The Design and Industries Association is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

whose object is to ''engage with all those who share a common interest in the contribution that design can make to the delivery of goods and services that are sustainable and enhance the quality of life for communities and the individual."''

20th century

Shortly before the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

there was a growing awareness, among British designers, of the extent to which German industrial design had taken the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement (that had originated with

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and others in Britain in the late 19th century) and had successfully moved these into the age of mass, mechanised, production. The German

Deutscher Werkbund The Deutscher Werkbund (English: "German Association of Craftsmen"; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The Werkbund became an important element in the development of modern arch ...

organisation's Cologne exhibition, held before the outbreak of war in 1914, had been visited by many of those designers, architects, retailers and industrialists who were later to found the Design and Industries Association.Rebels Against Commercial Ugliness, Peyton Skipworth, Apollo Magazine, Jan 2008 In March 1915 an exhibition of German manufactures was held at Goldsmiths' Hall in London. Shortly afterwards a meeting under the chairmanship of Lord Aberconway led to the foundation of the Design and Industries Association (DIA), with the express intention of raising the standard of British industrial design, under the slogan of "Fitness for Purpose". DIA promoted its ideals through lectures, journals and exhibitions. Exhibitions included: * 1920 ''Household Things'' - Whitechapel Gallery, London * 1942 - 1945 ''Design Round The Clock'' - travelling * 1953 ''Register your Choice'' - Charing Cross Underground Station The journals published varied through the period and included: * 1932 ''Design In Industry'' * 1933 - 1935 ''Design for Today'' * 1936 ''Trends in Everyday Life'' In its early years there was considerable tension between the attachment of some members to the principals of the Arts and Crafts movement and the desire to promote the clearly 20th-century outlook of the

Modern Movement Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

. Having been heavily involved with the British government's Utility Scheme in the Second World War, DIA had campaigned for the greater involvement of government in the promotion of good design. Ironically, DIA itself was to be somewhat eclipsed by the foundation of the government funded Council for Industrial Design, now the

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

, in 1944.

DIA Today

Despite the predominance of the Design Council in the latter half of the 20th century, DIA continues its work today as an independent body, organising competitions, events and offering bursaries. In 1978 DIA, together with

The Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It off ...

, The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry and

The Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

established

the Sir Misha Black Awards The Sir Misha Black Awards commemorate the life of Misha Black, whose work played an important role in the development of design in Britain. They are given to individuals and institutions, to honor them in their role within design education. Th ...

to recognise excellence and innovation in design education.

Membership

DIA office bearers and members have included some of the most notable 20th-century British designers and manufacturers: * Lord Aberconway *

Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (27 December 1877 Northampton – 21 October 1953) was the son of Joseph Tom Lowke, a Northampton boilermaker and his wife, Eliza, and is noted for having founded the firm of Bassett-Lowke which specialised in producing ...

Sir Misha Black Sir Misha Black (16 October 1910 – 11 October 1977) was a British-Azerbaijani architect and designer. In 1933 he founded with associates in London the organisation that became the Artists' International Association. In 1943, with Milner Gray ...

* Cecil Brewer *

Noel Carrington Noel Lewis Carrington (1895 – 11 April 1989) was an English book designer, editor, publisher, and the originator of Puffin Books. He was the author of books on design and on recreation and also worked for Oxford University Press and Penguin Books ...

Serge Ivan Chermayeff Serge Ivan Chermayeff (born Sergei Ivanovich Issakovich; russian: link=no, Сергей Ива́нович Иссако́вич; 8 October 1900 – 8 May 1996) was a Russian-born British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of ...

* Harold Curwen * Nanna Ditzel *

Ambrose Heal Sir Ambrose Heal (3 September 1872 – 15 November 1959) was an English furniture designer and businessman in the first half of the 20th century. He served as the chairman of Heal's (then called Heal & Son) from 1913 to 1953. Early life Hea ...

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

Minnie McLeish Minnie McLeish (1876–1957), was a British textile designer. McLeish worked with Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Constance Irving for William Foxton Ltd in London and the Metz store in Amsterdam. She was "prolific", and designed fabrics for Mort ...

Harry Peach Harry Hardy Peach (1874–24 January 1936) was an English businessman and author involved in campaigning for improved conditions in factories and the establishment of the Design and Industries Association and the Council for the Preservation of ...

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

Frank Pick Frank Pick Hon. RIBA (23 November 1878 – 7 November 1941) was a British transport administrator. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1902, he worked at the North Eastern Railway, before moving to the Underground Electric Railways Company ...

Jack Pritchard John Craven Pritchard (8 June 1899 – 27 April 1992) was a British furniture entrepreneur, who was very influential between the First and Second World Wars. His work is exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London. He ...

* Sir (Sydney) Gordon Russell * George Wilson-Crowe *

Sir Lawrence Weaver Sir Lawrence Walter William Weaver (1876–1930) was an English architectural writer and civil servant. Early years Lawrence Weaver was the son of Walter and Frances Weaver of Clifton, Bristol. He was educated at Clifton College and was traine ...

* Hamilton T Smith irst director of Heals, designer

References

"Design and Industries Association." A Dictionary of Modern Design. Oxford University Press, 2004, 2005. Answers.com 13 Oct. 2008. http://www.answers.com/topic/design-and-industries-association "Nothing Need Be Ugly", The first 70 years of the Design & Industries Association. Plumber, Raymond. DIA London 1985

External links

The Design and Industries Association
{{Authority control Architecture groups British art Design institutions Organizations established in 1915