Episodes

5 episodes in this season

Ghosts in the Machine

60 min

Designs for Living

60 min

Blueprints for War

60 min

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Better Living Through Chemistry

60 min

Objects of Desire

60 min

The Genius of Design

TV Series

20101h8.0

Documentary

Now playing

Better Living Through Chemistry

Season 1 · Episode 4 · May 28, 2010

The story of design enters the 50s and 60s, when a revolutionary new material called plastic combined with the miracles of electronic miniaturisation to allow designers to offer post-war consumers something new: liberation. Designer Verner Panton pursued the seemingly impossible dream of a chair made from a seamless piece of plastic while Joe Colombo proposed the Austin Powers-style 'cabriolet bed', complete with built-in cigarette lighter and stereo. Meanwhile in Japan, designers at Sony were shrinking radios from pocket-size to palm-size, paving the way for the ultimate in portable lifestyle-the Walkman. But the optimism of the era came to an abrupt end when concerns about the environmental impact of plastic came to the fore.

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The Genius of Design

TV Series

20101h8.0

Documentary

Now playing

Better Living Through Chemistry

Season 1 · Episode 4 · May 28, 2010

More details