The Berlin-based Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge sees itself as a museum dedicated to a design culture shaped by industrial mass production. Drawing on the work of the German Werkbund, it collects and displays objects that were designed, produced, sold, purchased, used, discarded, or have become superfluous in everyday life during the 20th and 21st centuries.
In contrast to traditional design museums, the Museum der Dinge embeds the history of the German Werkbund within an exploration of everyday consumer culture. It relates the objects in the collection to the overarching theme of modernism: the relationship between art and life.
In this richly illustrated publication, museum theorists, art historians, and cultural scholars examine the 50-year history of theWerkbundarchiv and the institution’s self-concept, which is shaped by the politicized 1970s and a view of history focused on everyday life.
The publication was released by the Leipzig-based publisher Spector Books and is available in our museum shop.