BRITISH DESIGN 1948-2012, VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM: 31 March-12 August 2012
 

By Rachael Stubbins

The V&A will host the first comprehensive exhibition of British design over the past 60 years, featuring objects from areas such as fashion, glass, graphic design, photography and architecture. This major exhibition will cover the post-WW2 era, the explosion of counter-culture forms between the 1960s and 1990s and the continued creativity and influence of more contemporary designs.

Over 300 objects will be displayed in three sections. Tradition and Modernity will show the results of tensions between traditional reconstruction efforts post-WW2 and a desire for modernity. This relationship will be explored through three areas: the City, the Land and the Home. Subversion will focus on the anarchistic characteristics of the period from 1960s to 1990s as British traditions were challenged and rejected. The emergence of 'Cool Britannia' in the 1990s after the appearance of Pop, the swinging 60s and 70s punk will be shown in two spaces: the Studio and the Street. Innovation and Creativity will explore British creativity in relation to technologies, buildings and iconic objects and illustrate the effects on global design.

Designs such as the 1961 E-type Jaguar car, an Alexander McQueen evening gown from the Horn of Plenty collection, a six metre model Concorde, the Tomb Raider video game, Robin Day's Polyprop chair, art from Henry Moore and a model of Zaha Hadid?s London Aquatics Centre will be on show.

The exhibition aims to show the evolution of design from the 'Austerity Games' in 1948 to the present day, which fittingly will coincide with the London Olympic Games 2012.

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