The Art Institute of Chicago and Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 2001
This book accompanied a pathbreaking exhibition devoted to exploring the relationship between the products actually designed for space flight and the imaginary visions of such materials in science fiction, films, and television. Recognizing the contributions of architects and design professionals to space exploration and technology, a field generally associated with scientists and aerospace engineers, this publication includes color reproductions of approximately 150 objects. Photographs, models, computer-assisted drawings and renderings as well as selected artifacts of the space age document the dreams and realities of design for space travel.
An introduction by Art Institute architecture curator John Zukowsky illuminates the historical contexts in which space technology and fantasy developed. This is followed by 13 brief essays addressing topics as diverse as the future of space tourism, the interior design of Skylab, the training of Soviet cosmonauts, and Norman Rockwell’s painting The Longest Step. This book offers readers a broader understanding of how designs for space travel are informed by military, political, and scientific imperatives, and how space travel itself provides raw material for art, literature, and film.
Edited by John Zukowsky
192 pages, 9 3/8 x 11 13/16 in.
230 ills.
Out of print
ISBN: 978-0-810-94490-9 (hardcover)
