on virtually any surface in a home, specifically in kitchens. House Beautiful, February 1960, page 33. “When expense is no object and new ideas for “Pacesetter’ kitchens abound–nobody, but nobody, can think of a more luxurious, colorful carefree surfacing than Formica laminated plastic…”
By the 1960’s, plastic has nearly taken over all aspects of the housing market. It was used from anywhere to kitchen products, disposable tools, and even counter tops as seen from the image above. After a large scale and in increase in public information about plastic, homes and lifestyles drastically changed decade after decade.
Contemporary Case:
A person holding two reusable bags at the market. City of Philadelphia, April 2023, https://www.phila.gov/2023-04-27-this-earth-month-we-celebrate-the-impacts-of-the-citys-plastic-bag-ban-one-year-in/. “This Earth Month, we celebrate the impacts of the City’s Plastic Bag Ban one year in”
Since the beginning of the new millennium, governments from across the globe have urged their citizens to limit the consumption and use of plastics in their daily lives. Popular trends emerged out of these transitions, such as replacing plastic straws with metal ones or bringing reusable bags to go grocery shopping, as seen above.
May 15, 2025 | 1960s, reaction paper, Week 7
Summary
This week’s reading, A World of Colour and Bright Shining Surfaces: Experiences of Plastics after the Second World War by Tom Fisher, explores how plastic materials came to symbolize modernity through their visual and tactile qualities, especially their shiny, smooth, and colorful surfaces. After WWII, plastics were widely promoted as hygienic, bright, and easy-to-clean materials that promised a cheerful and convenient domestic life. Fisher highlights how these qualities shaped consumers’ sensory experiences and cultural perceptions of plastics during the postwar boom. However, over time, plastics’ glossy surfaces showed wear, scratches, and fading, which contributed to growing skepticism and environmental concerns. The article emphasizes plastics’ dual identity as both symbols of innovation and as problematic materials, demonstrating how surface qualities played a key role in the cultural meanings attached to plastics in the mid-twentieth century.
Application
A Tupperware advertisement from a 1970s issue of House Beautiful illustrates how plastic was promoted as a modern solution for domestic life. These ads often showed neatly stacked colorful containers with seamless, shiny finishes. The surfaces emphasized cleanliness, convenience, and a cheerful aesthetic. Fisher describes plastics as surfaces that promised a brighter and more efficient future, and Tupperware delivered that promise to postwar families. The containers were lightweight, easy to seal, and reusable. Their glossy appearance supported the idea of a hygienic, well-managed kitchen. However, as Fisher notes, these same surfaces became worn, stained, or warped over time, complicating their initial image of perfection and revealing plastic’s impermanence.
Second, the Eames molded plastic chair is a widely recognized example from mid-century modern design. These chairs feature smooth, shiny plastic shells that provided a lightweight, hygienic, and colorful seating solution that was affordable and mass-produced. Their tactile and visual qualities reflected the postwar enthusiasm for plastic as a new material of modernity and convenience. As with kitchen plastics, their surfaces showed wear over time, creating a tension between their innovative appeal and material limitations. The chair remains an iconic symbol of plastic’s evolving identity in design history.
Figure 1. Wooden interior stairs leading up to living room
House Beautiful, January 1961, p. 45
Figure 2. MOLDED PLASTIC ARMCHAIR DATE – 1950 | Image courtesy of Eames Office
May 15, 2025 | 1960s, reaction paper, Week 7
In the article “A World of Colour and Bright Shining Surfaces: Experiences of Plastics After the Second World War,” the author discusses how the popularity of plastics was largely due to their aesthetic qualities. In the postwar world, when many things were focused on functionality and less so on visual appeal, this new material changed the game. Plastic was glossy and available in so many colors, it helped bring more of an enjoyable experience to everyday tasks. The material’s affordability and sense of modernity were key draws that made plastic so highly sought after, meaning that this “experience” could be brought to nearly every item.
The article discusses how plastic was used in everyday items like toothbrushes, combs, and kitchenware. There was a thrill in using this new and modern material, reflectant of a domestic culture’s focus on the future. Plastic products represented cleanliness, convenience, and change for the better– the ideal modern lifestyle.
A modern example of this could be seen as artificial intelligence. AI is a feature in nearly everything today. It reflects a company’s modernity to include AI in some element of their product. Whether you use the AI feature or not, tech products that don’t have AI feel outdated and may be reflectant the product is not as advanced as others in their field.
- Fig 1. Text messages using iMessage’s AI feature
- Via Apple.com Newsroom
This advertisement from House Beautiful promotes a vinyl flooring company using key modern elements and buzz words to draw in consumers. The color is the initial draw to the advertisement, a sign of modernity. The caption also goes on to express how many pattern and color options there are, pushing this modern feature. The cleanliness of vinyl flooring, another element that is connected closely to a desire for modernity.
- Fig 2. LET’S FACE SOME BEAUTIFUL FACTS! Only this luxury vinyl floor could be so work-free! Grown Vinyl is rubless, scrubless! Spill almost anything on it and it twinkles at a mop’s much Stronger, wears longer in the all-important traffic zones, too (doorways, in front of Sinks, stoves, appliances, etc.)! Over 100 beautiful patterns. See the floor with the exclusive 12 year guarantee at your franchised Crown Vinyl retailer soon. By the makers of Sandran, Sabdura Company, Benson-East, Jenkintown, Pa. LUXURIOUS CROWN VINYL FLOORS
- House Beautiful, Issue 102 pt. 2, 1960, p. 36
These two are similar in that they both are industries chasing the contemporary definition of modernity. AI and vinyl are promoted using the desire of the modern people– a push towards the future. However, unlike vinyl flooring, AI is in a league of its own. It is not competing to be the trendiest product, but companies use it as a tool to do so.
May 15, 2025 | 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 2000s, reaction paper, Week 7
Fisher’s article details the history of plastic products in a household setting and the shift in public perception of those products in Britain following World War II. Plastics were originally viewed as an imitative product, as it was frequently used as the cheap alternative to other products. That perception later shifted to be viewed as a futuristic product that is easy to clean with seemingly endless potential applications. Plastics were marketed as hygienic and durable early after the war. However, by the 1960s, that perception shifted again. Plastics became associated with chemicals and gained a negative connotation of unhealthiness. By the 1970s, the public came to accept two understandings of plastic household products. They have potential to be harmful, but also provide an ease of use and maintenance that other products cannot provide for the same price.
While this article was an interesting read, Fisher does not specify socioeconomic status in regards to public perception. I have strong doubts that the income of the average person would not play a part in their perception of an inexpensive product. For the wealthy, plastics were never really a necessity for them. If they wanted a glass table, they could afford one. It makes more sense to me that the public became accepting of plastics again in the 1970s. The average income of middle class families generally began to plateau around 1971, and then taking a dive comparatively in the 1980s. For the average person, plastic products serve as an affordable alternative to products that may have been out of reach for them. Due to this, I would argue that the upper class perception of plastics became even more negative as lower class consumers started to buy more of it.
As House Beautiful is a magazine that is clearly targeting middle to upper class members of society, there are very few plastic products marketed in the magazine following the 1950s. The exact opposite appears to be the case, as many advertisements attempt to highlight the natural characteristics of their products. Ceramic, wood, and glass products take center stage as high quality, respectable products to use in the home. As shown by the image below, plastic products gained a poor reputation in the eyes of the wealthy by the early 2000s. Plastic products became associated with kitsch, low-brow, and tasteless design.
House Beautiful, July 2002, page 96.
May 15, 2025 | 1960s, 2010s, Uncategorized, Week 7
SUMMARY:
This journal highlights how the public’s general understanding of plastic has changed since the early 50’s. In the 50s, plastic would be described as colorful, hygienic, shiny, durable, and, less positively, unnatural and suspiciously chemical. The only positive thing people have to say about plastic today is that it’s cheap. Plastic is no longer valued for its shiny, colorful quality but rather criticized for filling our planet with enormous amounts of waste.
APPLICATION:
Figure 1. Promotional advertisement for Tupperware, showing of its tight seal, light weight and space-saving adaptability
House Beautiful 1960 August Issue, pg. 22
Even though people were a little concerned about the chemical quality of plastic, they received it quite positively. Its durability and clean look were unbeatable at the time. At the time, it seemed like an incredibly useful invention.
Fig. 2, House Beautiful 2018, “Say goodbye to your favorite plastic IKEA products.”, https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/a21600719/ikea-bans-plastic/
Today, the general perception of plastic has declined so far that major furniture stores such as IKEA advertise their removal of the material. If plastic is being promoted today, it’s promoted as a recycled product, and there is rarely discussion about the surface quality of the products. In general, plastic is understood to be an environmentally destructive product.
To summarize, in the 50’s, plastic was bright,shiny, clean, and durable but chemically mysterious and unnatural. Today, plastic is perceived as cheap and killing the planet.
