Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? Sequences and Genealogies in between Architecture and Design for a Global History

Abstract

Some among the early “classics” of history of project, such as Giedion or Pevsner, united architecture and design leaning towards anonymity and industrialism and eliminating the division between the two disci- plines. They were related with an ideological notion of style: the “Modern”. Afterwards other approaches suggested another use of sequences of objects in a larger continuum instead of the use of “style” notion (Kubler, Bloch and Foucault). Joining these different points of start together with the latest contribution (Margolin, 2015) the paper aims to explore the possibilities given by compiling timelines and sequences that mix different approaches in a larg- er vision of the project disciplines to obtain the web for a global history implementable and queryable at different levels and using a broader range of design studies. The goal is trying to outline and schematically show a continuous conversation throughout time and space, maintaining the specificities of historical research and an inclusive and broader sight on the flow of time. To instruct a reflection on this opportunity the paper will wonder on the possibilities to organize se- quences on specific or general topics using tools as the managing of data flows and their representations