Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Design Museum - CoP research

Imagine Moscow


For the CoP module submission, we were asked to produce a presentation outlining our research aims for our CoP3 work for third year. We had to come up with a topic based on one of a few options listed in the brief. As my essay this year looked at design around the world, I thought that I would carry this topic on as it is something I am interested in and would be able to engage with during research.

I chose the option to answer...

Question 6: To what extent has Graphic Design constructed our understanding or view of historical events and perceptions of truth?

After choosing a topic and the question above, I wanted to conduct some primary research relating to the topic. I searched around for relevant exhibitions and found one at the London Design Museum called 'Imagine Moscow'. The exhibition turned out to be one of the best ones I have been to in recent years and was very relevant to the area of research I want to explore over the summer period in preparation for third year. The exhibition looked at the architectural propaganda of the Russian Revolution. Although the exhibition was not solely graphic design, it included a whole range of examples that will be suitable for my project.



Russian's October Revolution in 1917 was a turning point not only for the political history of the 20th century, but also in the evolution of design. The ideas unleashed by that period of social and cultural turmoil are still reflected in the work of contemporary architects and designers. This exhibition explored one aspect of that legacy; the impact on the idea of the city and the way that it was presented to the soviet public through propaganda.

El Lissitzky's speculative plan for rebuilding Moscow was based on a new building type, the so-called 'Cloud Iron', a horizontal skyscraper. He envisaged a network of these structures around Moscow's Boulevard Ring. The eight buildings were to be placed at major intersections, directly connecting offices and living space on the upper floors to the new tram and metro stations at street level. 

For me, work like this is extremely inspiring as it is so ambitious and innovative and those are two aspects of design that I want to improve on in my own practice; not to just produce 'good design' but to be innovative with my ideas and concepts and to take things that one step further. 


Overall the visit to this exhibition was extremely beneficial and gave me a whole range of ideas and topic areas for my CoP3 project. I have bought a book that further explains the work on show as well as some more history ad politics surrounding the events. This will be extremely useful when I start my research. 

The show has also inspired the thought to visit Moscow itself over Summer as this would benefit my work hugely going into third year and is a measure I am willing to take and want to in order for my own practice to progress and reach the level I am aiming for.

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