National and international components in contemporary architecture and design

Abstract

The article examines one of the unique aspects of design – the national component. The history of design demonstrates to us the importance of the national component in the formation of object-based shaping, its development in the industrial and post-industrial eras. In the conditions of post-industrial design, the role of the national component is growing and is increasingly revealed in its various directions, from object design to design of the urban environment. Through the prism of the interaction between national and international components in design, we can scrutinise design’s entire history. Using specific examples, applying phenomenal-geographical and synergetic approaches, the authors formulate the main models of the evolution of the national component in the design of different countries. As a result, 6 models of interaction of the national and international components in the subject design of the twentieth century were identified. They are «the constant of the national component», «transformation (expansion) of the national component into the international», «synchronization of the national and international components», «replacement of the national component with the international», «conglomeration of international and national components», «autonomy of national and international components». Graphic visualizations of models of countries – design nations are presented on the example of Japan, USA, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia.