Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes networks of exchange, economic and symbolic, that make it difficult to see design as isolated from a fertile and interconnected international context. It explores multiple and interrelated dimensions of nation-building, competition, commercial expansion, taste, and technology as they are revealed in the forms, selection, and display of manufactured goods. The book investigates the political meanings of world's fair displays in the period, and introduces global perspectives of representation, networking, and exchange. It uses the career of Carl von Diebitsch to reach broader understanding of the Islamic architecture and decoration that captured European taste in the mid-nineteenth century. The book discusses the popular aspects of world's fairs, in particular the role of immersive experience as "info-tainment" with great attention paid to detailed recreations to engage audiences, a key aspect of the world's fair experience.