Another Modernism: Home Economics and the Design of Domestic Space in the US, 1900-1960

Filling an important gap in design history, Another Modernism examines how domestic space was conceived by the US home economics movement in the first half of the 20th century.In doing so, it tells the story of how home economists-mainly women-developed design that challenged the traditional architecture of American farm communities and countered the approach of modernist architects.Uncovering unacknowledged contributions of women to domestic architecture and design history, it reveals early instances of participation, sustainability, and accommodating the disabled body in domestic design.In contrast to the canonical modernist model of space, which is primarily visual, home economists centered on a user who interacts with the interior in a tactile, bodily way.Although both strove for efficiency, they understood it differently: whereas for many of the mainstream modernists the term ‘efficiency’ meant functionalist aesthetics, for home economists it signified design solutions intended to