Here in the Department of Order we find The Social Catalyst Laboratory, the place dedicated to how design pursued the betterment of society. Throughout the twentieth century the recently formed discipline often committed itself to promoting democratic ideals and advocating social values.
Take, for example, the pioneering social housing initiative Neues Frankfurt (1925–1930) led by the architect Ernst May. Accompanied by a magazine, the housing project brought together fashion design, interior design, industrial design, architecture and communication design in proposing a new way of living for working class Germany, prioritising equality, liveability, and communal facilities. Many other past and present projects are modest in comparison, operating on a smaller scale, yet are by no means less significant as conceptual seedbeds. Often, in such social design approaches, the discipline stays within its traditional boundaries by promoting ideas (functions or aesthetics) without changing the social structures themselves or interacting with the designated community.
In some movements, however, design itself plays an active role in bringing about social change. Think, for example, of the Arts & Crafts movement which in the rising smog of the industrialisation promoted craft and dignified labour as a response to the alienation of the factory assembly lines. Design was not considered just a means to an end, but a force for the implementation of values and the mobilisation of communities. As such, we can see the social engagement of design as a twofold. On the one hand, we see how art and design can foster ideas and contribute to sharing and representing social values, while, on the other hand, design itself can become the catalyst of social and political change.
