Researcher

Dr Mark Ian Jones

My Expertise

Design History & Theory

National history and national identity in design

Transnational design histories

Nordic design history

Swedish design

Australian design history

20th Century design history

Architectural history

Modernism studies

Architecture

Interior design

Mid-century design

 

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Design, Art history, Design history, theory and criticism

SEO tags

Biography

I am an architect and design history scholar in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, School of Art and Design. I am best known for my single authored book, ‘Vicke Lindstrand On the Periphery: Mid-twentieth century Swedish design and the reception of Vicke Lindstrand’, published in the Figura Nova Series by Uppsala University Press in November 2016.

My current research examines transnational design relations between Australia and...view more

I am an architect and design history scholar in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture, School of Art and Design. I am best known for my single authored book, ‘Vicke Lindstrand On the Periphery: Mid-twentieth century Swedish design and the reception of Vicke Lindstrand’, published in the Figura Nova Series by Uppsala University Press in November 2016.

My current research examines transnational design relations between Australia and Scandinavia, and the role of the Australian retail sector in international design diplomacy. I have an extensive track record of outputs based on my research and archival interpretation that has been recognised through a number of grants and awards from local and international organisations that include Estrid Ericson’s Foundation Sweden, The Swedish Institute, Hallenbladska Fund Sweden, King Gustaf VI Adolfs fund for Swedish Culture, Swedish Royal Patriotic Society Grants Fund, Längmanska Fund Sweden, UNSW Art & Design Faculty Publication and Research Grants and the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts Award for excellence in Post-Graduate Research. Between 2009-2012 I was a Swedish Institute Guest Researcher in the Department of Art History at Uppsala University, Sweden.

I have extensive curriculum and teaching experience across the major design schools in Sydney in the areas of Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Design History and Theory, and Design Practice, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. 

As a chartered architect, I have an extensive industry background as a design practitioner. I am principal of the Sydney based design studio, Jones Architecture, founded in 1995 that specialises in small to medium scale projects, including private houses, public buildings, multi-residential, retail, and interiors. Prior to establishing Jones Architecture, I held senior positions in commercial architectural practices in the UK and Australia. To date, I have completed over AUD $40.0m of built projects. Since my first public commission by Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Sydney for the design of The Palm Grove Centre shop and visitor centre, completed in 2000, I has completed a further 26 built projects. My practice continues to work with both public and private clients on a number of small, medium and large scale projects in Sydney and my projects have been published internationally.


My Grants

YEAR

AWARD

 2022

UNSW Education Focussed School Grants Program (with Emma Mills, Karin Watson, Chloe Congdon, Carly Vickers and Stephen Goddard) $49,524.00

 2019

UNSW Art & Design Faculty Research Grant

 2018

UNSW Art & Design Faculty Research Grant

 2017

UNSW Art & Design Faculty Research Grant

 2016

UNSW Art & Design Faculty Travel Grant

UNSW Art & Design Faculty Publication Grant

Stiftelsen Längmanska kulturfonden, Stockholm, Sweden, Publication Grant

 2015

Kungl. Patriotiska Sällskapet Understödsfond, Stockholm, Sweden

Stiftelsen Konung Gustaf VI Adolfs fond för svensk kultur, Stockholm, Sweden

 2010

Hallenbladska Fonden Sweden, Research Grant

 2008

University of New South Wales Postgraduate Research Student Support (PRSS)

Swedish Institute Guest Scholarship, 2008 - 2011

 2007

Estrid Ericsons Stiftelse, Research Grant, Sweden

 2006

University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts Research Grant


My Qualifications

PhD (Design History) UNSW;

BArch (Hons 1) UTS


My Awards

2022 MAAS Powerhouse Museum Visiting Research Fellow

2022 SSP Leave

2021 UNSW ADA ARC Near Miss Award

2013 SDES Design Research Award for excellence in postgraduate research UNSW College of Fine Arts


My Research Activities

My current research activity examines Swedish and Australian design history, and their intersections, transnational design exchange and design diplomacy between 1945 and 1975.

My previous contributions to the field of design history is new knowledge on Swedish design history, design as national identity and the Swedish designer Vicke Lindstrand - disseminated across a monograph, book chapters, journal and catalogue articles, exhibition and public programs in both Sweden and Australia. As a leading figure in Australia in research into post-war Swedish modernism, my research emerges from an extensive design industry practice and focuses on Swedish and Scandinavian design histories developed over the past 15 years. My scholarly monograph is published in the peer-reviewed Figura Nova academic series, dating from 1951. The book is held in numerous international collections including Swedish Royal Library, Powerhouse Museum Research Library, Yale University, Getty Research Institute and Institut national d'histoire de l'art Paris.

Lindstrand is a significant, yet underrepresented figure in twentieth-century Swedish and Scandinavian design histories. My research contributions have revealed the breadth and depth of his work and have repositioned Lindstrand as an important figure in twentieth century Swedish and Scandinavian design history through demonstrating that his work has not been critically examined because of inherent bias. My PhD dissertation and subsequent monograph are the first studies to critically examine his work within the social, cultural and political contexts of his time. The outcomes of this research were disseminated across a series of conference presentations, invited lectures, publications and exhibitions. This large knowledge gap in design history was first addressed in my PhD dissertation (which one Swedish examiner described as an “impressive achievement”) through an interrogation of Lindstrand, his ‘fit’ in official narratives and his peculiar fate. I have been researching Lindstrand since 2005 when I identified an important design innovator whose reception and significance had been compromised. I sought to understand how and why. My authority on Lindstrand’s life and work gained momentum and was recognised through the award of strategic funding from the Swedish Government, Swedish Royal Household and several Swedish philanthropic foundations. My publications are the first scholarly outputs on his life and work.

Re-evaluating Swedish design in Australia 1945-75 

This project aims to investigate Swedish-Australian design-cultural exchange through a new transnational design history of Sweden’s role as an exemplar for Australian design between 1945-75. By making accessible undocumented and at-risk knowledge held in Australian and Swedish archives, this untold history probes the emergence of this relationship at a critical time in the development of modern Australian design. The project expects to generate new knowledge of international design relations in a significant historical re-assessment that locates Australia in the current global re-evaluation of the mid-century period providing increased benefit to Australian-Swedish relations and wider understandings of design and cultural exchange. 

Design diplomacy at David Jones. Nation building through the diffusion of design ideas in post-war Australia

This project aims to investigate the transmission, diffusion and promotion of international design ideas and practises through Australian department store exhibitions between 1950-75. Positioning David Jones’ department store’s sustained program of international expositions, exhibitions, fairs and promotions as a case study, the project expects to advance understandings of the historical role of department stores as agents of change. By examining the impact of these events against nation building exercises and increased migration the project expects to advance important knowledge of their contribution to the broader cultural development of Australia. Expected outcomes include highlighting their ongoing legacy and resonances to today, the vital role of retail in the present and amplifying the social value and impact of Australian design exhibitions.


My Research Supervision


Areas of supervision

I welcome supervision enquiries from postgraduate research candidates for our MFA, MPhil, and PhD programs. This includes Design History and Theory, Australian Design History, Nordic Design History and histories of craft. 


Currently supervising

Architectural history


My Teaching

I have taught across the breadth of our Bachelor of Design and Master of Design programs, including studio, practice and theory. 

In 2017, as Deputy Head of School (Design) UNSW Art & Design, I initiated an innovative core of Design History and Theory courses for a new Bachelor of Design program launched in 2019. This involved an international academic recruitment process and overseeing the development of a suite of four courses. I now convene and teach across these core courses. 

Bachelor of Design (Integrated)

DDES1200 Design History and Theory 1: National Design Histories 

DDES1201 Design History and Theory 2: Global Design Debates

DDES2200 Design History and Theory 3: Positions in Design 

DDES3200 Design History and Theory 4: The Making of Design Cultures 

Master of Design

SAHT9143 Design History and Theory 

 

 

 

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Location

UNSW Art & Design Paddington Campus

Videos

Dr Mark Ian Jones discusses the future of design and architecture and how designers need to ask themselves, 'do we need this'?
Interview Sweden 2016
Shelter: what do we need from the next generation of designers?
Object Design at UNSW Art & Design
Mark Ian Jones om sitt arbete och Vicke Lindstrand
Vicke Lindstrand On the Periphery