Abstract
The domestic interior acts as a gauge of the culture in which one lives and the objects with which one identifies. This article examines the influence of politics and economics in the design of domestic products for the home in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The political ideals of socialism established in the GDR under Soviet control after World War II reached the larger urban realm through monuments and buildings but also materialized in the production of goods for the domestic interior. The development of mass production technologies for products such as furniture and dishware allowed for the same products to be available to all consumers to form one economic class. The role of mass production bridged the political ideals of socialism to the physical manifestation of domestic products. At present, we can look at furniture companies such as IKEA and see a similar homogenization of interiors.
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