Heritage: History of Design

The Foundations of Design and Art History

Heritage is HART’s comprehensive atlas of styles, visual cultures, and the history of taste.This section is dedicated to the History of Design, approached both through a clear and accessible overview as presented in our History of Design, quickly explained and through more detailed analyses of the major decorative movements that have structured Western and international design history.Heritage aims to examine the visual cultures and stylistic evolutions that have shaped design over time and that continue to inform contemporary aesthetics and high-end interior practices today. Conceived as a foundational resource, it provides historical context, critical references, and conceptual frameworks essential to the study of design and art history.

Here you will find four major pillars: The Big Design History, a synthesis of the History of Classic French & European Decorative Styles, the HART Design Glossary A–Z and the HART Dictionary of Design Icons. Together, they form a mega-guide to the history of art and design, built for future decorators, interior architects and designers.

Use this page as a reference hub when you prepare a client presentation, define a style, write a concept note or sharpen your eye for historical details in a high-end project.

The Big Design History

From baroque salons to the radical gestures of postmodernism, this long-form guide retraces the major aesthetic revolutions that shaped our visual environment and our way of inhabiting space. It offers a chronological overview to position a style, a piece of furniture or a project in its historical context.

Perfect for building a compelling narrative around a concept, preparing a lesson or understanding in depth the links between form, politics, technology and lifestyles.

The Big Design History – Up chair by Gaetano Pesce

THE BIG DESIGN HISTORY

From baroque salons to postmodernism

History of Classic French & European Decorative Styles

Empire, Regency, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Art Deco… This guide synthesizes the vocabulary, proportions, motifs and materials that define each major European style. It is the ideal shortcut to evoke a “château” ambiance, revisit classic paneling or avoid pastiche in a heritage-inspired project.

Each chapter helps you recognize key silhouettes, ornamental codes and palettes, so you can reference these styles with precision in a contemporary context.

The Big Design History – Up chair by Gaetano Pesce

CLASSIC EUROPEAN STYLES

Decorative codes & heritage

HART Design Glossary A–Z

Saber leg, caning, patina, passementerie, marquetry… The HART Design & Decoration Glossary clarifies the technical and stylistic terms used by workshops, editors and high-end interior professionals, so your vocabulary matches the level of your projects.

Make it your go-to reference when writing a precise product sheet, an exacting press release or explaining a detail to a client who cares as much about accuracy as aesthetics.

The Big Design History – Up chair by Gaetano Pesce

HART DESIGN GLOSSARY

Techniques · Materials · Vocabulary

HART Dictionary of Design Icons

The HART Dictionary of Design Icons gathers the great names of design and decoration: visionary architects, furniture designers, lighting pioneers, textile masters and radical studios that changed the way we live with objects.

A quick, editorial entry point to connect a piece, a brand or an atmosphere to the creative mind behind it – and to speak the language of collectors, institutions and serious design lovers.

The Big Design History – Up chair by Gaetano Pesce

DESIGN ICONS A–Z

Key figures in design & décor

A journey through the centuries

Beyond these four fundamental guides, Heritage also explores major decorative periods through dedicated categories. Each century gathers long-form articles, case studies, inspiration and historical narratives you can directly use for projects, research or teaching.

  • 18th century — Rococo, Neoclassicism and the golden age of European decorative arts.
  • 19th century — Eclecticism, Empire, Arts & Crafts and early industrial upheavals.
  • 20th century — Modernism, Bauhaus, Memphis, postmodernism and radical aesthetics.

Each period has its icons, manifestos and contradictions. Heritage makes these stories legible and visual, turning design history into a living source of creativity for today’s interiors.

Latest “Heritage” articles

Continue exploring with the latest articles published in the Heritage section: style guides, historical deep dives, portraits of movements and key moments in design history.

For editors, institutions, teachers & students

Developing a collection inspired by a historical style? Teaching design history or decorative arts? Preparing an exhibition, editorial project or cultural program around decorative heritage?

HART can support you with editorial partnerships, content curation, targeted research and expert dossiers on design history and its contemporary reinterpretations.