The Banham Lectures: Essays on Designing the Future

Rayner Banham is one of the greatest influences on Design and Architecture today. His work anticipated many of our contemporary preoccupations, integrating the study of pop art, industrial design and material culture for the first time. His interests strayed across an extraordinary range of subjects - from automobile styling to mobile homes and from science fiction films to our passion for gadgets - and his brilliant analyses remain landmarks in cultural and design criticism.
The Banham Lectures brings together leading critics who continue to be inspired by Banham s revolutionary work. Each presents their own analysis of a key issue in design, architecture or art. These essays explore topics as diverse as clothes and carpets, photography, the history of bedrooms, 'Flash Gordon' and the car, postcards and popular art, how cities grow, the architecture of museums, Marcel Duchamp, dematerialisation, and the future of design. Just as Banham sought to overturn the views of previous generations, these critics aim to rethink the objects and buildings we use today.