Professor Penny Sparke
Faculties, departments and locations
- Kingston School of Art
- Department of Critical and Historical Studies
- School of Creative and Cultural Industries
Director, Modern Interiors Research Centre
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
I am a Professor of Design History at Kingston University, London and the Director of the Modern Interiors Research Centre.
I studied French Literature at the University of Sussex from 1967-1971 and was awarded my PhD in Design History from Brighton Polytechnic in 1975. I taught Design History at Brighton Polytechnic (1975-1982) and the Royal College of Art (1982-1999).
I have given keynote addresses, curated exhibitions, broadcast and published widely on the subject of Design History, with a special interest in interiors, identities, gender, and taste.
My publications include:
- Italian Design from 1860 to the present (1989)
- The Plastics Age (1990)
- As Long as It's Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste (1995)
- An Introduction to Design and Culture, 1900 to the present (3rd edition 2004)
- Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration (2005)
- The Modern Interior (2008)
- Nature Inside: Plants and Flowers in the Modern Interior (2021)
I currently supervise 7 PhD students, am the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Design History, and a member of the editorial board of RADDAR (Mudac, Lausanne).
Qualifications
- 1971 BA French Literature (University of Sussex)
- 1975 PhD Theory and Design in the Age of Pop (Brighton Polytechnic)
- Honorary MA University of the Creative Arts
- Honorary Senior Fellow Royal College of Art
Publications
At home: panoramas de nos vies domestiques : some ecological reflections
Sparke, Penny, Rossi, Cat and Scholze, Jana, 2024, Interiors : Design/Architecture/Culture (13), 1 pp 120-137, Published
'Covered promenades for wet weather': London's Winter Gardens and People's Palaces, 1870-1900
Sparke, Penny, 2020, London Journal (45), 2 pp 240-269, Published
Complex interior spaces in London, 1850-1930: introduction
Fisher, Fiona, Lara-Betancourt, Patricia, Kelley, Victoria and Sparke, Penny, 2020, London Journal (45), 2 pp 177-188, Published
The modern interior: a space, a place or a matter of taste?
Sparke, Penny, 2010, Interiors : Design/Architecture/Culture (1), 1-2 pp 7-17, Published
Film Review of 'The Truman Show', Peter Weir (1998)
Sparke, Penny, 2009, Design and culture: the journal of the Design Studies Forum (1), 2 pp 231-233, Published
Book Review of 'The design culture reader' edited by Ben Highmore.
Sparke, Penny, 2009, Journal of Design History (22), 2 pp 191-193, Published
Exhibition Review of 'Choosing the chintz'
Sparke, Penny, 2009, Blueprint, Published
The modern interior revisited
Sparke, Penny, 2008, Journal of Interior Design (34), 1, Published
Interior decoration and Haute Couture: links between the developments of the two professions in France and the USA in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - a historiographical analysis
Sparke, Penny, 2008, Journal of Design History (21), 1 pp 101-107, Published
Mobility history from a design historian's perspective: the T2M conference, 2007
Sparke, Penny, 2008, The Journal of Transport History (29), 1 pp 131-135, Published
Book Review of 'Designing liners: a history of interior design afloat' by Anne Wealleans
Sparke, Penny, 2008, Studies in the Decorative Arts (16), 1 pp 156-158, Published
Issues in interior design history: guest editors' introduction
Aynsley, Jeremy, Kirkham, Patricia and Sparke, Penny, 2008, Studies in the Decorative Arts (16), 1 pp 3-6, Published
Book Review of: 'Frances Elkins: interior design' by Stephen M. Salny
Sparke, Penny, 2006, Journal of Design History (19), 3 pp 263-266, Published
Book Review of: 'Le corbusier: architect and feminist' by Flora Samuel
Sparke, Penny, 2005, Journal of Design History (18), 2 pp 216-218, Published
Studying the modern home
Sparke, Penny, 2004, The Journal of Architecture (9), 4 pp 413-417, Published
The 'ideal' and the 'real' interior in Elsie de Wolfe's The house in good taste of 1913
Sparke, Penny, 2003, Journal of Design History (16), 1 pp 63-76, Published
Always in good taste: the enduring legacy of Elsie de Wolfe
Sparke, Penny, 2000, Harvard Design Magazine pp 16-20, Published
The straw donkey: tourist kitsch or proto-design? Craft and design in Italy, 1945-1960
Sparke, Penny, 1998, Journal of Design History (11), 1 pp 59-69, Published
The myth of the Independent Group
Massey, Anne and Sparke, Penny, 1985, Block, 10 pp 48-56, Published
Exhibition as interior, interior as exhibition: spaces of display within and beyond the museum and gallery
(2025). UK: [Published]
Interiors in the era of Covid-19: interior design between the public and private realms
(2023). London, U.K.: [Published]
Nature inside: plants and flowers in the modern interior
Sparke, Penny (2020). [Published]
Designed in Umea: industrial design education at the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
Andersson, Norbert and Sparke, Penny (2009). Stockholm, Sweden: [Published]
European design since 1985: shaping the new century
Miller, R. Craig, Sparke, Penny and Mcdermott, Catherine (2009). London, U.K.: [Published]
Japanese design
Sparke, Penny (2009). New York, U.S.A.: (Museum of Modern Art) [Published]
The genius of design
Sparke, Penny (2009). London, U.K.: [Published]
The modern interior
Sparke, Penny (2008). London, U.K.: [Published]
Elsie de Wolfe: the birth of modern interior decoration
Sparke, Penny (2005). New York, USA: [Published]
An introduction to design and culture: 1900 to the present
Sparke, Penny (2004). London, UK: [Published]
A century of car design
Sparke, Penny (2002). London, UK: [Published]
As long as it's pink: the sexual politics of taste
Sparke, Penny (1995). London, U.K.: [Published]
At home: mobilising contemporary design history through curatorial practice
Rossi, Cat, Sparke, Penelope and Scholze, Jana (2024). In: Bollini, Letizia, Bosoni, Giampiero, Ferrara, Marinella, Guida, Francesco E., Lecce, Chiara, (eds.), Naples, Italy: pp 282-295 [Published]
(Semi-) public interiority in British curative environments, 1840-1914
Sparke, Penny (2024). In: Teston, Liz, Tehve, Karin, Jones, Ladi'Sasha, Campos, Amy, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 160-171 [Published]
Liberating middle-class women in nineteenth-century Britain
Sparke, Penny (2023). In: Lacrouts, Oliver, Drouet, Laura, (eds.), Eindhoven, The Netherlands: pp 73-83 [Published]
New interior identities: inhabiting London‘s railway stations, winter gardens, people‘s palaces, and department stores, 1830-1920
Sparke, Penny, Fisher, Fiona and Lara-Betancourt, Patricia (2023). In: Marinic, Gregory, (eds.), Abingdon, U.K.: [Published]
British design
Sparke, Penny (2022). In: Tsukasa, Aso, Rademacher, Christoph, Dobinson, Jonathan, (eds.), Singapore: pp 159-173 [Published]
The domestic setting
Sparke, Penny (2022). In: O'Mahoney, Claire I. R., (eds.), London, U.K.: Bloomsbury Academic pp 89-109 [Published]
The natural world
Sparke, Penny (2021). In: Mcguirk, Justin, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 130-157 [Published]
Interior provocations: a conclusion
Sparke, Penny (2020). In: Suh, Keena, Tehve, Karin, Winton, Alexa G, Zieve, Karyn, Lasc, Anca I, Schneiderman, Deborah, (eds.), New York, U.S.: pp 233-243 [Published]
Elsie de Wolfe: a professional interior decorator
Sparke, Penny (2018). In: Lupkin, Paula, Sparke, Penny, (eds.), Abingdon, U.K.: pp 47-58 [Published]
Introduction
Sparke, Penny (2018). New York, U.S.: pp 12-44 [Published]
Taste, gender and the home: before and after Bourdieu
Sparke, Penny (2018). In: Quinn, Malcolm, Beech, David, Lehnert, Michael, Tulloch, Carol, Wilson, Stephen, (eds.), Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge pp 331-344 [Published]
Arranging the aspidistras: nature, culture and the design of the feminine sphere in the nineteenth century
Sparke, Penny (2016). In: Sparke, Penny, Fisher, Fiona, (eds.), Abingdon, U.K.: pp 186-196 [Published]
Industrial design in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
Sparke, Penny (2016). In: Hanks, David A, (eds.), New York, USA: pp 9-17 [Published]
Paradise in the parlor: cozy corners and potted palms in Western interiors, 1880-1900
Sparke, Penny (2015). In: Potvin, John, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 203-218 [Published]
The spaces and places of British modernity
Sparke, Penny and Fisher, Fiona (2015). In: Breward, Christopher, Fisher, Fiona, Wood, Ghislaine, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 15-24 [Published]
Ettore Sottsass and critical design in Italy, 1965-1985
Sparke, Penny (2014). In: Lees-Maffei, Grace, (eds.)[Published]
Marcel Wanders' interiors in context
Sparke, Penny (2014). In: De Roode, Ingeborg, (eds.), Amsterdam, Netherlands: pp 50-55 [Published]
'Valentine' typewriter, Italy (Ettore Sottsass Jr. and Perry A. King for C. Olivetti S.p.A., 1969).
Sparke, Penny (2014). In: Lees-Maffei, Grace, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 134-137 [Published]
Etats-Unis
Sparke, Penny (2013). In: Forest, Dominique, (eds.), Paris, France: [Published]
Grande-Bretagne
Sparke, Penny (2013). In: Forest, Dominique, (eds.), Paris, France: [Published]
Japon
Sparke, Penny (2013). In: Forest, Dominique, (eds.), Paris, France: [Published]
The Picker House interior
Sparke, Penny (2013). In: Black, Jonathan, Falkner, David, Fisher, Fiona, Lloyd, Fran, Preston, Rebecca, Sparke, Penny, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 47-70 [Published]
Leisure interiors in the work of the Camden Town Group
Black, Jonathan, Fisher, Fiona and Sparke, Penny (2012). In: Bonett, Helena, Holt, Ysanne, Munday, Jennifer, (eds.), London, U.K.: [Published]
At home with modernity: the new domestic scene
Sparke, Penny (2012). In: Breward, Christopher, Wood, Ghislaine, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 120-137 [Published]
The international impact of Finnish design, 1945-67
Sparke, Penny (2012). In: Savolainen, Jukka, Svenskberg, Aila, (eds.), Helsinki, Finland: pp 8-19 [Published]
Furnishing the aesthetic interior: manuals and theories
Sparke, Penny (2011). In: Galloway, Stephen, Orr, Lynn Federle, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 124-133 [Published]
Taste and the interior designer
Sparke, Penny (2011). In: Kleinman, Kent, (eds.), New York, U.S.A.: [Published]
Designing 'taste': domestic consumption, modernism and modernity
Sparke, Penny (2010). In: Mattsson, Helena, Wallenstein, Sven-Olov, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 112-121 [Published]
Framing the modern woman: Elsie de Wolfe, from clothes horse to interior decorator
Sparke, Penny (2010). In: Myzelev, Alla, Potvin, John, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 205-224 [Published]
From production to consumption in twentieth-century design
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Aynsley, Jeremy, Atkinson, Harriet, (eds.), Oxford, U.K.: pp 127-141 [Published]
General introduction
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Keeble, Trevor, Sparke, Penny, Massey, Anne, Martin, Brenda, (eds.), Oxford, U.K.: pp 1-10 [Published]
Introduction
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Sparke, Penny, Massey, Anne, Keeble, Trevor, Martin, Brenda, (eds.), Oxford, U.K.: pp 67-78 [Published]
Introduction
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Sparke, Penny, Massey, Anne, Keeble, Trevor, Martin, Brenda, (eds.), Oxford, U.K.: pp 146-158 [Published]
Italy's new domestic landscape, 1945-1972
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Sparke, Penny, Massey, Anne, Keeble, Trevor, Martin, Brenda, (eds.), Oxford, U.K.: pp 183-193 [Published]
The LC4 chaise longue by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, 1928
Sparke, Penny (2009). In: Candlin, Fiona, Guins, Raiford, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 480-482 [Published]
A modern decorator in the French tradition
Sparke, Penny (2008). In: Black, Jonathan, Martin, Brenda, (eds.), London, UK: pp 145-161 [Published]
The crafted interior: Elsie de Wolfe and the construction of gendered identity
Sparke, Penny (2008). In: Alfoldy, Sandra, Helland, Janice, (eds.), Aldershot, U.K.: pp 123-138 [Published]
Ettore Sottsass, a modern Italian designer
Sparke, Penny (2006). In: Labaco, Ronald T., (eds.), London, UK: pp 11-31 [Published]
The domestic interior and the construction of self: the New York homes of Elsie de Wolfe
Sparke, Penny (2004). In: McKellar, Susie, Sparke, Penny, (eds.), Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press pp 72-91 [Published]
Elsie de Wolfe and her female clients, 1905-15: gender, class and the professional interior decorator
Sparke, Penny (2003). In: Martin, Brenda, Sparke, Penny, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp 47-68 [Published]
Introduction
Sparke, Penny (2003). In: Martin, Brenda, Sparke, Penny, (eds.), London, U.K.: pp ix-xx [Published]
A modern identity for a new nation: design in Italy since 1860
Sparke, Penny (2001). In: Baranski, Zygmunt G., West, Rebecca J., (eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp 265-281 [Published]
Arco lamp: Achille Castiglioni, 1962
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Munich, Germany: pp 130-131 [Published]
"A woman's place..."?: women interior designers 1900-1950
Kirkham, Pat and Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Kirkham, Pat, (eds.), New Haven, USA: pp 305-316 [Published]
Brionvega radio TS-502: Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, 1964
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Munich, Germany: pp 134-135 [Published]
Cookware to cocktail shakers: the domestication of the aluminium object in the United States, 1900-1939
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Nichols, Sarah, (eds.), Pittsburgh, U.S.: pp 112-139 [Published]
Hill House chair: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1904-08
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Munich, Germany: pp 16-17 [Published]
Mr Chair: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1927
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Germany, Muich: pp 44-45 [Published]
Tizio table lamp: Richard Sapper, 1972
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Munich, Germany: pp 144-145 [Published]
Vespa motor scooter: Corradino d'Ascanio, 1946
Sparke, Penny (2000). In: Albus, Volker, Kras, Reyer, Woodham, Jonathan M., (eds.), Munich, Germany: pp 88-89 [Published]
Convenience and pleasantness: Josef Frank and the Swedish modern movement in design
Sparke, Penny A (1996). In: Stritzler-Levine, Nina, (eds.), New York, U.S.: pp 118-127 [Published]
Elsie de Wolfe: a professional interior decorator
Sparke, Penny(2014). [Published]
The Picker House: charting the boundaries of British architectural and interior design practice in the 1960s
Fisher, Fiona and Sparke, Penny(2014). [Published]
Design and its history: from modernism to postmodernism
Sparke, Penny(2009). [Published]
Domesticity in post 1945 England and the role of sculpture in the home
Sparke, Penny(2008). [Published]
Lampshades, curtains, atoms and insects
Sparke, Penny and Simmons, Paul(2008). [Published]
The female touch in mobility design and its history
Sparke, Penny and Mom, Gijs(2007). [Published]