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Transport Design

A Travel History

We are a world of travelers. Technologies have enabled us to connect with others around the world at incredible speed, and now both business and pleasure operate on a global scale. The process of getting from point A to point B is therefore of more interest than ever, and Gregory Votolato here charts the history of that journey in all its complexity and variety.

            From limousines to canoes to the Apollo spacecraft, Votolato chronicles the ever-evolving design of vehicles, nautical crafts, and other objects of transportation. Transport Design explores the relationship between mass transportation and the travel experience, probing such issues as design styles, economics, entertainment, and, most importantly, customized comfort. Elements such as nineteenth-century railway sleeping couches or the heated car seats of today, Votolato demonstrates, were among the pioneering technologies that set the precedent for personal home and office furnishings. Ultimately, Transport Design contends that today’s pressures of global commerce and environmental threats demand a radical reappraisal of how and why we travel.

A compelling and readable study, Transport Design is a must-have for transport design scholars, transit buffs, and reluctant commuters alike.


242 pages | 130 halftones | 6.75 x 7.5 | © 2007

History: General History, History of Technology


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Reviews

"At last, the book that reveals the art and romance of being transported."

Marc Newson

"Photographs of the interiors of early trains will make you want to shuffle off to Buffalo, and copy for advertisement for a 1930s-era Chrysler serves as a reminder that riding around in an automobile was once considered radical. Votolato lists four factors that influence the development of transit infrastructure and vehicle design--privacy, independence, economy and image--and shows these concerns at work."

Anna Lena Phillips | American Scientist

Table of Contents

        INTRODUCTION
 1     LAND
 2     WATER
 3     AIR
        CONCLUSION
       
        References
        Select Bibliography
        Acknowledgements
        Photo Acknowledgements
        Index

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