How to Design a Revolution - by Hugo Palmarola & Pedro Alonso & Eden Medina (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Socialism through design: how product and graphic design enhanced social cohesion in Allende's Chile

During Salvador Allende's tenure as president (1970-73), graphic and product design in Chile expressed powerful socialist messages of solidarity and social cohesion. This volume looks at a range of innovative items made in this era, from affordable objects designed for popular circulation such as TVs, record players and chairs, and the innovations behind them, to the visual iconography of protest. The presentation of these works is structured around "how to" themes such as how to design a peaceful road to socialism; how to address child poverty; how to implement material justice; how to deploy politics in the street; how to improve everyday life; how to nationalize technological innovation; how to design universities connected to the community; how to democratize transportation; and how to foster literacy through book design. How to Design a Revolution makes an exemplary case of an extraordinary era for both socialist and design history.

Review Quotes

The book communicates the richness of the creativity that defined the period and flourished in so many different places across Chile. Not only artistic creativity, or creativity in the service of social mobilization, but also creativity in problem solving.--Marianela D'Aprile "New York Review of Architecture"