The Cold War era was about more than just military antagonism. Strong social and political tensions against a backdrop of post-war optimism set the scene for a period of intense creative and technological output globally.
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A new large-scale exhibition at the V&A in London will examine contemporary design, architecture, film and popular culture during the years 1945 to 1970 from across borders, including the USA, the Soviet Union, France, Germany, and the UK.
Over 300 exhibits neatly cross-section the period's unique milieu, that mid-century conflation of strident modernism, fervent commercialism, art, revolution and political anxiety.
Everything from Sputnik and an Apollo Mission space suit to Kubrick's satirical Dr Strangelove, paintings by Rauschenberg, Richter, and Picasso, 'futuristic' fashion by Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabanne, classic Eames furniture, Dieter Rams' designs for Braun, NASA space craft interiors by Raymond Loewy, and architectural blueprints for imagined utopias by Hans Hollein, Archigram and Superstudio are on show – remnants of an unlikely socio-cultural boom still being felt today.
ADDRESS
V&A South Kensington
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
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All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressingPart of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
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Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationshipAnnouncing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
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Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craftThe heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
